Dist. 203 begins new community engagement talks
Naperville Unit District 203 administrators launched a second series of community engagement sessions by sharing goals from a new strategic plan and reporting on the state of the district.
"I believe the state of our district is one of ongoing continuous improvement and it is strong," Superintendent Dan Bridges said Thursday.
Bridges said the district is beginning to implement its Focus 2020 Strategic Blueprint, which was developed using input from the first round of community engagement sessions conducted in 2013.
The plan includes four areas of focus designed to improve the district, which teaches 16,860 students from preschool to 12th grade at 22 schools. Goals include:
• design and implement effective practices that promote learning experiences for all;
• foster an equitable high-performance culture focused on student learning;
• steward resources effectively to promote student learning;
• and enhance communication and community relations.
"It reflects the values and input of all of our stakeholders," Bridges said about the Focus 2020 plan. "Ultimately, we hope this plan will guide us in helping each of our students achieve our mission."
This week, educators met in two sessions with about 60 community members to seek direction for which topics should be discussed next.
Among priorities participants shared Thursday were STEM, which stands for science, technology, engineering and math; providing equal resources for all students throughout the district; and the new Common Core state standards.
Bridges said the district is working on a STEM plan, preparing a facilities master plan and beginning a two-year support system for new educators to work toward the four strategic plan goals.
"The No. 1 priority for us was looking at Common Core," parent Tammy Schultz said. "The district could benefit by educating the community in terms of why this is a good thing and how they're going to be implementing it in the future."
Other parents also asked the district to delve further into how educators are helping students prepare for careers they can achieve without spending four years at a university.
"Our No. 1 priority is looking at dual paths of college versus career. We could probably use the word vocational, but we think that more needs to be done," District 203 grandparent Pat Harrison said. "We have a lot of high achievers ... but we have a lot of others that would be happier preparing for a career that's not four-year college based."
As the district takes these steps and others prescribed in its Focus 2020 plan, administrators said they will continue to take resident perspectives into account.
"These priorities will strongly influence what we will talk about in future engagement sessions," Julie Carlsen, director of community relations, said.