The ConVal School Board approved the district’s five-year strategic plan at a meeting Dec. 6.
The plan, which is done every six years, will act as a roadmap for the district to follow through 2028, highlighting specific projects and goals for long-term sustainable growth. The plan includes district priorities, how the district will measure success and core and supporting metrics, as well as a fully linked glossary and more, according to a press release sent by the district.
“The community played an important role in developing this comprehensive plan, which will guide us as we navigate the next five years. We truly believe it reflects the core goals of our community, and will help us to better serve our students and staff in the long run,” School Board Chair Janine Lesser stated. “I want to thank all the community members, faculty and staff, who played an instrumental role in bringing this plan to fruition.”
The strategic planning process began last fall following the creation of a Strategic Plan Steering Committee and subcommittees consisting of staff, parents and community members. As part of the strategic planning work, community members were invited to partake in a survey on their vision for the future of the district. Following the completion of the survey, ConVal contracted Think Strategy, a digital consulting company, to conduct focus groups to provide deeper insight into community members’ feedback.
Subcommittees for curriculum and instruction, finance and capital planning, co-curricular and athletics, personnel, wellness and technology reviewed survey results and focus group feedback on their areas of concern and developed draft goals based on that feedback. The Strategic Plan Steering Committee subsequently worked to develop priority areas for the district and goals for the administration.
The plan is organized by five priorities: quality curriculum and instruction, supportive structures and climate, supportive structures for diversity, equity and inclusion and accessibility; effective and efficient organizational structures, financial processes and infrastructure; and maintenance of high-quality staffing through retention, recruitment and cultivating and maintaining a desirable work climate.
According to a draft of the plan, aims for curriculum and instruction include “streamline student assessments, align them to standards and curricula, and use the resulting data to inform instruction, identify student needs, utilize interventions and monitor student progress.”
For supportive structures and climate, goals include “look at options to push back the start time for middle school and high school as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.”
Under the category of supportive structures for diversity, equity and inclusion and accessibility, objectives include ensuring that “resources across all district programming promotes equitable opportunities for all students.”
For effective and efficient organizational structures, financial processes and infrastructure, the draft plan seeks to “analyze consolidation and reconfiguration to assess the academic, social, community, and financial benefits and opportunities.”
In the category of maintenance of high-quality staffing, goals include implementing “high-quality professional development that promotes internal growth and leadership opportunities.”
The plan states that the overall goal “is to eliminate opportunity gaps and support the needs of the whole student through safe and healthy learning environments, always moving toward excellence.”
“Education systems, as well as our broader community, continue to change and evolve in the post-pandemic environment. As we reflect on lessons learned, the school district must shift to meet the needs of our students,” the plan states. “Acknowledging that building on student success requires reimagining education and the possibilities. This change includes ensuring that students have the necessary content knowledge as well as core skills related to communication, collaboration, critical thinking, creativity and citizenship and social-emotional health.”