BLUEPRINT FOR SUCCESS
Hermantown Community Schools spent two full days engaging in a Strategic Planning process for continuous improvement. This process involved over 35 participants who represented people from business, service clubs, government, law enforcement, retired community members, parents, staff and student representatives. We are excited to have created a “Blueprint for Success” which will guide us as we move forward. The Strategic Planning Committee came up with seven priority areas. Subcommittees will collaborate in order to plan and improve our district in each of the following areas (click photo for printable pdf)
Deliverables | Progress (as of 12/2024) | |
---|---|---|
FACILITIES |
| Our strategic planning team met and the Elementary School was identified as the priority. We moved forward with a recommendation for proposals and the school board approved LHB to conduct a facilities analysis of the elementary to determine educational adequacy and recommend a plan moving forward. On Monday, December 9th, LHB will share with the board a couple options. With board approval we will be pulling a community group back together for feedback and develop a plan on how to best move forward. |
CAREER & TECHNICAL EDUCATION INTEGRATION |
| The goal was to create expanded CTE opportunities for students. The committee met, Ashley McFarland spearheaded, and we acquired a Youth Skills Training (YST) grant for $100,000. Scott Larson was hired as the CTE Coordinator in July. We are working on our two-year goals on student CTE exposure, classes, certificates and work experiences. In combination with Proctor and Esko, Representative Natalie Zeleznikar secured $172,000 in State funding to look at how we can expand CTE programming in the region. Jay Balcastro, retired Superintendent from Lake Superior School District, was hired with that funding to spearhead this vision. He is currently meeting with political leaders and developing a plan for a Northern Connections Center that includes setting 4 students along with CTE opportunities. |
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT |
| The focus of this group is to create opportunities for us to engage with the community, including volunteering and gathering input. This charge has been led by our principals to encourage teachers to find more opportunities for volunteers in the schools. We discussed different ways to communicate back out survey results, progress and what is happening in our schools. This is a key group that will be needed if we move forward with plans for an elementary school that requires a levy. |
CALENDAR & BELL SCHEDULES | This goal was in line with Time for Educators to Collaborate, so these two groups were combined. | See Time for Educators to Collaborate |
TIME FOR EDUCATORS TO COLLABORATE |
| Find time for PLCs was the common goal from these two groups, so they combined their efforts. The group created multiple schedules to provide time for teachers to collaborate and landed on a 30 minute early release that was recommended and approved by the School Board. We are currently piloting this schedule. We have put together and provided training on expectations for PLC time and gathering feedback each week from teachers. Our next step is to meet and determine how to share what is happening with the community. |
COMMUNICATION |
| The group spent a lot of time discussing how to disseminate information and what parents need to know. We started out with an idea of a Parent Information Handbook, but ultimately concluded that all of the information can be found on the district website. We created a list of improvements to the website to address identified areas of need. Changes made information available and easier navigation on the website. This group will need to be pulled back together if the Facilities committee comes forward with a recommendation for improvements to the Elementary school that require a levy. |
WHOLE CHILD DEVELOPMENT |
| With County involvement, the focus was on these areas: feel adults in the community care, educational engagement, feel teachers care, positive identity, social competency and empowerment. As information was gathered, on the many things we are already doing, we discovered the problem may be in communicating out what is already happening. The counseling department has created ongoing plans so much of the "whole child" focus is being led by our counseling department. A grant was submitted to the county to enhance whole child development. |
If you are interested in serving on any of these subcommittees please email: sturcotte@isd700.org and let us know which area you are interested in volunteering.