SOUTH PORTLAND – Developing proficiency-based graduation standards, aligning instruction with essential learning targets, making community connections and providing staff development opportunities around building strong student-teacher relationships are among the goals of the South Portland School Department this academic year.

On Wednesday, after the Current’s deadline, the Board of Education and the City Council were set to meet in a joint session to hear Superintendent Suzanne Godin give her annual State of the Schools report. All the goals are centered around four key areas – teaching, learning, community and schools, according to the report.

In addition, the report includes a look at overall enrollment, 1,479 students at the elementary school level, 725 at the middle school level and 898 at the high school; the number of students receiving a free or reduced lunch, which is 41 percent district-wide; the number of students with some type of learning disability, 533; and those who are learning English as a second language, 217, with the highest number of those attending Skillin Elementary School.

The school department is also dealing with 40 students who are homeless and more than 300 who are chronically absent from school, along with below-average standardized test scores at several schools, including Memorial Middle School and Kaler and Skillin schools.

In terms of the four key areas, the school department wants to provide “methods of instruction (that) inspire and challenge learners to grow and prepare themselves for a lifetime of educational, career and personal fulfillment,” according to the report.

In the area of learning, the school department is trying to “ensure that all learners meet or exceed rigorous content standards while developing skills and habits of mind necessary for future success,” the report states.

For community involvement, the school department is hoping to “share a responsibility for creating and maintaining a rich and expansive environment for student learning,” according to the report.

And, in the area of staff development and the overall school environment, the department wants “every staff member (to) demonstrate a commitment to creating a fulfilling school experience for all learners,” the report states.

– Kate Irish Collins