The Courier June 2016 | Volume 23, Issue 9
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a division of Independent School District 15 Community Education | St. Francis, Minnesota Serving the communities of Andover, Athens Township, Bethel, East Bethel, Linwood Township, Nowthen, Oak Grove, St. Francis and Stanford Township
www.the-courier.org | news@isd15.org
Open exchanges of ideas—a strategic plan focus Nancy Wallace
Community Education Coordinator
One of the core values for the Independent School District 15 (ISD 15) Strategic Plan is, “Open exchanges of ideas and communicated planning are integral for continuous improvement.” The annual review of progress on the implementation of the Strategic Plan provided the opportunity for reflection, evaluation and direction focused on improvement. The core planning team met April 29 for a full day to review results of the current year’s work related to the Strategic Plan. This team is the group that developed the Strategic Plan, which was presented
to the School Board for approval in May 2015. The thirty members of the group include representatives associated with the district, parents, community members, students and members of the faith community. The three work groups organized for the current year reported on their work to the core planning team and offered recommendation for next steps. The first work group, focusing on “Every employee understands the Strategic Plan,“did much of their work this past summer. ISD 15 staff were welcomed to the start of the school year with presentations, posters, informational flyers and a
Preschool Place 15 students at the Lifelong Learning Center spent time this spring learning about the life cycle of butterflies. They concluded their study by releasing butterflies that they had observed from the caterpillar stage to butterflies. Jenny Dupre, ISD 15 Early Childhood Family Education Manager
video helping them become familiar with the Strategic Plan. In addition, there has been a focus on a core value each month through staff meetings, the district calendar and articles in The Courier. Work has also begun to integrate understanding of the Strategic Plan into new employee orientation, staff handbooks and interview questions. The core planning team recommended that this work group continue for the 2016-17 school year. A second work group focused on “ISD 15 has a recognizable and consistent brand.” The core planning team also recommended that this group continue its work into the next school year. Images were collected of ISD 15 schools and buildings, departments, signs, clothing, vehicles and so on. The plan is for the committee to review this data to determine commonalities which will help define or refine the ISD 15 brand. Part of this process will involve community input in the form of a survey and communication to all stakeholders. Final decisions for things such as logos, colors, names, etc., will be determined by a team comprised of the superintendent, a cabinet member, a school board member, the communications manager and the activities directors from St. Francis High School and St. Francis Middle School. A third work group was charged with working on “ISD 15 uses established protocols to support transparent communication to foster trust among all ISD 15 stakeholders.” This group developed a survey with the goal of gathering input from employees, parents and community members on a variety of questions related to communication, trust and safety. A little over 800 people responded to the survey during a sixweek period this spring. Many of those taking the survey not only completed the rating section, but also commented on several of the questions, offering feedback and suggestions. Survey results will be used to identify current perceptions of communication, trust and safety and provide input for creating districtwide plans to enhance communication processes. ISD 15 is working with Transformation Systems Limited (TSL) in the development and implementation of the Strategic Plan. Susan Hintz, from TSL, met with the core planning team April 29 to review the work done so far, identify trends, opportunities and threats to successfully achieve the mission and mission outcomes and recommend
priority areas for the next year. In addition to continuing the work already underway, other desired results statements chosen for consideration included: } ISD 15 employees understand their role, purpose and value in achieving the mission and mission outcomes } ISD 15 employees conduct themselves in a manner that promotes the strategic plan } ISD 15 utilizes diverse perspectives to develop team processes to make decisions relative to the mission } A framework is adopted by ISD 15 to support continuous improvement toward aligning all programs and services with the mission } Students, parents and community understand the mission and mission outcomes Superintendent Troy Ferguson will bring forth recommendations regarding the priority results statements at the June 13 School Board meeting. Purposeful planning is underway to provide ISD 15 administrative and teacher leaders with training and information related to the mission this summer. Each school and department will have a role in accomplishing our mission over the next four years—to equip all students with the knowledge and skills to empower them to achieve their dreams and full potential while becoming responsible citizens in a dynamic world.
2016 ISD 15 School Board Election Information Four of seven seats for the ISD 15 School Board will be decided in the 2016 general election; there will be no primary election. Candidate filing for the ISD 15 School Board is open August 2-16 at ISD 15 Central Services Center. The deadline to file is August 16 at 5:00 p.m. The general election will be November 8.
What’s Inside Schools in Action.............................................. 2 Community Education................................11 Community & Business...............................13 St. Francis Pioneer Days..............................15 Sports & Outdoors.........................................24 School Board Highlights............................26 Meetings, Events & Benefits.....................27 Life...........................................................................28