n Dec. 14, a group of Inglemoor students from different backgrounds, along with others hailing from each Northshore high school and junior high, met at the district headquarters to make their mark on NSD’s five-year strategic plan.
Under the direction and listening ears of the superintendent, these student representatives reviewed and debated the five tentative long-term “Goals for Student Success.”
“Today, we wanted to hear the student voice, which is such an important component in our strategic planning process,” superintendent Dr. Michelle Reid said. “We also wanted to check the thinking of the Core Planning Team.”
The development of the strategic plan is being facilitated by Performance Fact Inc. The CEO of the company, Mutiu Fagbayi said he thinks Northshore’s strategic plan will be particularly thorough due to the large amount of student involvement.
“Typically we will talk to students in the beginning and part way through the process. At Northshore, we are talking to them at every step of the process,” Fagbayi said. “By doing that, not only do you have a much better product, but we have a level of commitment among everybody, students and the adults.”
The student representatives from each school read “We Hear You” letters from the Core Planning Team, and wrote their own responses, either affirming or correcting their interpretations. Then each student Core Planning Team member presented a goal so others could form their opinions.
Many students who attended the meeting, including junior Liam Blakey, thought they were able to give constructive input to the goals.
“The meeting had structure to it, but it gave you points to build off of and create discussion with the other schools,” Blakey said.
In their discussion, the student representatives emphasized the importance of choice and flexibility in course selection, alternate forms of student assessment and real world relevancy in coursework in the implementation of the Strategic Plan.
Blakey and sophomore Beatrice Duchastel said students came out of the two-hour meeting with positive feelings about the strategic plan goals and took pride that they contributed to the process.
“One of the things they emphasized was they didn’t want this to be a symbolic act- they actually wanted to hear what we had to say and valued,” Duchastel said. “It is hard to imagine what the students want if you don’t really ask.”
