Dr. Jo-Ellen Fairbanks became the fifth superintendent – and first female superintendent – in the history of the Luxemburg-Casco School District when she began her work on July 1, 2022. An educator within the state of Wisconsin for three decades, she spent much of her first year in the district listening and learning from students, parents and members of the community.

Heading into her second year leading L-C, Dr. Fairbanks sat down for a question-and-answer interview. She discussed a variety of topics, including what has impressed her about the district, the personal fit for her and her family, priorities and programs being implemented in the upcoming school year, her long-term vision for the district and the challenges she sees ahead.

Q:  Looking back on your first year as Luxemburg-Casco superintendent, what were the things that you learned or impressed you about the district?

JF:  I was impressed with the community support for the district. If we need something and a parent or community member can provide it, we just have to ask and somebody will answer our call. The community is proud of the district and the education their kids are getting here. They want to help it succeed. I’ve learned that there has been a lot of growth in the district over the last five years in curriculum, activities and programming.

Q:  How has the fit in Luxemburg-Casco been for you and your family?

JF:  The fit was better than I could have hoped for. Families have been very welcoming. My son, who came in as a junior, was welcomed by the other students, made friends and has found his niche in the school. That speaks to the family fit of the schools. Staff really try to make students feel welcomed.

Q:  What priorities do you have for the district in the coming academic year?

JF:  At the High School, we’re working on standards-based grading. This type of grading helps to ensure that students are meeting the state academic standards. It also answers the question, What is an A? What does it mean? It demonstrates that a student has shown proficiency in a certain set of skills, along with helping to quantify what kids are learning.

The Middle School is going to be piloting a program, “Away for the Day,” where students will not be allowed to have access to personal electronic devices during the day. The goal is to increase academic achievement and social skills, and to decrease bullying during the school day. We want the attention of our students back. By taking that distraction away, they can focus more on their learning.

An emphasis at the Intermediate School is going to be on their behavior intervention system. We want to strengthen it to help reteach behavior expectations and hold students accountable to those expectations.

We will be starting to adopt the Science of Reading philosophy in the younger grades, Kindergarten through Grade 3.

We also have leadership development ongoing with our staff, using the Initiative One in-sourcing process. The purpose is to develop staff decision-making and problem-solving skills and increase the opportunity for staff to be innovative and creative. All administrators have already been trained.

Over the summer, we have been providing youth mental health training to staff. Roughly 80-85 percent of our staff have already received this training. Our goal is to get as close to 100 percent as possible.

Q:  Are there any things you've heard from students, parents or the community that you plan to implement?

JF:  I met with a number of high-school students last year, and they expressed concern about weighted grades. We are expanding the amount of college credits students can earn in high school, but the weighted grade rules only apply to AP and certain courses. We listened to the students and have expanded the definition of weighted classes to recognize the difficulty of college-credit bearing classes.

Q:  Looking further out, what is your vision for the district and what do you see as reachable, long-term goals?

JF:  I want to build on the solid foundation that is already in place, and through improvement in teaching and curriculum increase student academic achievement. I want all of our students to gain the personal traits and social skills to be thriving members of society. I am also exploring ways to increase opportunities for students to find their passion and purpose.