When this school year began, Superintendent Matthew Ray welcomed staff and shared a big goal—working together to achieve all Omaha Public Schools students reading at grade level by 2030. He outlined his vision for our district's "Moonshot."
"For me, it was about narrowing the biggest impact on the students we serve, and that was around literacy," Ray explained. "Literacy connects everything. It's the throughline to everything we do."
In the months before our district’s Moonshot announcement, staff publicly presented data that underlined the importance of this work. They shared assessment scores, which revealed that only 38% of third through eighth graders at Omaha Public Schools were proficient in reading and writing during the 2022-23 school year.
"We realize we have to raise the level of all students reading at grade level and also invest in closing the gap," said Omaha Public Schools Chief School Improvement Officer Susanne Cramer. "Our Moonshot is a big, ambitious and audacious goal - a singular focus for our district. This isn't just about launching a new initiative or a new program. It's about making literacy a top priority across the entire district."
While identifying literacy as the goal, and since that time as our district develops a plan to achieve it, leaders sought input and gathered feedback from staff, families, students and partners.
"We knew that we needed to bring people along and bring in experts, and those experts work in the Omaha Public Schools," said Ray. "Everyone in the organization will be and is working towards this goal."
Moonshot work extends beyond district walls. Omaha Public Schools has also engaged community partners.
"Our community partners have shown readiness and willingness to support our students and families," said Cramer. "As we work toward our Moonshot, they will be crucial to moving this forward together."
Staff reviewed feedback from the ongoing outreach and recently presented three steps that move this work forward. The work includes developing strong leaders at every level to guide this initiative, fostering stronger family connections and strengthening student-centered learning environments where each young person’s needs and experiences are prioritized.
"Having all of the stakeholders involved in this process and getting to hear input and feedback is so important in building a sense of community, especially with our teachers who are in the classrooms every day," said Jennifer Pudenz, a literacy lead coach at Highland and Conestoga Elementary.
The input, feedback and advice from staff and community members helped identify current challenges and areas for growth, such as inconsistencies within our district.
"This tells us how people feel about where we are and where we need to go to reach our Moonshot," said Cramer.
Our district is committed to ensuring every student has the opportunities and supports to achieve this goal.
"The word 'all' means that we believe all kids can learn and grow," said Cramer. "The student experience, for all students, matters. Our work for all students matters. And we're not assuming, from the beginning, failure of any group of students."
Superintendent Ray says literacy is at the heart of learning and overlaps with math, science and other core subjects.
"We can easily connect it to everything the student does and their experience at the Omaha Public Schools," said Ray. "This is not a hashtag or a gimmick. We are committed to making this goal and using terms of when, not if, we reach this goal."
March 2025
