By: Natasha L. Adams, Superintendent
In early March, the West Clermont School District kicked off our strategic planning journey with a Thoughtexchange, asking stakeholders to answer the following question: What values, skills, mindsets, experiences and opportunities do our students need to be successful in learning and in life? Information gathered from this ThoughtExchange will help us create a collective vision that articulates the community’s aspirations for all students.
Beginning our planning with the “end in mind” will support the development of a three-year roadmap for living our mission to provide a safe, united, academically challenging environment where all students achieve excellence. This will not be easy as we must develop a plan that respects our shoestring budget and which recognizes that we are already “going without” things we need in our classrooms. This is a real limitation that we face and any plan must accommodate this.
In developing the plan, we will utilize the input from students, staff, parents, business leaders, and community members, research the most effective educational practices and gather information about our academic data, programs, and services to develop our plan. We will build on our current themes: Academic Achievement, Courageous Culture, Future Ready, Community of Leaders, and Operational Excellence to align plans as well as develop objectives, annual goals, and detailed strategies to achieve our goals.
Knowing that stakeholder engagement and involvement in decisions is an important value in West Clermont, we will begin to have stakeholder engagement events and listening sessions later this month that will continue until the end of the school year to create a unique district strategy aligned to goals, gain vital buy-in and build the district’s competitive advantage.
Going forward, I will continue to use this blog as a way to communicate with you about the important insights we are gaining and the planning that is taking place to strengthen our ability to create a world-class educational system.
