Did you know there is a big plan for you and your education?? It’s called “The Strategic plan.” It is a 4-year blueprint outlining all of the pieces of the puzzle that go into your time within the walls of Englewood schools. “I believe that unless you have a plan to get somewhere, you’re not going to get anywhere,” says Englewood Superintendent Wendy Rubin.

Those who put it together say the Strategic plan was developed in about a year with the help of hundreds of parents, teachers, and administrators at each of the schools in Englewood School District. It has three parts, 1) Vision-graduating the leaders, thinkers, and explorers of tomorrow, 2) Mission-Preparing all students for future success through learning, leading, engagement and action and 3) Core Values-High expectations, accountability, integrity, respect, and community.
“The idea behind the Strategic Plan is that there is a system where we are all working together to find a common direction towards common goals,” says Rubin who is very excited about the plan and what it means for you the student. “It captures what we as the community really want for our kids and what the expectations are for kids today and making sure we are putting our energy in the right direction.”

Rubin says the district not only wanted to set clear goals, it wanted to make sure it could get there. Each goal is called an “End”. “It speaks to the idea of putting the “end” in mind, where do we want to get to.”

The “Ends” are split into three pieces, 1) Learning: Whole child, Whole adult 2) People: Assets and Partners and, 3) Systems: Big Picture Thinking.

The Strategic Plan lays out clear expectations for students and staff, “Making sure everyone is getting what they need, that we have the right people here in terms of the adults tasked with making sure you get what you need and also as an organization, making sure we are taking care of our people,” says Rubin.

Included in the “Ends” are the social, emotional, and health needs of every single person associated with the district in some way, “One of the belief systems we held onto while developing this plan is we didn’t want the plan so broad it lost meaning so we tried to pared it down to those key components. So when we think about learning, it’s important that we are taking care of our kids and adults. We all interact, if adults are having a good day, the kids are having a good day. If the kids are having a good day, then the adults are having a good day.”

One of the ways Rubin says the district meets that challenge is to ensure students feel safe, “Making sure that people feel valued and they feel that, wow if I’m having a bad day” (as a student) there is someone I can talk to, there is an adult who can help me see through this and I can trust them and I can feel safe about that.”

Rubin says she is very proud of the Strategic Plan and the promises it makes to the community for the students and adults. She says she loves so many things about Englewood and says it’s big enough to offer a lot of opportunities yet small enough that people know each other and take care of each other.

The Strategic Plan 2016-2020 in its entirety can be found on the district website at http://www.englewoodschools.net