Dear New Rochelle Community,
Tuesday night, at the school district Board of Education meeting, I was excited to launch the next phase of our strategic planning process. The first phase was my 100-day listening and learning tour, and now we advance the conversations that will inform our future collaborative work.
The development of our strategic roadmap will be an inclusive process in which all stakeholders will be heard, including the voice of students, families, and the community. It is important that everyone throughout the City School District of New Rochelle and throughout the community of New Rochelle participate in this important work.
We began Tuesday’s meeting with an outline I presented to the Board that describes how we will develop our strategic planning process. During the presentation, board members broke into groups to examine the school district’s current vision statement, mission statement, and core set of beliefs. The presentation included questions for them to consider in their discussions: Where do you see our school district in five years? What will it be like to learn and work in New Rochelle schools?
Board member groups then presented highlights and findings from their discussions. Each came back with different messages about how they would work to improve the school district, but all groups shared similar concerns about issues currently facing the City School District of New Rochelle. Topics that were top of mind for board members included, envisioning the characteristics, traits and skills of a New Rochelle graduate; improving student attendance and engagement; educating the whole child: academically, socially, and emotionally; and that every child counts and is worthy of respect and caring.
More work is to come on the school district’s vision, mission and core set of beliefs and additional community input is needed to formulate them before the Board of Education adopts the final versions.
Community input is central to this process. Student and family input is vital to this process. We will keep the community up to date on our strategic planning work via school district newsletter updates, emails to our subscribers, regular updates to our Board of Education, and a future dedicated page on our school district website. Additionally, the website will list other ways in which each voice can be heard. The site will go live after we return from the mid-winter recess. We encourage each member of our community to learn more, stay engaged, and offer their thinking.
Community members will formally be able to contribute their sharing through community forums, focus groups, and electronic platforms, such as ThoughtExchange. The ThoughtExchange will be accessible through our website (www.nred.org). Comments and ideas are also welcome to be submitted to a dedicated email at StrategicRoadmap@nredlearn.org.
If we do this work well, it will lead to collaboratively designed, cutting-edge learning environments of tomorrow that are centered on student success, parent engagement in learning and decision-making, and cross-cultural, community-based networks that support students with enriching wrap-around services that extend to after school and summer.
The most important part of this process is your voice. We welcome your thoughts, ideas, creativity, and energy as we shape and transform the City School District of New Rochelle and the futures of our graduates.
Sincerely,
