ACS Superintendent Dr. Wayne Vickers and Chief Academic Officer Dr. Amanda Wilbanks presented at the Cognia Impact Conference in Montgomery this month, showcasing how the district transformed vision into action through its initiative, “Promises Kept: A Blueprint for a Cohesive, Successful District.”
The presentation emphasized how ACS was founded on the promise of providing funding, equity, and opportunity for its community. “The community deserved change,” the presenters noted, and ACS began by establishing a sense of urgency and following Kotter’s eight-step process for creating major change
At the heart of the work was a bold, unifying vision: transforming a system of schools into a true school system. This vision became the foundation for shaping ACS into what it is today — a district known for its motto, “Champions of Our Future.”
Dr. Vickers and Dr. Wilbanks explained that success came from building strong teams, transparent leadership, and shared ownership. Stakeholders — from educators to parents to community leaders — were engaged as active partners and change agents, aligning around shared goals and a culture of continuous improvement
They highlighted how ACS built trust by telling its story openly, shaping its brand, and creating a shared narrative of success. This approach, they said, “turned every educator, leader, and stakeholder into a change agent.”
A major theme of the presentation was the district’s commitment to growing champions in the classroom. By focusing on personalized learning at scale and data-driven practices, ACS has seen measurable improvement across student subgroups. The district also invested in “growing champion teachers,” recognizing that teacher development is as essential as student achievement
Instructional strategies were anchored in research, particularly John Hattie’s Visible Learning, with an emphasis on shifting educator mindsets. “When it comes to impacting students’ learning, it’s less about what educators do and more about how we think about what we do,” the presenters explained
The ACS team stressed the importance of cycles of continuous improvement: planning, implementing, reflecting, and refining. They acknowledged that sustaining momentum requires replacing outdated practices with new ones aligned to evolving goals and accountability standards
The session concluded with a Blueprint for Action that encourages leaders to:
Lead with authenticity and clarity,
Align systems with vision and values, and
Engage the community as strategic partners.
Participants left with replicable practices, practical tools, and inspiration for sustaining transformation in their own districts.
As Dr. Vickers summarized, “Every promise kept builds the future our students deserve.”
See the full presentation of "Promises Kept: A Blueprint for a Cohesive, Successful District"