© 2010 AdvancED Oconee County Schools Strategic Planning: The Journey from Good to Great

Tom Odom BOE Chair Mark Thomas BOE Member Kim Argo BOE Vice Chair Dr. Jason Branch Superintendent Tim Burgess BOE Member Wayne Bagley BOE Member Oconee County Schools

Community Profile Population 33,366 (27% increase since 2000) Demographics White 89.8% Black 5.3% Hispanic 4.6% Other.3% Population Age Under 18 years 26.9% 18 to 64 years 60.8% 65 years and over 12.3%

Oconee County Schools  1 Primary School  5 Elementary Schools  2 Middle Schools  2 High Schools  6,971 Enrolled (22% increase since 2000) –82% White –5.5% Hispanic –4.4% African American –5.4% Asian/Pacific Islander –3% Multiracial

System Enrollment

Diversity by Socioeconomics Free and Reduced Lunch Percentages

Diversity by Language 26 different languages are spoken in OCS Spanish (237) Chinese (55) Korean (36) Gujarati (24) Arabic (20) Russian (9) Urdu (8) Hindi (7) Other African (6) Vietnamese (6) Other Indian (5) Farsi (4) French (3) Japanese (3) Tagalog (3) Turkish (3) Czech (2) Lao (2) Other Asian (2) Portuguese (2) Amharic (1) German (1) Hebrew (1) Swedish (1) Thai (1) Ukrainian (1)

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Leadership Changes CCGPS and RCD Implementation Revised State Assessments PARCC New Accountability System AdvancED Changes and Accreditation Visit Key Changes 2012

Oconee County Schools Strategic Planning Why did we embark on this Strategic Improvement Planning process?

Oconee County Schools District Accreditation

AdvancED/SACS Required Action: Strategic Planning

Why did we choose to work with GSBA and GLISI?

Community Engagement Planning Team Action Teams Action Teams Report to Planning Team Strategic Planning Phase I

How did we engage our community in the strategic planning session?

Identification of Facilitators

Communication  District and School Websites  Parent Phone Calls  Parent Letters  Flyers in Local Businesses  Superintendent Blog  Teaching & Learning Newsletter  Twitter  Local Newspaper  Competition

Community Engagement Meeting 260+ Participants

500+ Responses

How did we prepare for the planning team meeting and what were the highlights?

Identification of Planning Team Members: Teachers Parents Students Community Members/Business Partners Principals Assistant Principals District Leaders The Work

Preparation for the meeting: Communication Meeting Room Organization Superintendent Overview Data Notebook Community Engagement Report The Work

Planning Team Meeting The Work

Outcomes  Common Focus  New Belief Statements  Results of SWOT Analysis  5 Strategic Goal Areas  Strategic Priorities

How did we prepare for the action team meetings and what were the outcomes?

Identified Action Team Leaders Identified Action Team Members Developed Performance Measures Developed Performance Objectives Developed Measurable Targets Developed Initiatives and Action Steps Developed a Strategy Map Developed a Theory of Change The Work

Strategic Planning Phase II  Mission  Vision  Motto  Belief statements  Five goal areas  Performance objectives  Priorities  Strategy map BOE Approval

Belief Statements: We believe that: All students are important and their individual talents contribute to the diversity of the learning community. All stakeholders are valued and essential to the success of our students. Everyone is accountable for excellence. Mission: The mission of Oconee County Schools is to provide a safe and challenging learning environment that inspires all students to capture their dreams. Beliefs, Mission, Motto, and Vision

Motto: Committed to student success Vision: Oconee County Schools will be a nationally-recognized leader in academic achievement by ensuring that all students receive a rigorous, balanced education that will enable them to compete in and contribute to a global society. Beliefs, Mission, Motto, and Vision

Goal Area 1: Teaching & Learning  Goal Area Priorities What is important to us? 1.High quality instruction 2.Academic growth for all 3.College and career readiness 4.Globally competitive students  Performance Objectives What will we do? 1.Prepare students for college and career success 2.Increase student achievement 3.Provide high quality professional learning, monitoring and support

Goal Area 2: Stakeholder Engagement  Goal Area Priorities What is important? 1.Students 2.Staff/faculty 3.Parents 4.Community 5.Business 6.Communication 7.Transparency 8.Partnerships  Performance Objectives What will we do? 1.Utilize varied methods of effective communication 2.Develop meaningful business partnerships 3.Develop meaningful higher education partnerships

Goal Area 3: Human Resources  Goal Area Priorities What is important to us? 1.A high-performing workforce 2.A positive organizational culture 3.Capacity for future staffing needs  Performance Objectives What we will do? 1.Acquire excellent people for all positions 2.Identify and retain high-performing faculty and staff 3.Increase focus on succession planning

Goal Area 4: Operations and Student Services  Goal Area Priorities – What is Important to us? 1.Safe environment 2.Social, emotional, physical and financial support for all students 3.Accountability 4.Efficiency  Performance Objectives What will we do? 1.Ensure effective and efficient operational processes 2.Ensure safe and healthy environments for students and staff 3.Develop and implement practices to support at-risk students

Goal Area 5: Business Services  Performance Objectives What will we do? 1.Ensure effective and efficient financial practices 2.Develop a collaborative district budgeting process 3.Maximize federal, state, local, and alternative funding sources  Goal Area Priorities What is important to us? 1.Fiscal responsibility and accountability 2.Put students first 3.Foster partnerships

Oconee County Schools Strategy Map Human Resources Stakeholder Engagement Operations and Student Services Prepare students for college and career success Increase student achievement Pro vide high quality professional learning, monitoring and support Acquire excellent people for all positions Increase focus on succession planning Identify and retain high- performing faculty and staff Develop effective processes and communicate them clearly Develop meaningful business partnerships Develop meaningful higher education partnerships Ensure effective and efficient operational processes Ensure safe and healthy environments for students and staff Ensure effective and efficient financial practices Develop a collaborative district budgeting process Business Services Maximize federal, state, local and alternative funding sources Develop and implement practices to support at-risk students Teaching and Learning

Then we will meet every child’s learning needs. And promote involvement and engagement of all stakeholders through open, transparent, and effective methods of communication… And attract and retain a high-performing faculty and staff… And support students and staff by providing a safe environment and ensuring accountability for performance… If we provide fiscal responsibility and accountability and put students first… Theory of Change

A Vision for Public Education in Georgia OCS aligned our 5 goal areas with the goal areas of The Vision Project

The Purpose of Public Education is… to prepare students for college, career and life.

Our vision is that… public education in Georgia will provide ALL children an EQUITABLE and EXCELLENT education that prepares them for college, career, and life.

Our Goals: Maximize student achievement Increase the level of trust and support for public education in local communities A Vision for Public Education in Georgia

Aligning School Improvement Plans to OCS Strategic Plan Strategic Planning Phase III

 Developed OCS Strategic Plan Executive Summary  Identified required performance objectives  Created Guidance document on cascading the system plan to the school plan  Met individually with all principals Aligning the School Improvement Plans

MBES Leadership Team met during the summer to begin aligning our plan to the OCS Strategic plan Completed a Leadership Team Evaluation to assess strengths and areas for growth

Aligning the School Improvement Plans Reviewed the OCS strategic planning process Discussion of AdvancEd/SACS Internal and External review process – both validated need for a strategic plan Worked with GSBA and GLISI to explore various models for strategic planning

Aligning the School Improvement Plans Discussion with leadership of the highlights of the strategic planning process:  Comprehensive community engagement component to allow stakeholders to have a voice  Diverse planning team that represented stakeholder groups  A facilitated planning process that assisted the planning and action teams in analyzing strengths and weaknesses and worked with experts within the district to develop initiatives and actions steps to implement the plan

Aligning the School Improvement Plans The next phase in the process is:  Alignment: the plan will be aligned to the school improvement plans and the budget  Implementation: Involves the execution, monitoring and reporting of the plan, as well as an on-going process to review and update the plan as needed

Aligning the School Improvement Plans

Alignment of the MBES SIP:  The Strategic Goal Areas and Performance Objectives are identical in the district and school plans

Development of the MBES SIP Divide into groups Review current OCS goal area assigned Discuss/develop action steps that will need to be taken by MBES to align with that goal area Once complete, put the final information on the posters provided Be ready to present to the group

Development of the MBES SIP Received input on the plan from all staff Continually look to the plan as we make decisions and to check in on our progress

Development of the NOHS SIP From Strategic Plan to School Improvement School Leadership Team reviews Strategic Plan  Data Comparison  Strengths and Weaknesses of NOHS  Areas of Improvement

Development of the NOHS SIP From Strategic Plan to School Improvement School Leadership Team produces draft SIP to meet district goals Use same template as district Department Chairs present SIP to Department Members

Development of the NOHS SIP From Strategic Plan to School Improvement Department Members provide feedback to Department Chairs and Administration School Leadership Team makes necessary adjustments to SIP  Review of resource allocation  Thinks short-term as well as long-term  Utilization of personnel  “Addition by Subtraction”

Development of the NOHS SIP From Strategic Plan to School Improvement Final SIP presentation at faculty meeting  Roles and responsibilities  Time for question and answer  Explanation of process  Connect school to system  Provide a vision

Development of the NOHS SIP From Strategic Plan to School Improvement Ongoing SIP discussion  Present an aspect of the SIP at monthly faculty meeting  Review at leadership team meetings  Provide updates for System Cabinet members on SIP progress

Implementation Execution Monitoring Reporting of the plan On-going process to review and update the plan Strategic Planning Phase V

What are the next steps and how will this work drive our district improvement initiatives in the future?

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