United South Central Schools are kicking off a strategic planning process this spring. This process will allow our district to develop an up-to-date operational plan and provide direction and focus to our work. We are partnering with an organization called TeamWorks to facilitate this process. 

Our district’s strategic plan will be created with input from our students, staff, families, and community members with a focus on continuous improvement and delivering the best outcomes for students now and into the future. TeamWorks’ "Classroom to Boardroom" planning process is conducted in reverse, or upside down, compared to traditional strategic planning. We will start by identifying the needs of students, staff and families and end the process with the school board, who will create a strategic roadmap (mission, vision, core values) that aligns with the desired daily experiences of stakeholders. 

When TeamWorks engages with students, staff and families at the start of the process, they will focus on desired experiences versus asking, “What do you think the district should do over the next three to five years?” TeamWorks will ask primary stakeholders: (students, families, and staff) “When you engage with school or when you come to school, what is your desired daily experience? What does that look like? What does it sound like? What does it feel like?” This feedback will be used by the strategic planning team of teachers and administrators to set the table for building our operational plan. 

Our three-year operational plan will describe the work, initiatives, and activities needed to deliver on the desired daily experiences of our students, staff and families. The process also includes aligned building/department improvement plans and action cards for implementation. 

Following the operational plan development, TeamWorks will facilitate a process for the school board and superintendent to create the District Strategic Roadmap, which is an act of governance and describes the Mission, Core Values, Vision, and Strategic Directions of the district, in alignment with the work conducted by the strategic planning team. Prior to finalizing the roadmap, staff, families, and students are invited to provide their input and suggestions on the roadmap via a survey.   

Throughout the process, we will clearly define the components of the plan that are governance work, led by the board, and management work, led by administrators. When the planning process is complete we will have a clear and unified vision of the district's purpose and how to work together to bring about our desired outcomes and our core values.