On behalf of our Board of Education, I am pleased to share the PAUSD Promise. This guiding document is designed to clearly, concisely, and coherently outline our critical priority areas, provide space to explore our aspirations, and determine metrics to monitor our progress.
We have created a tiered approach to telling our story. While the PAUSD Promise is a comprehensive look at our direction, the 19-20 At-A-Glance articulates our core beliefs in few words. The 19-20 Activities with Detail option allows readers to explore our activities aligned to our core beliefs in more detail, including metrics, financial investments, and actions designed to impact outcomes.
PAUSD Superintendent of Schools,
Don Austin, Ed.D.
Core Beliefs
Students
Actions & Behaviors - Performance - Options
- Preparation for college and career begins with attendance and appropriate behavior
- Our students will perform at or above grade level
- Students exit PAUSD advantaged for post-secondary opportunities
- Demographics do not determine excellence
Employees
Leadership - Teamwork - Development
- Distributive leadership accelerates systemic improvements and team success
- Alignment of efforts creates shared ownership of vision and outcomes
- From recruitment through retirement, employees evolve, grow, and promote
Our Priorities
High-Quality Teaching & Learning
All students are challenged to reach high standards and are provided an experience capable of accelerating learning through pedagogical academic supports, unobstructed access to rigorous courses, and an unwavering belief that our schools can positively impact the trajectory of each child.
Learn more about key strategies for High-Quality Teaching & Learning
Equity & Excellence
All students shall experience an environment characterized by acceptance, respect, and support to become invested in the pursuit of learning and excellence without fear of threat, humiliation, danger or disregard. Excellence shall become the norm for all regardless of background or demographics. Our schools shall embrace uniqueness, strengths, and challenges with support, understanding, expectations, and encouragement to succeed.
Wellness & Safety
Create a physical environment that promotes safety through established protocols and procedures, appropriate internal and external security systems, and routine emergency preparations.
Provide for the social, emotional, and physical health needs of students and staff and cultivate positive, identity-safe school environments that promote high levels of connection, engagement, and overall well-being throughout the school community
Special Education & Inclusion
Students with disabilities will be provided with appropriate identification and high-quality programs and services, in the least restrictive appropriate environment, designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for post-secondary opportunities.
Learn more about key strategies for Special Education & Inclusion
District Office Operations
Align with industry-standard protocols and practices to maintain efficient, well-paced, compliant, and fiscally-responsible management of District operations.
Learn more about key strategies for District Office Operations
Moving the Needle
The California School Dashboard is an online accountability tool that visually illustrates Palo Alto Unified's performance on state and local indicators. The Dashboard is utilized by all public school districts across California and categorizes performance into color bands in order of level: Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange, and Red. Performance levels are based on current year results and whether results improved from the prior year.
While the overall measures indicate high performance (Blue and Green) for our district, some student subgroups are not experiencing the same levels of success.
By executing on each of the key strategies listed in the priority areas, we will move the needle for all under-performing student groups (Red and Orange).
