Byron superintendent outlines five-year 'profile of a graduate' plan, begins listening sessions

Superintendent Nate told the Byron Public School District board on April 6 that he will lead a five-year strategic plan focused on a district-wide "profile of a graduate," starting with a listening and data-gathering phase this spring.

Nate said the plan will unfold in phases: year one for listening and learning; years two and three to design and experiment; year four to establish standard operating procedures; and year five to set the next agenda. He described a 20–25 page playbook that will document protocols such as "empathy interviews" and provide question sets so staff and board members collect comparable evidence across classrooms and buildings. "If you have no idea what an empathy interview is, it's gonna be hard for you to conduct such," he said, noting he is meeting with Byron Middle School staff this week and has scheduled student listening sessions at the high school.

Board members asked how families will be chosen for outreach. Nate said he has not finalized family selection and welcomed board input, particularly to include both supportive and constructively critical viewpoints. He emphasized the plan's first year is not about getting everything right immediately but constructing a proof of concept and gathering baseline evidence to inform future decisions.

Nate also warned that a central challenge will be assessing proficiency on the plan's six target competencies, saying, "I already know our biggest hurdle is going to be how do we assess student growth on these six." He proposed using the listening work and playbook to create consistent measures and to return draft materials to the board at future leadership meetings.

Next steps: Nate said he would share the playbook with district leadership when ready and bring materials to the May work session for board review. The board did not take formal action on the plan at the April 6 meeting.