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Portrait of a Graduate

Joplin Schools Portrait of a Graduate

Silhouette of a three students standing one behind the next. A small student is light grey, representing an early elementary student; a medium height student is mid-grey, representing a middle grades student; a tall student in a graduation cap is dark gray, representing a high school graduate. Taken together, these sizes and ages of student represent the scope of what Portrait of a Graduate encompasses.

These are the key qualities, traits, and skills our students will be taught to exemplify during their time in Joplin Schools.

 

The word 'Integrity' in white script on a deep red background.

 

The word 'Grit' in white script on a dark blue background.

 

The words 'Problem-Solving' are written in white cursive on a gray background.

 

The word 'Collaboration' in white script on a yellow background.

 

The word 'Communication' written in elegant white script on a light blue background.

What is a Portrait of a Graduate?

Portrait of a Graduate is about providing students, staff members, and our community with a clear idea about what qualities, traits, and skills we want our students to possess when their time in Joplin Schools is finished.

These are YOUR students, and this is YOUR vision for how they will show up in the community.

Core academics will be threaded throughout everything Portrait of a Graduate stands for, but the Portrait shows us the soft skills, the life skills, and the character competencies our community wants our graduates to exemplify.

What happens next?

Educators from all grade levels will integrate opportunities to grow these core competencies in their students through curriculum choices, project-based learning, community partnerships, and hands-on lessons.

Being successful in life requires our students to know how to work with others, bounce back from adversity, communicate well, and do so with a consistently aligned sense of character using responsible actions. We believe this Portrait of a Graduate will help our students be truly successful in life.

Thank you to the parents, staff members, students, business partners, and community members who helped create this Portrait. Go Eagles!

How did we create this Portrait of a Graduate?

A group of people gather around tables for a discussion at a Portrait of a Graduate focus group in the Black Box Theatre at Joplin High School. Principal Dr. Randy Oliver is addressing the audience from the stage, with a Portrait of a Graduate presentation in the background!

Step 1: Focus Groups

In November 2024, the Joplin Schools Portrait of a Graduate team invited more than 200 community leaders, industry leaders, district staff, educators, parents, and students to two separate Focus Groups. These events were held at Joplin High School, and served as a fitting kick-off for our Portrait of a Graduate work centered around community feedback. Attendees worked individually and in teams to learn about our district’s particular demographics and student makeup, hearing a variety of student stories to help center their understanding about what these students will need in order to be successful in their futures.

Focus Group participants were asked to consider our students’ unique but representative stories, then lean into what core competencies, skills, and abilities each Joplin student should be equipped with when they begin their lives outside of Joplin Schools.

Teams came up with dozens (hundreds!) of traits and competencies they felt Joplin students could use in order to build successful futures. Then, they refined those lists to prioritize the MOST important competencies. Things like grit, integrity, and self-advocacy were mentioned, alongside skills like communication, confidence, and perserverance. It was exciting to hear groups of students interacting with leaders in local industry and education as a team to discuss the potential within each of our Eagles.

Step 2: Community Survey

But we didn’t stop there – 200 fantastic participants was just the starting point for our Portrait of a Graduate process. Next, we gathered input from the broader Joplin community, based on the competencies that were most highly rated and prioritized during the Focus Group sessions.

For this survey (and during the Focus Groups), we used four specific areas to guide our thinking: Ethical/Moral, Intellectual, Performance, and Civic/Community. Each area allowed us to dig into the particular skills and competencies our students will need in their future careers and lives to be successful. It’s a balancing act centered on Joplin’s specific strengths and growth areas, so we needed Joplin’s voice.

To help narrow down the many, many suggested competencies our Focus Groups said were important for our students to possess, we invited community answers on a public survey in January 2025.

A large group of graduates in maroon robes stand together, celebrating their achievement. The text reads 'We need your voice! Portrait of a graduate.'

Step 3: Design

Once survey data was compiled and understood, the district’s Portrait of a Graduate team worked with district students on a graphic design process to exemplify the handful of final competencies our community has identified as our priorities. The student’s work informed the process of our district’s Graphic Design team on the final design, providing visual guidance to our students, staff, adminstrators, and Board of Education about where our efforts should be focused on student development outside of pure academics. As always, strong and growing academics will remain our topmost goal in Joplin Schools; but our Portrait of a Gradute will help provide the underpinnings our students need in order to be successful alongside our constant academic goals.

Step 4: Reveal

In August 2025, we unveiled to the community our final Portrait of a Graduate design for Joplin Schools. Posters of the Portrait will soon be delivered to and displayed in each building, district-wide.

Students, staff, and administrators will be guided through how to understand our Portrait of a Graduate, and how they can expect it to show up in future district processes.

We will continue to remind our staff and familes that Portrait of a Graduate isn’t just about a pretty graphic. The competencies and qualities that have been identified as MOST important for our students in our community will be built into curriculum and learning opportunities from PreK through 12th grade. 

A graphic promoting the qualities of a Joplin student, featuring silhouettes and key words: Integrity, Grit, Problem-Solving, Collaboration, and Communication.

Step 5: Integrate

Because we mean to offer intentional, quality guidance to our educators on how to integrate Portrait of a Graduate competencies into every grade level, this work won’t happen overnight, or even over one summer. Joplin Schools curriculum staff, educator team leads, grade-level leaders, department heads, and administrators will be doing the intensive work of building learning opportunities throughout PreK through 12th grade curricula.

This step will take the most time and will have long-reaching arms of support for our students and teachers as we build success stories together. Stay tuned, Eagles! The best is yet to come.

Thank you for supporting Portrait of a Graduate in Joplin Schools!

People are seated around round tables at a large meeting. One attendee, a woman, stands up with a microphone to address the crowd.
Four meeting attendees, some students and some adults, sit around a table filled with paperwork and writing utensils, discussing options.
Eight meeting attendees sit around a round table while a man stands, addressing this small group, discussing options.
A round table of attendees each focus on their own paperwork, writing and considering. Some attendees are students, some are adults.
In a large meeting room filled with round tables of attendees, one man stands facing the front of the room, holding a large piece of paper to present his group's work.
In a large meeting room filled with attendees seated at round tables, a line of high school students stands across one wall, preparing for their individual presentations.
In a large meeting room filled with attendees seated at round tables, 3 or 4 attendees stand holding large papers to show their group's collaborative work.
People are seated around round tables at a large meeting. One attendee, a woman, stands up with a microphone to address the crowd.
Four meeting attendees, some students and some adults, sit around a table filled with paperwork and writing utensils, discussing options.
Eight meeting attendees sit around a round table while a man stands, addressing this small group, discussing options.
A round table of attendees each focus on their own paperwork, writing and considering. Some attendees are students, some are adults.
In a large meeting room filled with round tables of attendees, one man stands facing the front of the room, holding a large piece of paper to present his group's work.
In a large meeting room filled with attendees seated at round tables, a line of high school students stands across one wall, preparing for their individual presentations.
In a large meeting room filled with attendees seated at round tables, 3 or 4 attendees stand holding large papers to show their group's collaborative work.