Top 5 things you need to know about the Strategic Plan

BVSD has launched a new strategic plan that will provide our district direction for the next five years. 

Don’t know much about it yet? Here are the top 5 things you should know:

1. All Together for All Students

This is the simple title of our new strategic plan. It isn’t a splashy name but gets right to the point. It is a call to action for our entire community — because we know it will take all of us working together – from students to educators to support staff to parents to our community --  to accomplish our ambitious goals.
 

2. Built upon a solid foundation

The new strategic plan was developed by BVSD educators utilizing the feedback of more than 1,400 staff members and more than 500 parents and community members. As you might recall, Superintendent Rob Anderson visited all 56 BVSD schools, every BVSD facility and held 6 regional community forums in English and three in Spanish.

The new plan also builds upon the success of BVSD’s previous strategic plan, The Success Effect and its three initiatives: Talent, Learning and Partnerships.

Finally, the team reviewed a tremendous amount of data regarding student, school and district performance, as they crafted a plan to address some of BVSD’s most pressing needs.

3. Student-focused

Our strategic plan is focused first and foremost on students. After analyzing volumes of data and feedback from educators and the community, BVSD set three Long Term Student Outcomes that will drive everything we do:

• All students benefit from challenging and relevant educational opportunities

• Reduce disparities in achievement

• Every student graduates empowered with the skills necessary for post-graduate success

More simply, our goal is to Ignite the passion of learning in every student, Equip them will the skills needed to overcome the achievement gap and to prepare them to Soar in whatever they do after school. 
 

4. We are starting with six initiatives

While everything in the strategic plan is important, we also know that it is crucial that we pace ourselves. That is why we started with only six of the 13 initiatives. Here is a quick rundown:

• PK-12 Pathways for Students. Providing consistency and coherence across the entire BVSD system, so that students learn the most important things and build upon their learning from year-to-year.

• Best Instructional Practices. Establishment of effective instructional practices that meet diverse student needs.

• One size doesn't fit all. Every school is different, so we are setting up a system that more equitably shares resources based on the needs of schools and their communities.

• Keep what works. Toss what doesn’t. School districts are notorious for keeping programs that don’t work. We are assessing current and future programs to ensure they’re beneficial for students.

• Howdy Partner. We know our goals are only achievable through effective partnerships with our community, including non-profits and businesses.

• Everyone is welcome. Our goal is to ensure that BVSD is a warm, welcoming and safe environment for every student regardless of their background, race, gender or other identifying characteristics. We aim to implement practices that challenge inequity and bias.

5. Customized for each school

The problem with most strategic plans is that they broadly implement ideas and supports from the district to all schools. Every school is expected to implement all initiatives, regardless of their situation. As a result, few are fully implemented.

In contrast, we believe that everyone cannot do everything the same if we all want to get better. We are customizing and vertically aligning support based on the specific needs of each school and community.

This also aligns with the district’s recent realignment. Schools have now been grouped in regional areas and district support staff have worked to meet with each school’s leader to determine the best way to utilize resources that are the most impactful for students.

 

Learn more about the plan at bvsd.org/strategic-plan.