"We’ve talked enough. It’s time to make it work," said CCS senior class president Stephen Guarneri. "I think we can definitely pull this together."

The district’s "Greatness in Our Sights" initiative officially kicked off last Wednesday, Sept. 13 with a ceremony attended by approximately 150 teachers, community members and students, said superintendent Mary Jo McPhail.

McPhail said six goals for greatness were unveiled at the ceremony and that several "2010 Teams" made up of parents, teachers, staff, students, administrators and community members would be established to help the school reach those goals by the end of the 2010 academic year.

"We think we’re off to a great start," she said. "So often in education we’re always required to react and respond to mandates that come from the state or federal government. This is something that we feel we’re’ initiating. That in and of itself will bring commitment and energy to the project."

The six goals are as follows:

Every student will leave fifth grade reading, writing and computing on or above grade level by 2010.

Every student will leave eighth grade reading, writing and computing above grade level by 2010.

Establish a requisite student portfolio of evidence (content to be determined) in order to graduate from middle school and high school.

Every teacher will be a strong contributor to student academic achievement and success.

Every student will be an active contributor to his or her academic achievement and success.

Every parent will be a strong contributor to student academic achievement and success.

The goals will be met through the implementation of various "prototypes," or new ways of teaching and enhancing the learning process. New prototypes will be added as needed and will likely come from both the 2010 teams and from community input.

Teams will be established at each level of education (elementary, middle and high school) and likely finalized and approved by the school board at its first meeting in October, McPhail said.

They will look at present practices and programs and look at areas where improvements are needed or where new prototypes may aid in reaching the goals, she said.

She said plans for the evidence portfolios are still being developed, but that they will be kept electronically and likely track each student’s academic achievements, participation in community service and participation in extracurricular activities.

While it will be difficult to measure the success of the three goals pertaining to student, parent and teacher contributions, McPhail said they were important statements to have in place.

She said an example of how those dynamics work can be seen in high school principal Gary Kuch’s meetings with ninth-grade students and their parents.

The goal of those meetings, which began again this year after they had not taken place for some time, is to plot out the long-range goals of those students.

Middle school principal Michael Cring said it will be important for the various groups _ parents, students, teachers, administrators and community members _ to work together if this initiative is to succeed.

"It really has to be ownership by all of us to do that," he said. "I think that we set the bar really high and we have a lot of work in front of us, but it’s important to set it high. We’re going to improve by doing this."

Elementary school principal Teresa Gorman said the GIOS initiative’s success will depend on the huge collaborative effort amongst staff, community, students, administrators and board members.

She said while many elements are already in place at the elementary level which ensure student success, their 2010 Team will evaluate what they have, determine what is needed and create action plans to make any necessary changes.

Guarneri, who was one of two students involved with the initial planning stages of the initiative, said that students are only somewhat aware of the GIOS plan, but that they will learn more about it now that it is moving into the implementation stage.

"This is a great start to greatness," he said.