Aligning for Impact and Student Success in Meade County Schools
As a fifth-year partner with Studer Education, Meade County Schools continues to refine its systems, strengthen trust, and create meaningful learning opportunities for students and staff. Through a commitment to transparency, strategic hiring, and data-driven improvement, the district exemplifies what’s possible when leadership is focused on getting better at getting better.
A Journey of Trust, Alignment, and Excellence
Meade County Schools, a district of about 5,000 students in Kentucky, sits west of Louisville and near the Fort Knox military base. Superintendent Mark Martin, who stepped into the role in 2020, has led the district through a transformational journey, partnering with Studer Education to drive strategic improvement.
Three Celebrations
Building Trust and Transparency
When Dr. Mark Martin became superintendent, the district faced a “we-they” culture in the school community, prompting board members to prioritize leadership, trust, and transparency. Through consistent feedback and action, the district strengthened trust among leaders, employees, and parents. Survey results show significant growth in transparency, particularly in financial decisions and communication.
Recruiting and Retaining Top Talent
Like many districts, Meade County struggled with staffing and teacher shortages, particularly in high-need areas like math, science, and special education. Today, all positions are filled, and the district has applicants for even those hardest-to-fill roles. Dr. Martin attributes this success to key structural improvements that the district has made over the past five years to prioritize recruitment and retention.
Closing Achievement Gaps
For Meade County, education goes beyond hope—it requires a system. Meade County has built a hardwired culture of learning, ensuring all students have equitable opportunities. By focusing on intentional processes, the district has seen significant progress: “The last two years, we’ve had zero identified gaps from the federal government and from our state on our achievement scores for students that are minority, students that are free/reduced lunch, and students with disabilities.”
Their commitment to improvement extends beyond the district. Through Close the Gap Kentucky, Meade County collaborates with school districts and universities to share best practices for supporting all students, particularly those with disabilities.
Two Strategies
Strategic Communication for Lasting Impact
In 2020, Meade County lacked two-way communication. They responded by launching advisory councils, implementing parent and employee surveys, and progress monitoring their strategic plan every 90 days with a district scorecard. The district also improved communication with families, streamlining their messaging into a single platform based on parent feedback.
Social media has also become a powerful tool for Meade County. Assistant Superintendent Marc Adams has led an initiative on the Meade County Schools Facebook page to highlight Green Wave stories, reconnect employees to their purpose, and celebrate public education.
Tightly Aligned Instruction for Equity
Meade County operates as one large middle and high school system, ensuring consistency in student learning experiences. “We don’t want to be five fingers dangling in the wind. We want to be one fist packing a punch for kids every single day,” Martin said. Through vertical and horizontal alignment, teachers collaborate across grade levels, creating a district-wide Professional Learning Community (PLC). This eliminates unhealthy competition between schools and ensures all students receive equitable learning opportunities.
One Next Action
Sustaining Excellence Through Continuous Improvement
Meade County recently completed its first three-year strategic priority cycle and is preparing to unveil its next phase. Their goal is to cascade their district scorecard down to the school and department levels, ensuring every leader takes ownership of improvement efforts.
With guidance from Leader Coach Dr. Deanna Ashby, the district will unveil its new strategic priority cycle in March. “We’re going to expect our principals and department leaders by May of 2025 to have their version of that,” Martin shared. This next step will deepen the district’s culture of improvement, ensuring every level of the organization is aligned with its mission.
Through trust, alignment, and a focus on student success, Meade County continues to move forward with purpose and excellence.
