Alexandria City Public Schools

Proposed Strategic Plan

Prepared By:

Plexus Consulting Group, LLC
February 25, 2009


Table of Contents

I.  Participants and Dates of Sessions…………………. P. 3

II.  Vision …………………………….………….……...P. 5

III.  Mission……………………………………………....P. 5

IV.  Principles…………………………………………….P. 6

V.  Goals………………………………………………..,.P. 6

VI.  Strategic Objectives………………………….……... P. 7

VII.  Next Steps…………………………………………....P. 9


Participants and Dates

Participants

NAME ORGANIZATION

Dawn Feltman Administrator Elementary School

Mark Eisenhour Administrator High School

Garry Steele Administrator Middle School

Lillian Brooks Alexandria Court Services

George Chadwick Alexandria Arts Forum

Margaret Wohler Arts Commission

John Porter Assist. Superintendent

Jay Grymes Assist. Superintendent

Joseph Shumard BAC

Rick Dorman Chamber of Commerce

Debra Collins City Manager's Staff

Michele Brandon CTEAC

Cathy David Deputy Superintendent

Francis M. Chase, Sr. EAA Elementary

Robin Jamison-Moorer EAA High School

Sybil Currie-Boyd EAA Middle School

Mary Gaddis EAA Support

Sean McEnearney ECC

Margaret Byess Assistant Superintendent

Steven M. Worth Facilitator

Eric Leventhal Facilitator

Theresa Hernandez FLEAC

James Butler AFCA

Carlyle Ring Former School Board Chair

Rudy Abate High School - SCA

Shainada Philips High School – Senior

Janice Howard NAACP Alexandria Branch

Jonathan Gueverra NVCC

Bill Campbell PTA Elementary

Vickie Cattaneo PTA High School

Jeff Zack PTA Middle

Karen Hughes Rotary Club

Madye Henson SACAASA

Maribel Enriquez SACLSA

Pat Hennig SAEVPAC

Arthur Peabody School Board Member

Blanche Maness School Board Member

Charles Wilson School Board Member

Eileen Cassidy Rivera School Board Member

Marc Williams School Board Member

Ronnie Campbell School Board Member

Scott Newsham School Board Member

Sheryl Gorsuch School Board Member

Yvonne Folkerts School Board Member

Sandra Strachan-Vieira SEAC

Amanda Karkhoff SHAB

Morton Sherman Superintendent

Sherry Delaney TAG

Kostas Liopiros Technology Commission

Evelyn Urrutia TWU

Sally Craft Urban League Northern VA

John Chapman Youth Policy Commission

ALTERNATES

Sara Schaefer Administrator Middle School

Ron Lemley Alexandria Court Services

Gina Miller EAA Elementary

Nichole Ronerson EAA Support

Marianne Hetzer PTA

Janice McLaury PTA

Cathy Santiago SACLSA

Mpho Tutu TAG

Maureen Leary ECC

Ruth Dinzey TWU

Ron Frazier YPC/City Manager

Carol Farrell ECC/City Manager

Strategic Planning Session 1: October 18, 2008

Strategic Planning Session 2: November 1, 2008

Strategic Planning Session 3: November 15, 2008

Strategic Planning Session 4: December 13, 2008

Strategic Planning Session 5: January 10, 2009

Strategic Planning Session 6: February 12, 2009 (School Board Work Session)

Vision Statement

The vision statement should encompass creative and strategic thinking about the long term future of ACPS.

Set the international standard for educational excellence, where all students achieve their potential and actively contribute to our local and global communities.

Mission Statement

The mission statement sets forth ACPS’ purpose and philosophy in order to achieve its Vision.

Provide the environment, resources, and commitment to ensure that each and every student succeeds—academically, emotionally, physically, and socially.

Principles

Principles identify the philosophical guidelines for ACPS.

We Believe In Educational Excellence

·  Every child deserves a healthy, safe, engaging, supportive and challenging learning environment.

·  All students should be prepared as life long learners for career, college and civic responsibilities.

·  Educational programs must promote creativity, problem solving, critical thinking, and international understanding so ACPS graduates can succeed in a global economy.

·  We will recruit, develop and retain only effective and dedicated administrators, teachers and staff.

We Believe In Higher Achievement for All

·  Each and every student can learn and needs to show respect and responsibility for oneself and others, and should become a self-reliant advocate for his or her learning.

·  Educational outcomes will not be presumed by income, race, disability, gender, language or family background.

·  We value, respect and embrace diversity and have high expectations of all students and employees.

·  We strive to diversify our staff to reflect varied cultural backgrounds and serve as positive role models for our students.

We Believe In A Culture of Collaboration

·  Home, school and community all play a vital role in student success.

·  We will reach out to community stakeholders.

·  By working together, teachers and staff model collaborative behavior and improve the quality of learning for all students.

We Believe In Continuous Improvement and Accountability

·  Educational program decisions will be based on research-proven best practices.

·  We will encourage and nurture innovative educational and business methods.

·  All decisions will be transparent, fair, consistent, professional and evidence-based.

·  We will set clear, actionable goals and measure, publicize and take responsibility for our results.

·  We will be fiscally responsible and use resources efficiently and strategically

We Believe In Environmental Stewardship

·  A healthy environment is critical to our future.

·  We will think green, build green, teach green, and live green.

Goals

Goals specify how the general policy directions of ACPS mission will be carried out.

Equity and Excellence: Every student prepared for college, work and life.

Each student, with support for their unique circumstances, will graduate from high school with the knowledge and skills necessary for higher education, multiple career paths and active citizenship.

1. Ensure all students demonstrate significant academic growth, and dramatically improve achievement outcomes for students below grade level.

2. Provide a rigorous, relevant, and internationally benchmarked education to enable all students to succeed as an American citizen in the global community.

3. Create an exceptional learning environment.

4. Implement a focused, transparent governance model which incorporates effective communication and evidence-based decision making.

5. Provide clean, safe and conducive learning environments that utilize best practices for energy efficiency and environmental sustainability.

Strategic Objectives

Strategic Objectives translate ACPS’ goals into specific policy directions and provide clarification of the organization’s goals.

Equity and Excellence: Every student prepared for college, work and life.

Each student, with support for their unique circumstances, will graduate from high school with the knowledge and skills necessary for higher education, multiple career paths and active citizenship.

1. Ensure all students demonstrate significant academic growth, and dramatically improve achievement outcomes for students below grade level.

  1. Eliminate academic achievement differences among race, income, disability and language subgroups.
  1. Demonstrate every student achieves at least one year of academic progress annually in reading, writing and math and greater than one year for any student below grade level.
  1. Lead the development and implementation of a comprehensive and coordinated model that provides quality pre-K experiences for all 4 year olds in the City of Alexandria.
  1. Ensure every secondary student has a comprehensive plan for success and is equipped with the tools necessary to achieve their goals upon high school graduation.
  1. Establish a division wide program to empower parents to be supportive and informed advocates for their children.
  1. Ensure 100% compliance with the implementation of Individual Education Plans as written and maintain compliance with special education laws.
  1. Create or expand alternative education strategies and programs that will minimize out of school suspensions and improve the graduation rate.
  1. Create effective partnerships to encourage a sense of community ownership of our schools and to support the development of the academic, social, physical and emotional needs of students.

2. Provide a rigorous, relevant, and internationally benchmarked education to enable all students to succeed as an American citizen in the global community.

a.  Develop an adaptable curriculum appropriate for the changing needs of society that addresses 21st century skills, including creativity, higher order thinking skills and project based learning.

b.  Create a vertically aligned preK-12 ACPS curriculum which exceeds state standards and identifies appropriate international benchmarks and assessments.

  1. Ensure every child is challenged and engaged with school experiences responsive to each student’s talent and interests.
  1. Increase participation and successful completion of Advanced Placement, honors, world language, and advanced math courses.

e.  Provide opportunities to develop civic responsibility through community service projects; encourage participation in team sports, internships and after school enrichment activities.

f.  Promote excellence and increase participation in the fine arts and career and technical education (CTE) courses.

g.  Implement at each school, an exemplary educational program that enhances the curriculum and meets the needs of the students.

3. Create an exceptional learning environment.

  1. Recruitment, retain and develop superior staff.
  1. Achieve cultural competence for all staff with diversity training that incorporates awareness, understanding, high expectations and appropriate instruction for all students
  1. Foster collaboration and shared responsibility for student development and achievement with all members of the school community.
  1. Ensure every student has a responsible adult advocate, mentor, or advisor.
  1. Develop the next generation of school leaders from within our school division.

4. Implement a focused, transparent governance model which incorporates effective communication and evidence-based decision making.

  1. Develop and revise policies to ensure effective governance, continuous improvement and accountability.
  1. Ensure prudent financial stewardship and resources necessary to achieve the strategic plan.
  1. Implement an internationally recognized assessment to measure performance management and leadership excellence.

5. Provide clean, safe and conducive learning environments that utilize best practices for energy efficiency and environmental sustainability.

Next Steps

1.  Online Town Forum March 2-9

2.  Public Hearing March 5 at regular board meeting

3.  Board Review and Approval expected March 19th

4.  Rollout to Stakeholders

5.  Business Plan – A business plan is critical to implementing the strategic plan, this details a plan of action to accomplish your school’s strategic plan

Example:

Tactics organized by Strategic Plan:

Tasks
Goal / Strategic Objective / Tasks / Person Responsible / Due Date / Resources Needed / Measurable Outcome

Tactics organized by due-date:

Ongoing
Task Number / Task Description / Person Responsible / Due Date / Resources
1. aV
2. c.4
3. bII
3. bIII
3. bIV

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