News from the Superintendent's Office

School Board Future Direction Planning process

If we are a top performing school system what goes on in our schools each day? If our community expects, values and supports teaching excellence, what types of programs and activities characterize our school district?

These, along with other related questions, spawned some creative thinking and dynamic discussions at two recent meetings hosted by the Cape Elizabeth School Department and School Board. The meetings, held on Monday, November 20 and Tuesday evening, November 28, for faculty and community members, respectively, are part of the District’s strategic planning process.

Focus on strategy for the school district has been renewed over the past several months after being sidelined in recent years due to school department personnel changes and budget issues. The current process is aimed at updating the school system’s “Future Direction Plan”, a five-year strategic plan crafted during a comprehensive and inclusive community process and adopted by the School Board in 2001. The duration of the plan under development now, will be two years, rather than five. This is in response to the rapid pace of change in the education environment today, and the belief that a shorter time horizon will allow for more manageable and measurable results.

While the data from the initial two meetings is still being compiled, several common themes emerged from the conversations which took place. Among these, was a desire for more personalized learning plans which would best suit a student’s strengths and support their weaknesses; a school calendar which would provide flexibility for alternative/expeditionary educational programming options for students and varied professional development opportunities for teachers; greater integration of the entire community into the educational system; and a climate which promoted physical/emotional and academic health of students and staff.

The next step in the process will be a meeting on Friday, January 26, at which school and community stakeholders will continue discussion around the implications of the District’s mission and vision statements and the supporting beliefs. The thoughts and ideas generated from the previous two meetings will be incorporated, and used to identify goals and priorities for the school system for the upcoming two years. Based on the results of this session, a review and revamping of the mission and vision statements, may be warranted.

The updated Future Direction Plan, once approved by the School Board, should provide the District with a framework for educational programming; resource allocation, and financial decision making. The Plan will receive formal scrutiny from a group of school and community stakeholders on a periodic basis.

If you have questions or comments on the strategic planning process, please contact the Superintendent, Alan Hawkins or any member of the Cape Elizabeth School Board.

Trish Brigham
School Board Strategic Planning Committee