Of all the things that occurred during 2009-2010, if there is one thing I can point to as most proud of, it is the development of our Strategic Plan.  Not because it furthers any personal agendas, rather because it is a document of real substance that came about synergistically.  The Plan is a result of countless hours of work, research and debate of 60+ teachers, administration, parents, community members and even students.  The finished product is not a compromise it is representative of the collective vision of Richland School District, grounded in the core beliefs and values of this community.  In the next few weeks the Plan, in its entirety, will be posted on our Web-page at www.d88a.org and I would encourage everyone read through it, for it is this body of work that will drive virtually everything we do as a District for the next five years.

Through this communication I would like to provide some important highlights of the Plan.  First our new mission statement.  By definition “the mission statement is a clear and concise declaration of the unique identity to which the organization aspires; its specific purpose; and the means by which it will achieve its purpose”. (Cambridge Group, 2005)  Below is our new mission statement:

The mission of Richland School District 88A, a close-knit, caring, learning community, is to ensure each student develops an exceptional academic, social, emotional, and physical foundation necessary to thrive in high school and in society by actively engaging students using best teaching practices within an aligned curriculum, and working with partnership with parents and the community.

In the development the Strategic Plan, the Planning Team identified 11 core beliefs and six Strategic Parameters, which served as the basis from which the mission and the Plan itself was formulated.  The purpose behind this process is to create the Plan grounded in the core values and beliefs of the community.

The Strategic Plan identifies three objectives:

• Each student will demonstrate at least one year’s growth within an academic year in Reading, Writing, Mathematics, and Science.
• Each Student will achieve challenging learning goals related to their individual academic and extra-curricular interests, abilities, and aspirations.
• All students will develop and consistently demonstrate positive character traits necessary to be productive contributors to their community.

To achieve these stated objectives, the Strategic Plan identified four strategies:

1. We will improve communication, expand involvement, and build positive relationships among students, staff, parents, and the community through open, honest, and respectful interactions.
2. We will identify, model, integrate, and assess positive behavior and character traits.
3. We will align curriculum to state standards, assure the curriculum is effectively implemented, and provide the necessary support for teachers to use assessment data and effective teaching strategies to improve student achievement.
4. We will develop plans to assist each student in setting and achieving personally identified learning goals related to their academic and co-curricular abilities, interests, and aspirations. 

Each of these four strategies has several Specific Results attached to them, and each Specific Result has several actions steps to meet each the larger strategy.  In essence the plan is very detailed.  While the detail of the written product is very impressive, the thing I am most proud of the process it took to arrive at the final product.  The Plan without the process, regardless of the size and length of the final product, would not have as much meaning and substance.

In analyzing the four strategies, the communication and character strategy are important and are needed to be made operational in our organization to move forward so we can conduct business in the most efficient and effective manner.  However it is the goal setting and curriculum strategies that will truly stretch the abilities of every member of our learning community.  These two strategies will take several years to get fully in place, but once in place I truly believe that the possibilities for all of our students will be virtually limitless.