Skip to main content

Natick's Strategic Plan

Over the next several meetings the School Committee will focus much of its time on the progress being made in our district goals. For example, tonight  Goal #2 will be discussed.  These goals are an essential anchor for my work on this board with the hope that they always reflect deep listening to our students & families and our professionals.  

As we go through these goals, I am looking for the SMARRT objective under each of the 4 main goals and interested in how a district adapts a 5 year plan in the middle of the course.

As a new member, I have some basic questions to understand the document and how to best serve it: 

  • Who helped take the plan from yearly district goals to our multi-year strategic plan? What's the process like to form these goals? What is the process like to evaluate them?
  • Has the change from yearly goals to a multi-year strategic plan helped us be more prepared financially for things coming down the line? 
  • What is the process that is undergone for revisions to the plan?  (Obviously thing change - COVID, more awareness around race relations in the Unites States, new guidelines around dyslexia from the state, audits completed in subject areas, SEL competency updates, core programs like Open circle discontinuing.) What is the process for how we adapt a 5 year plan?
  • How do we best gather input from teachers, staff, administration, students, families, residents and town leaders so that we can assess the direction we need to go and how to adapt? 
  • When do we start planning for after 2023 what does that process look like? 
To start with these questions, I found some helpful information in some previous years minutes: 

It looks like the current strategic plan was developed with a desire to show work through a multi year format in August 1st, 2019 and possibly to link better the district goals to the Superintendent's evaluation.  Before that, the goals are listed as yearly goals for the district,  for example, July 21st, 2015.  

more to come... 


Popular posts from this blog

Statement on Recusal

Here are the remarks I gave last night when letting my committee know my decision to recuse:  After the School Committee meeting on October 15th, several individuals wrote into the SpeakUp Natick portal requesting that I recuse myself from voting on the possible closure of Johnson.  The substance of these messages, sent to the full committee, carried a familiar refrain. The messages - often using the same language – said some version of the following:  Catherine Brunell should recuse herself from deliberating and voting on the closure of Johnson because she lacks objectivity, as her children go to school there and she is from that neighborhood. I asked myself the question if there was any merit to the request for me to recuse myself and started to do some research about why people recuse  From what I can tell from the minutes, in Natick, It’s never happened before - not with the Kennedy, Wilson or the High School - not even for members whose children were to attend t...
Read more

Evaluation Time

The School Committees of every community are charged with oversight for the budget, the policies and the evaluation of the superintendent for the districts they serve. Tonight, in Natick, we begin the Superintendent evaluation process.  Virtual Meeting Link - 6:00 p.m.    Background:  Page 2 of DESE Model system guide for Superintendent Evaluation These videos  and this PDF explain the 5 step Superintendent Evaluation Process that Natick is piloting with other communities. It was developed in partnership with Superintendents, School Committees and the Dept. of Ed.   While Natick has adjusted some of the evaluation to be in-line with the process outlined in the above resources, we are continuing to develop the full pilot program.  Also, for a point of reference and a reminder that every superintendent goes through a similar process,   here is a slide deck from one of the initial meetings for the City of Boston's Superintendent evaluatio...
Read more

Quick Summary of Key things for the Natick School Committee this week

  Quick Links for current items: Natick School Committee begins Coffee Hours - Take a moment to speak to one of your elected officials about the district’s strategic plan in the coming months!   Policy Questions?  Click here to see the Natick School Committee Policy Manual .  Every year it is accepted by the Natick School Committee as our guiding principles for our work. It sets expectations for communication, procedures and processes for most everything related to our schools.  While specific policies are updated every year, the last major revision/ reconsideration of policies was in the early 2000’s.   One goal of the current policy subcommittee is to begin to look at each section of our policy manual once a year for a more sustainable updating of these key policies.   Policy Subcommittee’s next meeting is Thursday, Feb 17th from 1- 3 p.m. on the 3rd floor of the Natick Town Hall.   Budget Season! Not a financial person? Rea...
Read more