Reimagining Readiness: How Saline Area Schools Refreshed Their Learner Profile to Reflect a Shared Vision for Success
A learner profile rooted in student growth, shaped by community input, and designed to resonate across classrooms, campuses, and central office.
In a world that demands more than academic achievement, school systems are increasingly turning to learner profiles—also known as portraits of a graduate—as a way to articulate what readiness really means. But too often, these profiles live in the abstract: packed with buzzwords, disconnected from local context, and hard to apply in everyday practice.
That’s not what happened in Saline Area Schools.
This past year, Homeroom had the honor of supporting Saline in refreshing their learner profile—the SAS Compass—to reflect not only what students need to thrive, but how the entire district community can align around that vision.
While the Compass is first and foremost a learner profile, it was designed with intention to connect to the everyday experiences of students, teachers, leaders, and staff—because building future-ready graduates means building future-ready learning environments, teams, and systems.
The original SAS compass, developed in 2016
Why a Refresh Was Needed
Saline Area Schools had developed a version of a learner profile nearly 10 years earlier, but like many districts, they found that it wasn’t fully resonating in practice. The ideas were sound—but the language was abstract, the structure wasn’t intuitive, and most importantly, it hadn’t become part of the everyday experience for students or staff.
In other words, it existed, but it didn’t live in the system.
District leaders recognized that if the learner profile was going to serve as a true north star, it needed to be:
Clear and compelling enough to be used by students and educators alike
Reflective of current community values and aspirations
Embedded across the system—from curriculum to coaching, from hiring to hallway conversations
The refresh wasn’t about starting over—it was about realigning the vision to match the moment and designing a tool that could actually guide day-to-day practice and long-term planning.
Listening to Learn: A Community-Led Process
Saline knew that a learner profile couldn’t be designed in isolation. It needed to grow from the voices and values of the community.
We began with a robust discovery and engagement phase, facilitating focus groups and empathy interviews with over 250 stakeholders—students, educators, support staff, families, and community partners. We asked:
What do you want our graduates to be ready for?
What mindsets and habits matter most for success?
How do we make those qualities visible, teachable, and lived?
From those conversations, four guiding ideas emerged. These became the foundation for a new kind of learner profile—one that centers the student experience but connects across the full school ecosystem.
Designing the SAS Compass: Student-Centered, System-Aware
The new and improved SAS Compass, developed in 2025
With themes in hand, we convened a cross-functional design team to translate them into a usable, student-facing profile. The result is the new SAS Compass, organized around four powerful, action-oriented cardinal directions:
Ignite Purpose
Explore Possibilities
Embrace Challenges
Build Connections
Each direction represents a core aspiration for what students in Saline will know, feel, and do—not only by graduation, but throughout their learning journey. At the center of the Compass are four core values that animate these directions: Community, Integrity, Growth, and Curiosity.
This structure makes the Compass uniquely actionable and memorable. It tells a story about the kind of learner Saline hopes to develop—and the kind of environment that helps every learner thrive.
Making It Real: From Poster to Practice
For Saline Area Schools, refreshing the learner profile wasn’t the end of the journey—it was the beginning of a deeper commitment to system-wide alignment. From the very start, the district knew the SAS Compass needed to be more than a beautiful visual or inspiring set of words. It had to become a living tool—one that could be seen, felt, and used across classrooms, offices, and decision-making tables.
To support this goal, Homeroom designed an implementation support process centered on clarity, coherence, and usability. Here’s how the district is turning vision into action:
Developing Look-Fors That Bridge Vision and Practice
One of the most important steps in implementation was translating the four Compass directions—Ignite Purpose, Explore Possibilities, Embrace Challenges, and Build Connections—into observable, grade-appropriate behaviors.
We worked with district educators to co-create grade-band classroom look-fors across K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12. These look-fors help answer key questions like:
What does it look like when a 1st grader is building connections?
How might an 8th grader explore possibilities in a science project?
What does it mean for a senior to truly ignite purpose?
These indicators now serve as both a reflection tool and a planning resource—empowering teachers to intentionally integrate the Compass into instruction and classroom culture.
Centering the Experience of All Stakeholders
Because the Compass was designed to resonate beyond students, we facilitated empathy-mapping exercises for teachers, staff, and administrators. These sessions explored what it would mean to live the Compass in each role:
How does a school leader embrace challenges in the face of competing priorities?
What does it look like for a paraeducator to build connections with students and colleagues?
How might a central office team explore possibilities when designing professional learning?
This work helped reinforce that the Compass isn’t just about student outcomes—it’s also about creating the conditions for adults to thrive alongside them.
Connecting to Strategy and Systems
To ensure sustainability, leaders in Saline made intentional moves to embed the Compass within existing structures and initiatives. That included:
Aligning the Compass with the district’s strategic plan goals and desired outcomes
Designing reflective questions and coaching tools for instructional leaders and PLCs
Exploring how the Compass could shape hiring, onboarding, and evaluation in future years
By integrating the Compass into current systems—rather than layering it on top—Saline positioned the learner profile as a unifying thread, not an extra initiative.
Equipping Leaders to Lead the Work
Finally, we supported district and school leaders in preparing to own and lead the next phase of implementation. Through facilitated workshops, resource toolkits, and planning templates, leaders built shared language and developed practical strategies to bring the Compass to life across their buildings.
This capacity-building work is critical. When leaders model the Compass attributes and use them to guide priorities, it signals that the profile isn’t aspirational—it’s operational.
What’s Next for Saline—and What Others Can Learn
The refreshed SAS Compass marks a major milestone—but it’s not the finish line. Saline Area Schools is now turning its attention to the slow, steady, and strategic process of implementation, knowing that true system change takes time, intention, and iteration. Rather than rushing to roll out the Compass everywhere all at once, the district is embracing a phased approach—one that builds capacity, fosters ownership, and allows the profile to take root in meaningful ways.
Here’s what’s ahead:
Phase 1: Build Awareness and Shared Understanding
The first stage of implementation focuses on inviting reflection and dialogue. Teachers, school leaders, and staff are engaging in Compass-based conversations and using new look-for tools to connect the profile to daily practice. This includes:
Advisory and team discussions centered on the four Compass directions
Student-led exercises exploring how the Compass shows up in learning and life
Department and building-level planning that uses the Compass as a framework for goal-setting
By starting with internal alignment, Saline is laying the foundation for long-term coherence.
Phase 2: Strengthen Systems and Structures
Next, the district will work to integrate the Compass into core operational and instructional systems, including:
Curriculum design and instructional planning
Professional learning and PLCs
Hiring practices, onboarding, and evaluations
Student-led conferences and capstone experiences
This phase ensures that the learner profile becomes a lens for decisions—not just a slogan on a wall.
Phase 3: Reflect, Adapt, and Deepen
True to the spirit of the Compass, Saline is committed to ongoing learning. The district will collect feedback from students and staff about how the Compass is showing up, where it’s resonating, and where more support is needed. Future goals include:
Developing student-facing rubrics or reflection tools
Hosting family and community events to build shared understanding
Expanding leadership development tied to the Compass attributes
This continuous improvement cycle reflects a belief that a learner profile is a living document—something that should evolve with the community it serves.
A Learner Profile That Leads—and Connects
At Homeroom, we believe a learner profile should be more than aspirational. It should be clear, contextual, and catalytic—anchoring a district’s vision while building shared commitment across roles.
The SAS Compass does exactly that. It’s a learner profile that defines what students need to thrive—and invites everyone in the system to support, reflect, and grow alongside them.
Is your district ready to refresh your learner profile—or take it from poster to practice?
Let’s build something that moves your entire system in the same direction.