Blueprint for Excellence Strategic Plan, 2025-2026

Adopted by the Southwestern CSD Board of Education on September 18, 2025.

Dear Members of the Southwestern School Community,

It has never been more important to be focused, aligned, and intentional in our work. We are very excited to share the results of our collaborative efforts to develop plans that will help us continue growing and improving as we always strive for excellence.

Our “Blueprint for Excellence” is the result of planning sessions that were held with our Board of Education, Leadership Team, staff, parents, and community members. We worked with feedback gathered from the community in the fall of 2023 as we developed a plan to help us continue growing and achieving excellence in all that we do. In August 2025, the Administrative Team met and updated this plan based on two years of work with this.

This plan will be the backbone for what we do. It will serve as a roadmap for our efforts to connect with each child and family, while also enhancing our connections as a school and a community. We’re in this work together and look forward to being your teammate in our continued effort to be a model school of excellence.

Thank you for your feedback and support. Your collaboration and teamwork make all the difference in the lives of children and the success of the district.

Sincerely,
Molly Moore      
Superintendent of Schools

Kurt Gustafson
President, Board of Education

Process Introduction and Overview

Blueprint Planning is intended to:

• Involve all members of the school community and reflect their shared perspectives.
• Allow stakeholder representatives to review community feedback to clearly define the district’s mission, vision, and core values.
• Engage a team in defining the priorities of the district and suggesting action steps to accomplish objectives.
• Facilitate action planning focused on identifying who, when and how the work will get done.
• Provide the district with a road map that is transparent, accountable, and focused.
• Enable the district’s efforts to innovate, allocate resources and continuously grow in a coordinated, thoughtful, and aligned manner.
• Be an iterative, evolving, and ongoing process that builds from one year to the next while reflecting emerging needs and changing demands.

Steps in the Southwestern Planning Process

• September 2023: Community feedback gathered
• October 2023: Draft Mission/Vision/Core Values developed by the Board of Education and Leadership
• October 2023: Community team assembled, Mission/Vision/Core Values reviewed, priority areas developed, strategies suggested Team
• November 2023: Action plans developed that specifically identify what will be done to meet the objectives of each priority area and who will be responsible for leading the work
• Winter 2023-24: Revisions and review completed by the Leadership Team, communication to the community and implementation of the plan with stakeholders
• August 2025: Blueprint updated by the educational leadership team

Southwestern’s Mission, Vision, & Values

Who We Are

At Southwestern, our shared core purpose, aspirations and expectations are clear:

Our Mission

Learning for All: Engaging and Preparing for Future Success

Our Vision

Southwestern: A community providing a comprehensive and relevant education that enables every student to achieve.

Our Core Values

To accomplish our mission and achieve our vision, we will:

• provide a physically, socially, emotionally safe and inclusive learning  environment
• demonstrate passion for our work and a commitment to our students
• always act with integrity, empathy, and acceptance
• hold each other and ourselves accountable for excellence in everything we do
• build mutually beneficial relationships with caregivers and community partners
• honor achievement and promote pride in ourselves, in our school, in our community, and in our region
• build and maintain rich traditions
• promote Trojan kindness for all

INTEGRITY * KINDNESS * CONNECTIONS * EXCELLENCE

Our District

The Southwestern Central School District serves approximately 1,350 students. Our district comprises three buildings. Southwestern Elementary School, which opened in September 2002, serves grades Pre-K-5; the Middle School, which serves grades 6-8, and the High School, which serves grades 9-12.

Employment in the district comprises 149 faculty members and 88 non-instructional personnel. There are principals in each of the three schools, with an assistant principal in the elementary school and a secondary principal in the high school.

The Southwestern Central School District is distinguished by a well-educated faculty that is committed to excellence. Parent and community participation and support is acknowledged as essential to maintaining an environment for effective learning. 

Our Community

The Southwestern Central School District is located on the west end of the city of Jamestown, New York. Included in the district are the villages of Lakewood and Celoron, the Town of Busti, rural areas, and the suburban area of West Ellicott. Jamestown and the surrounding area comprise a population of approximately 67,000 people located 40 miles east of Erie, Pa., and 70 miles southwest of Buffalo.

People who work in professional, business, industrial, and agricultural occupations reside in the district. Transportation and housing facilities in the area are good, with a shuttle air service connecting Jamestown to Cleveland. A hospital and several clinics are in the area. There are many residential areas to suit the needs of owners, and all are conveniently located near shopping and business districts, including a mall in Lakewood. There are approximately 50 houses of worship, representing 19 denominations, which provide a local abundance of churches for the population.

Year-round outdoor recreation abounds throughout the Chautauqua Lake area. Excellent hunting and fishing, along with many areas suitable for hiking and horseback riding, complement the fine golf courses, ski resorts, state parks, and the renowned Chautauqua Institution, which attracts world leaders in the fields of music, medicine, politics, journalism, and religion.

The National Comedy Center, Reg Lenna Civic Center, and Little Theatre offer entertainment year-round, and the area is home to several museums. Service clubs and fraternal organizations are active in the community, and the area is served by Jamestown Community College. Several four-year institutions of higher education are within a 70-mile radius.

The Southwestern Central School District community is an excellent place for both individual and family living.

Our Leadership

Board of Education

Mr. Kurt Gustafson, President 
Dr. Elizabeth Laczi, Vice President    
Mr. Richard Hartmann
Mr. Michael Carothers
Mr. Troy Durnell
Mr. Joshua Gesing
Mr. Kenneth Macdonald

2025-2026 Ex-Officio Co-Student Members:
Lucy Brown
Lincoln Bockrath

Administration

Molly Moore, Superintendent of Schools
Kaitlin Ring, Director of Instructional Services
Annette Rhebergen, School Business Official
Amy McCloskey, Director of Pupil Personnel Services
Matt Kindberg, High School Principal
Greg Lauer, Middle School Principal
Marielle Guido, Asst. High School Principal
Mike Butler, Elementary School Principal
Sarah Peterson, Asst. Elementary Principal

Our Plan

We will improve academic outcomes for all students and ensure student engagement and achievement by strengthening our documented Tier 1 curriculum, implementing evidence-based instructional strategies at all tiers and aligning assessment and grading practices to essential learning standards and skills. Our goal is to ensure all students reach our vision through instruction shaped by our guaranteed and viable curriculum that is vertically and horizontally aligned. This enables teachers to provide consistent rigorous learning goals for all students and enables students to set, monitor and reflect on personal learning goals aligned with priorities. We strive to improve our system so all instructional staff implement highly effective teaching practices to maximize student learning. Student learning is measured in multiple ways, and students are provided meaningful feedback to improve their learning and content knowledge. Through the work of Professional Learning Communities, collaborative teams work collectively to ensure high levels of learning for all students through a multitiered system of support (MTSS), that focuses on high levels of learning.

We will improve academic outcomes for all students and ensure student engagement and achievement by enhancing communication with families related to curriculum, learning and safety. Thoughtful, intentional communication with families is critically important so they may understand what their children are learning and be able to further support them. Regular family engagement and communication between home and schools improves student achievement and outcomes. Additionally, we will seek out and enhance partnerships with community members, businesses and organizations. These ongoing partnerships strengthen student learning and offer opportunities for real world experiences.

We will improve academic outcomes through professional learning for all staff. Through continued professional learning and opportunities for staff to learn from one another, teachers and staff grow in their practices. All instructional staff participate in research-based professional development, aligned with our Strategic Plan priorities and receive support to effectively implement these practices. This prioritized professional learning increases our collective capacity, content knowledge and our effective use of current instructional strategies to meet the learning needs of all students. In addition, we will build the capacity of our academic system by ensuring all non-instructional staff participate in professional development to continually improve our practices that support our learning system for our students.

We will improve academic outcomes through the integration of all learning environment systems, structures, components and processes in a fiscally sound district. The systems and processes that support our learning environment must be coherent, efficient, and aligned to our mission, vision and core values.  These systems include facilities that allow for maximized productivity of both students and staff. 

Our Priority Areas 2025-2026

THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE

• Behavioral expectations
• Advanced coursework/academic rigor
• Supervision
• Alternative pathways
• Learning for all
• Mental health
• Co-curricular opportunities

COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS

• Parent involvement
• Communication
• Connections with staff
• Capital improvement planning
• Partnerships with business and community organizations

THE STAFF EXPERIENCE

• Community building
• Professional learning communities
• Effective instructional practices
• Retaining and recruiting highly effective staff

SAFE AND WELCOMING ENVIRONMENT

• Positive culture and climate
• Safety and security
• Facility enhancements
• Technology

Our Objectives and Strategies

Priority Area 1: The Student Experience

Objective: Continue to improve SEL practices, expand exposure to regional occupational opportunities that lead and develop new pathways for students.  Increase co-curricular activities that enhance the student experience for all students.

Priority Area #2 Community Connections

Objective: Improve communication with all staff, students, caregivers and community members.

Priority Area #3 The Staff Experience

Objective: To become a renowned district where others want to work. Build connections and model “Trojan Kindness” within our community and classrooms. Build and promote an attitude of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Priority Area #4 Safe and Welcoming Environment

Objective: Create a safe and comfortable learning and school environment. 

What We’ve Accomplished

Our Next Steps and Accountability

2023-2024 Blueprint Team

• Jade Barber
• Scott Cooper
• Vita Damon
• Maureen Donahue
• Kurt Gustafson
• Declan Kennedy
• Tracey Keppel
• Matt Kindberg
• Gretchen Lindell
• Laury Marshall
• Amy McCloskey
• Katie Miley
• Molly Moore
• Danielle Patti
• Sarah Peterson
• Tammy Peterson
• Tom Priester
• Taylor Putney
• Lori Radack
• Kaitlin Ring
• Danielle Ross
• Sarah Rounds
• Rich Rybicki
• Mike Seastedt
• William Smock
• Charlie Stafford
• Katie Weilacher
• Connor Young

Revised 2025-2026 Blueprint

Updated by Southwestern CSD administrators with valuable input from our stakeholders.

 Current DISTRICT-WIDE EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLAN

Cardiac Emergency Response Plan Annex

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