During a special meeting on March 31, the Santa Clara Unified School District (SCUSD) Board of Trustees held a study session regarding its Strategic Vision.
Last year, the District began the journey to create a new Strategic Vision that would be used for the next 15 years. Together with consulting firm Prospect SF, Superintendent Dr. Stella Kemp has been developing the Strategic Vision alongside community members.
The presentation on the Strategic Vision included the proposed elements of the portrait of the graduate, portrait of the educator, system shifts and the firm also suggested a “refreshed” set of core values.
According to consultant Sonya Lopes, their firm were able to engage 1820 stakeholders in the process.
Graduate Portrait
The District’s Graduate Portrait focuses on what knowledge, skills, dispositions and mindsets will students need to be successful in life and career in the future. The portrait presented by the firm includes themes like Resilient Individual, Creative Thinker, and Productive Contributor. Aspects that were highlighted by community members included practical preparation, self-care and racial equity.
Educator Portrait
And, if the District’s main goal is to achieve the Graduate Portrait, the Educator Portrait is what all adults at the District need to achieve to support the students. The themes follow the Graduate Portrait themes. Aspects that were important to the community included empathy, as well as, adaptive and forward thinking.
System Shifts
In order for educators to support the students, there are also systems at the District that need to shift. Board Members pointed out that many of the systems highlighted by the firm are already in place, but they do have work to do on other systems. The community said ‘listening to student voices’ was very important to them. Community members also wanted to highlight equity and real-world preparedness.
Core Values
The suggested core values are:
- Students First
- World-Leading and Future Ready
- Excellence through Continuous Improvement
- Racial Equity and Social Justice
- Connected and Collaborative Community
- Integrity and Respect
- Empathy
After the presentation, Board Members thanked the firm and volunteers for their work. Board Member Jim Canova said he wanted to make sure that when the Strategic Vison mentions diversity, they are also including students on the autism spectrum. Board Member Vickie Fairchild also wanted to make sure that feedback from parents of Special Education students was being taken into account.
The Board will continue to work with their firm on the Strategic Vision in more meetings next week before they open it up to feedback from the community. After the community gets a chance to review it, the final Vision documents will be prepared and then they will develop the final Strategic Plan — the Strategic Plan helps the District implement the Strategic Vision.
The Board’s next regular meeting is on Thursday, April 9.