As a new year begins, our community is taking the first steps toward creating what the future of learning will look like in the Shawnee Mission School District (SMSD).
The Shawnee Mission Board of Education voted unanimously to fund strategic planning for the remainder of the 2018-19 school year at its December 17, 2018 meeting. Strategic Planning will formally begin with a kickoff session in early February 2019. The process will provide multiple and varied opportunities for public input, in order to ensure the ultimate plan serves the needs of all students.
“We are looking to create a Shawnee Mission School District that builds on the past to create an even better future for all of our children,” Dr. Mike Fulton, superintendent, said.
Strategic Planning is the method by which the Shawnee Mission School District will create a school system which meets the needs of each and every student. The district has a remarkable history of achievement and success. This legacy gives the district the opportunity to plan strategically to design a system of schools that prepares all students for their futures.
In preparation for this process, administrators, principals, and board members participated in Strategic Thinking Awareness sessions during the first week of January. The training was offered to provide district leaders a better understanding of the strategic planning process the district will undertake.
Strategic planning will be led by a Steering Committee, appointed by Dr. Fulton, and will be made up of a diverse cross-section of Shawnee Mission stakeholders, including parents, community members, students, and staff. This committee will develop beliefs, a mission statement, objectives, strategies, and parameters. Action Teams will be established for each identified strategy. Those actions teams will work during the months of March, April and May to develop action plans for each identified strategy.
The Steering Committee will review the work of the Action Teams, and finalize the strategic plan, which will be presented to the Board of Education in June 2019 for adoption. Individual schools will begin work in fall, 2019 to develop school plans aligned with the district strategic plan.
For more details about the progress of strategic planning in SMSD, visit our website.