The Kenai Peninsula Borough lies directly south of Anchorage, the State's principal population center. The waters of the Gulf of Alaska and Prince William Sound border the borough on the south and east with the dramatic Chigmit Mountains of the Alaska Range rimming the borough to the west. The Cook Inlet divides the borough into two land masses. The peninsula itself encompasses 99 percent of the borough's population and most of the development. The west side of the Inlet is sparsely inhabited, with the village of Tyonek being the largest populated settlement.  

The Kenai Pennisula Borough School District covers 25,600 square miles which is larger than the entire state of West Virginia. 2827 students are transported 7,725 miles, daily, on school buses.  The district’s total student population is 11% Alaska Native.

KPBSD is the largest employer on the Kenai Peninsula, issuing over $4.8 million, monthly, in gross payroll.  Fifty-one percent of the district’s certified staff members have been associated with the KPBSD education team for 10 years or more.  Approximately 76% of all graduates, district wide, enroll in post secondary education or training.

Mission

The mission of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District, in partnership with the richly diverse communities, is to develop creative, productive learners who demonstrate the skills, knowledge, and attitudes to meet life’s challenges, by providing stimulating, integrated learning opportunities in a safe, supportive environment.

Goal #1 – Organizational Competence: KPBSD will adequately provide services to students in order to prepare them to thrive in a 21^st century global economy and society.

The District will do this through:

Step A: Assuring all students a safe, respectful, student-centered, and welcoming environment in which to learn.

Step B: Teaching students well with:

• Non-negotiable goals for achievement and instruction (i.e., all students  performing at grade level or having a plan  and supports in place to attain proficiency)
• Comprehensive, integrated, creative curriculum
• High quality, energized staff
• Varied and diverse instructional methodologies
• Continuous progress monitoring and adjustment for learning
  
  

Goal #2 - Organizational Improvement: KPBSD will continuously and thoughtfully enhance the value and quality of its personnel and services utilizing data and input.

The District will do this through:

Step A: Having outside entities audit, provide recommendations for improvement, and have the District adopt necessary changes in specific areas such as:

• Communications
• Building utilization (right sizing of buildings for infrastructure, yet providing for shared community and school spaces)
• Energy/efficiency
• Work classifications (job responsibility review)
• Data warehousing and use

Step B: Developing and adopting a long-term comprehensive model for professional development

• Focusing on student achievement
• Providing aligned, effective, relevant, engaging, curriculum and instruction using research-based “best practices” and “high yield strategies”
• Building on past training while meeting future needs
• Utilizing multiple delivery models
• Assuring training is embedded, sustainable, and addresses changing personnel
• Emphasizing collaboration
• Implementing changes with fidelity, intensity, and consistency

Step C: Building a system that accepts responsibility for the continual progress of all students, making sure all students’ needs are met at every level.

Goal #3 - Organizational Agility: KPBSD will be a responsive organization able to move quickly and easily as new information and changing circumstances dictate.

The District will do this through:

Step A:  Providing maximum, quality choices in classes, programs and schools.

Step B: Continuing and expanding work with local providers assuring “safety nets” for all students.

Step C: Nurturing and expanding partnerships in the community and state to provide additional opportunities for students, particularly in areas of critical need.

Step D: Continuing ubiquitous technology integration and implementation as well as exploring and adopting appropriate emerging technologies to improve student performance and prepare students for their future world.

Step E: Providing individualized learning plans and flexible accommodations for students to reach their highest personal potential.

The individualized plan will:

• Be developed by a team of student, parents, and school professionals
• Engage students in their own learning and provide a clear path to success
• Expect differentiations in classrooms
• Provide menus/choices in delivery systems
• Include interventions that work
• Supple individual coaching focused on marketable and life skills
  
  

Goal #4 – Organizational Sustainability: KPBSD will be a stable, viable, vibrant organization focused on students and plans regardless of changes in leadership and personnel.

The District will do this through:

Step A: Securing sufficient monetary resources for meeting the needs of students now and in the future.

Step B: Being efficient as an organization, ensuring the greatest portion of resources possible used to directly impact student learning.

Step C: Providing extensive leadership development throughout multiple levels of the organization.

Step D: Using the District’s strengths (unique geographic location, technology infrastructure, and collaborative team structure) as tools for attracting and retaining quality personnel as well as developing a sense of self, sense of place and sense of community for students.

There are currently six schools participating in QS2 within the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District:

District Website Link