FILE:  IB

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

The Plaquemines Parish School Board recognizes that it has a responsibility for educating all students in the Parish who are capable of learning, regardless of their abilities, race, color, national origin, or creed.  It recognizes that the entire person comes to school, and that the school cannot well ignore his/her health, character, and total personality development.  However, it also recognizes that the school cannot assume complete responsibility for the total development of the student.  This responsibility is shared by the home, the church, and the total community with its various organizations and environmental conditions.

The Board thus recognizes that the school is but one of several institutions in society and in the community responsible for the educational development of students, and that the primary responsibility of the Board should be the achievement of those educational goals which are uniquely those of the school and for which the other institutions of society and community do not assume major responsibility.

The Board believes that the most important educational task assigned to the school is that of maximum intellectual development of students, including the development of their ability to apply their intellect to the solution of the problems of citizenship in a democratic society.  Therefore, the Plaquemines Parish School District shall concentrate its resources and develop an educational program to discharge its responsibilities.

The Board further recognizes, however, that if the education of its students is to be complete, the educational tasks of other community institutions must be supported and reinforced.  Thus, the Parish shall assume shared responsibility for the physical development, social-emotional development, and ethical-moral development of its students.

Consistent with the above statement of priorities, the school district shall assume primary responsibility for and instruct each student toward his/her maximum achievement of the following educational goals:

1. An inquiring mind, with a continuing desire for knowledge and maximum educational effort, including the development of effective study skills and habits;
   
   

2. The ability to think clearly and accurately, draw conclusions, make decisions, and take action based on evidence;
   
   

3. Proficiency in the use of the basic tools of learning in functional problem solving and in the acquisition of information, facts, and knowledge about the world and its people;
   
   

4. Proficiency in the skills of communication including the ability to express himself/herself clearly and accurately, both in writing and speech, and the ability to listen effectively and critically;
   
   

5. Knowledge of man, his nature, his environment, and his relationship to the society in which he lives, with emphasis on his responsibilities and rights as a citizen, including the study of history, geography, civics, economics, and the arts;
   
   

6. Knowledge of science and proficiency in the use of scientific method of problem solving;
   
   

7. Knowledge of mathematics and proficiency in the use of the fundamental process of quantitative reasoning and expression;
   
   

8. The ability to become an independent learner; and,
   
   

9. The ability to use leisure time wisely.

In keeping with these principles, the school district also shall be concerned with and assume shared responsibility by providing instructional activities which supplement the efforts of other institutions and community agencies toward the attainment of the following:

1. The power of personal discipline and moral integrity, without which education is mere training;
   
   

2. The information, guidance, and training necessary to help students make wise educational and occupational choices;
   
   

3. The health, both physical and mental, of each individual student with an aim to participation in physical game skills;
   
   

4. The social and moral competence of each student toward responsible membership in our democratic society;
   
   

5. The knowledge and practice of personal and community safety; and,
   
   

6. The active interest of each student in aesthetic experiences with the skills and attitudes necessary for satisfying self-expression in the creative arts.

Adopted:  November 1, 2010

Ref:     Plaquemines Parish Accountability Plan

Plaquemines Parish School Board