Camdenton R-III School District

Strategic Plan 2015-2020

Vision Statement

Everyone Learning Every Day!

Organizational Values

1.     Student success, both individually and collectively

2.     Engaging, encouraging environment for faculty and staff

3.     Supportive district leadership and Board of Education

4.     Active, ongoing engagement with stakeholder groups

5.     Responsible use of all resources

Competitive Advantages

1.     Recent bond issue passage leading to new and updated facilities

2.     Commitment to communication and transparency

3.     Effective financial management practices

4.     Evolving academic programming aimed at expanding college and career readiness

5.     Growing relationships (formal and informal) with all communities being served

Strategic Issues

1.     Large geographic footprint makes it difficult to develop a singular school district “community”

2.     Changing government policies, not all of them met with total support among stakeholders, which can impact district/patron relationships

3.     Delivering education that targets the needs of each individual student

4.     Continuous funding uncertainty at the state level

5.     Making certain that facilities and technology for student and staff use remain current enough to enable, rather than inhibit, the delivery of a quality education

Organization-wide strategies

1.     Camdenton R-III will have a facilities plan for the next five years that incorporates anticipated building and technology needs, and that will keep stakeholders informed as milestones are reached and steps are taken.

2.     Camdenton R-III will expand its academic offerings to better serve students of all skill levels and interests, and will seek to provide equitable opportunities to all students, no matter where they live in the district.

3.    Camdenton R-III will have plans in place to build stronger, mutually beneficial relationships with a broader array of stakeholder groups.

Goal area: College and career-ready curriculum

Objective:  The Camdenton R-III School District will offer curriculum that prepares students effectively for the next phase in their lives and will keep that curriculum current with changing student and marketplace needs.

Persons Responsible:  Central Office and Building Administrators

Progress measures:

1.     Students will achieve performance in the top 10% statewide on the Annual Performance Report from DESE.

2.     S.T.E.M. courses will increase in number by the 2016-2017 school year, will be equivalent to peer districts by the 2017-2018 school year, and will offer at least one unique course in this area (not available in all peer districts) by the start of the 2020-2021 school year.

3.     Building-to-building course equivalency will improve each school year, with the goal of full equivalency (or documentation as to why that is not possible or not appropriate in specific cases) by the start of the 2020-2021 school year.

4.     Courses that teach “skills for life” (or the inclusion of such skills in existing courses) will begin by the 2016-2017 school year.

5.     By the end of each academic year, 90% of students will show at least one year’s growth in their communication arts scores.

Strategies and tactics (action steps)

Strategy:  A plan to expand course offerings in S.T.E.M. will be created and executed.

1.     A district team (faculty, staff, administration, students, etc.) will be selected to be responsible for researching leading-edge S.T.E.M. courses in regional peer districts, statewide and, where appropriate, nationally.

2.     Research will be conducted with recent (within the last four years) alumni who are attending/attended college to determine S.T.E.M. areas where they felt well-prepared and those that fell short once they were introduced to college-level curriculum on the same subject areas.

3.     From this research, a prioritized list of courses to be added will be prepared, identifying the challenges – budget, staffing, facility shortcomings, etc. – that will need to be overcome to add identified courses.

4.     A timetable for implementation of identified courses will be set, along with identifying responsible parties for various steps in the implementation process.

Strategy:  The teaching of basic “skills for life” will be expanded through specific courses or by adding to the curriculum of appropriate existing courses.

1.     Research will be conducted with current students, recent alumni (within the last four years) and parents of both regarding what they consider to be “skills for life” for which a school district has some responsibility to teach, and their (or their student’s) level of success in these areas.

2.     Secondary research will be conducted by reviewing industry publications and contacting professional societies to determine current views on the role of school districts in “skills for life” teaching and the existence of strategies that are proving to be successful in other districts.

3.     Findings from the previous two steps will be compared with current district curriculum (either entire courses or the addressing of “skills for life” topics within existing courses) to determine gaps in the “skills for life” area.

4.     Community resources that may be able to assist with materials, individuals to teach this information, or both (for example, local banks teaching basics of managing a checking account) will be identified.

5.     All data and a final plan for implementing/expanding “skills for life” training will be prepared.

Strategy:  Curriculum equivalency will increase across the school district.

1.     A master list of curriculum that is inconsistent from building to building will be created, engaging faculty in this process to make certain that the list is complete.

2.     Feedback will be gathered from faculty in affected school buildings on which equivalency issues should be a higher priority than others.

3.     A subset of those faculty members will be selected to assist with creating and executing a plan to address the high priority curriculum equivalency issues.

Strategy:  Stakeholders will be engaged in ongoing curriculum review.

1.     A multi-disciplinary committee will be assembled, consisting of parents, faculty, administrators, students and non-parent patrons, to monitor and advise on changing curriculum needs.

2.     Quarterly committee meetings will be held.  Local media and a dedicated space on the district website will publicize news and information about the committee’s work.

Strategy:  A plan for the utilization of effective instructional practices in the area of Communication Arts will be created and monitored.

1.     A team will be selected to research effective schools in the state of Missouri in relation to APR scores in the area of Communication Arts during the 2015-2016 school term.

2.     Research will be conducted regarding why these schools are effective and determine what practices can be used in the district.

3.     i-Ready will be utilized as a diagnostic and intervention tool in the area of Communication Arts for grades K - 8.

4.     The Literacy Design Collaborative process will be implemented in grades 9-12.  The high school will implement at least two modules during the 2015-2016 school term with additional modules to be completed during future years.

Goal area: Facility effectiveness

Objective:  The Camdenton R-III School District will have facilities that are safe, and that enable, rather than inhibit, the delivery of a high-quality education.

Persons responsible:  Central Office, Maintenance Director, Building Administrators, Safety Coordinator.

Progress measures:

1.     A connected learning community will be developed through a comprehensive technology plan that identifies, develops, and provides access to the digital tools, devices, and support that will expand visionary administrative leadership, improve teacher effectiveness, and raise student achievement.  This plan will be drafted during the 2015-2016 school year and launched in time for the 2016-2017 school year.

2.     All buildings will develop a plan that assesses the feasibility of construction of safe rooms/storm shelters by the end of the 2016–2017 school year and have industry-standard security systems (equipment and protocols) by the 2017–2018 school year.

3.     A comprehensive analysis of the need, opportunities and challenges associated with a school-based Early Childhood Education program will be completed before the end of the 2017-2018 school year.

Strategies and tactics (action steps)

Strategy:  Existing security systems will be evaluated; and a plan will be created for upgrading, where necessary.

1.     An audit of current security systems and protocols across the district will be completed and the results will be compared.

2.     Appropriate security vendors will be engaged (or an RFP will be created to do so) to identify various options and timetables for upgrading systems that are insufficient.

3.     Protocols for parent notification in the case of a security situation will be reviewed and updated.

4.     The district will insure that an up-to-date crisis communications plan has been developed; peer districts will be consulted for counsel if such a plan does not currently exist.

5.     Local emergency management services will be consulted regarding findings of the audit.

Strategy:  Safe room/storm shelter deficiencies will be identified and a timetable for implementing improvements will be established.

1.     An audit of safe room/storm shelter capabilities (and options) will be solicited by an architecture firm that is familiar with this design element and has been successfully implemented in other school districts.

2.     A plan for addressing deficiencies in this area will be created as expeditiously as possible.

3.     Key stakeholders will be informed about the feasibility study.

Strategy:  Current and anticipated student and staff technology needs will be determined during Strategic Plan period and matched with an appropriate protocol for updating technology.

1.     An independent technology audit will be conducted to compare the district’s status and current plans for upgrading with model school districts.

2.     Using this audit as the starting point, a committee of parents, faculty, staff and, if possible, the author of the audit will create (and monitor the execution of) and assemble a plan to keep the district current with student and staff technology needs and industry improvements.

Strategy:  Stakeholders in the Early Childhood Education center analysis will be engaged.

1.     Peer districts (such as Rolla) with ECE programs, or programs in development, will be identified and researched concerning what is/is not working for these districts.

2.     DESE and/or others independent organizations who can assist the district in conducting an evaluation of the need, capabilities and challenges associated with launching such a program in the Camdenton R-III School District will be engaged.

3.     A database of local providers of Early Childhood Education services will be created, documenting names, addresses, capacity (number of students), details about their programs, for profit or not-for-profit status, and length of time offering an ECE program.

4.     Once all this information has been assembled it will be determined if there is sufficient merit to continue and, if so, a committee of staff, parents, Board of Education members and administrators will be selected to continue development.

Goal area: Stakeholder Engagement

Objective:  The Camdenton R-III School District will effectively engage all stakeholder groups to build a stronger school district/community relationship through enhanced one-way (outbound from the district) and two-way communications initiatives.

Persons responsible:  Central Office, Community Relations Office

Progress measures:

1.     Engagement, as measured by participation levels for events, on committees and other commitments of time and/or resources, will increase each year throughout the Strategic Plan period.

2.     Strategies to specifically target stakeholder groups, identified by community-based Strategic Plan contributors as ones who have been under-represented in engagement activities to date, including district alumni, parents of graduates, area businesses, and the Hispanic community will be implemented.

3.     Routine and episodic financial information will be presented in format(s) that are understandable to stakeholders of varying levels of interest, beginning with the 2015-2016 school year, with modifications as necessary throughout the Strategic Plan period, based on feedback.

Strategies and tactics (action steps):

Strategy:  Current levels of engagement within each stakeholder group will be evaluated, with numerical/statistical measurements preferred, and a specific plan for improvement will be created.

1.     Engagement opportunities and numerical/statistical ways of measuring engagement, such as attendance at events, volunteering, increased social media presence, will be identified.

2.     Using these measurement methods, engagement for each individual stakeholder group will be tabulated over an appropriate time period.

3.     Specific areas where specific stakeholder group engagement is deficient will be identified, and a logical – meaning not all at once – plan to increase engagement in ways that can be measured will be drafted.

Strategy:  Separate engagement plans will be created and executed for previously under-represented stakeholder groups.

1.     A targeted Patron Panel group (or more than one, if necessary) will be assembled that includes representatives from the under-represented groups mentioned above.

2.     Quarterly meetings of this Panel group will be conducted to secure input on district developments.

3.     Through these interactions potential methods to increase engagement with these stakeholder groups will be identified, securing input from the Patron Panel group members.

4.     Outbound communications will be strategically increased to these targeted groups, having a plan in place to measure the response; the plans will be modified accordingly.

Strategy:  Effective ways to offer a multi-tier approach (from simple to comprehensive) to presenting financial information will be identified.

1.     The presentation of financial information will be formalized into two formats – abstract/brief summary and detailed/full presentation.

2.     Both approaches will be posted on the district website (abstract on the front page or one page below – accessed by a single click – and detailed one click below that).

3.     A feedback link will be included each time information is presented, seeking input on the information and how it was presented.

4.     Modifying and improving the presentation will be continuous as guided by the feedback (perhaps adding additional level of complexity between the basic and comprehensive presentation, if desired by stakeholders).