Our theme for the year is “Connected in Purpose, United in Practice.” At Jenison High School, this motto is purposeful and driven by initiatives that are student and staff-centered. We know that when adults learn together, our students do better. So professional learning communities have taken root and are thriving at JHS. Every student is connected to an adult through meaningful connections and evaluated by relationship mapping, and student voice is elevated to create a supportive climate and culture.
Division Lead
Our teams have a common collaborative team time every week to process formative data, discuss best practices, and plan for weekly intervention time for our kids. To ensure our teams are hearing the same guidance, we have established a leadership structure with the help of union leadership to support our collaborative work. We have installed division leads in each of our core subject departments and special education. The division lead’s role is to remove any barriers that may exist for their teams that may hinder collaboration or data analysis. Our division leads are not administrators. They teach four classes per day, have one hour of prep, and one hour of division lead duties. During their division lead time, they meet with collaborative team leads to clarify protocols, coordinate formative assessment data for the teams, and align the district and building goals to individual team goals. Division leads meet weekly with the Director of Teaching and Learning and form their own PLC around leadership and coaching. Building administration partners with division leads as members of the building leadership team to keep them informed of MTSS work and progress toward goals. Students benefit from this structure because teachers determine the most effective instructional practices and can offer intervention and implement strategies the next day.
Challenges: Building a master schedule to support this work is a collaborative process involving central office and union leadership and should be included in contract negotiations as well as district strategic planning.
Relationship Mapping
All students are connected to an adult through moments of meaningful connection. Our dean of students and 31N mental health professional have partnered to walk our staff through a relationship mapping protocol to evaluate connections throughout our building. Other schools in our region have been working on this as well, and we have seen an improvement in student behavior as a result of this work. Shout out to Todd Simmons, Principal at Cedar Springs High School, and Ben Armey, Principal at Spring Lake High School, for their guidance and collaboration around this work.
Challenges: Determining what a moment of meaningful collaboration constitutes marking a student as “connected,” and revisiting those connections.
Student Advisory Council
Elevating student voice and choice is a building goal at JHS. This year, in addition to supporting student interest groups, we have developed the Wildcat Student Advisory Council. This group is free to join and meets monthly during our Advisory period. The purpose of the group is to gather qualitative feedback on numerous topics from groups of students from all walks of life. The Superintendent and I create the agenda and intentionally choose students from different grades and engagement levels. The greatest takeaway thus far is the work we are doing with our new students and their positive experiences thus far. This group is also a great place to share the vision for bond projects and gather their input on school design and policy.
Challenges: Pulling students from academic intervention time for student voice initiatives is a challenge. To mitigate this, we collected a set of names, but only invited six students at a time to each session and never requested a student for back-to-back sessions.
At Jenison High School, being Connected in Purpose, United in Practice is more than a theme—it’s a framework for how we lead, learn, and grow together. By aligning professional collaboration, relationship-based support, and authentic student voice, we are building a culture where staff and students thrive in tandem. The impact of these efforts extends beyond individual classrooms, creating a unified system that is intentional, responsive and deeply student-centered. When our purpose is shared and our practices are aligned, the collective strength of our learning community becomes our greatest asset.