SMETHPORT — Since becoming superintendent of the Smethport Area school District last year, David London, a strong advocate for small and rural schools, has been guided by the maxim: “Support the Child — Develop the Student,” a theme that is included in the district’s Comprehensive Plan.

A school and community committee developed the plan during the 2015-16 school year and was approved by the school board.

This multi-year plan, which must be renewed every three years to meet the Pennsylvania Department of Education requirements, includes goals for a curriculum system, effective instructional practices, focused professional development, student support in all areas of development, effective assessment system, high quality curriculum assets and an effective assessment system, according to London.

“My job as superintendent is to execute the plan and make sure these goals are met,” he said. “We are on our way to doing that.”

London succeeds Dr. Charles Leasure, who retired after 46 years in education. Leasure’s assistance helped make for a smooth transition to a new chief school administrator.

London’s initial goals for the district were to learn about the district, analyze district needs, develop a standards aligned curriculum and align professional development to the needs of the instructional staff.

First year accomplishments include meeting initial goals of learning about the school district and community and completing revisions to the district emergency operations plan.

“Additionally,” London said, “Phase I of our curriculum project is 95 percent complete. Consistent with our Comprehensive Plan, we have started mapping our curriculum.” Phase I began during the 2016-17 school year, and that included recording exactly what is happening in the classrooms in terms of educational objectives, state educational standards and core educational standards, materials and assessments.

London said, “This year we enter Phase II of the mapping project where we check our draft maps to be sure that all teachers are on the same page and that the curriculum is linked up with expectations set for by the PDE.

“Also on this school year’s schedule is work to assure the curricula at each grade level are working together to provide all students with a quality learning experience as they move from pre-K through grade 12.”

In the final Phase III of the project, the district will fine tune the curricula to be certain that specialized standards for STEM — science, technology, engineering and mathematics — education, computer, career development and other areas are included throughout the pre-K through 12 program.

“During Phase II, we will also focus on our assessment program and be sure that we are assessing students on higher levels of thinking skills and working to develop the 21st century skills required for success in today’s world,” London stated.

London points with pride to the district’s new reading program in the primary grades. “At the root of our educational program, we need to develop students who are strong readers and enjoy reading,” he noted. “Experts in education agree the best way to teach reading is with the Guided Reading Method, where the basic idea is to teach reading skills on the individual child’s reading level and in small groups. As each student reads at level or just above or below levels, they gain confidence in their skills and enjoy reading much more.”

With this in mind, London said  each student progresses much faster in skill development and improves to his or her maximum ability.

Teachers work in teams to deliver this reading instruction to small groups of students, and this approach becomes very student-centered.

In the primary grades, the district has placed approximately 90 tablets to aid teachers in the guided reading instruction, English language arts skill development and math skills.

London said, “We are off to a positive start with this program in grades K-three, noting the assistance he received from professionals in the Bradford Area School District. “Our dedication to making this work for our students will be ongoing with support from Intermediate Unit 9, professional development and lots of books and resources.”

Chromebooks are now being used primarily at the high school, where a team of four teachers is using 90 new Chromebooks with their students and classes.

London also mentioned the district is making strides in professional development.

As for his future goals for the district, London said he plans to pursue improved career awareness and education, increased technology use, improved instruction in math, reading and science at the elementary level, as well as better use of community resources to support the families and students and education to the students.

What are some of the challenges facing school superintendents?

For London, the challenges include inadequacies and inequities in funding for rural Pennsylvania schools and education in general, increasing costs and unfunded mandates, declining enrollment, poverty and declining family engagement in education and time to fit everything into 185 days of school for teachers and 189 days for students.