SCHOOL DISTRICT EDUCATION SUMMIT FOLLOW-UP

From Superintendent John Ramos on Wednesday:

December 16, 2015

Dear SOMSD Community,

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Education Summit and who has offered input into the process through Let’s Talk since the Summit concluded.

We have reviewed all of the notes from the topic rooms at the Summit, and the subsequent submissions through Let’s Talk, and notice a number of common themes and concepts which weave their way through the various discussions.  The notes from each discussion group are available here.  We have synthesized these into the attached document.

We encourage you to share any additional thoughts, suggestions or comments with us over the next few weeks, particularly if you have any ideas which you think we may not yet have heard.  If you would like to share your thoughts on one or more of the Summit topics, please do so here. 

Next Steps:

• Incorporate all data and ideas collected by January 4^th into synthesis of the data to serve as foundation for Strategic Plan. (January 2016)
• Develop a Strategic Direction stating our mission for the next 3-5 years, the values which will guide our work, the objectives for students’ performance, and the strategies that adults are committing to in order to support students in reaching these objectives. (January 2016)
• Submit draft Strategic Direction to the community for comments and to the Board of Education for adoption.  (January 2016)
• Align 2016-2017 SOMSD Budget to priorities identified for early implementation (February – March 2016)
• Action planning phase, where working committees will create specific, concrete plans for each strategy.  (February – August 2016)
• Implementation phase, with regular reporting to the Board and the community on our progress. (August 2016 and beyond)

As previously stated, this will be a collaborative effort, and there will be many opportunities to participate.  We will keep the community informed of our progress throughout the process.

Because of all the work we are doing together to envision what we want to see here in SOMSD,  I trust that the Strategic Plan we create through this process will truly represent the values of our community and will be a plan which honors creativity, passion, purpose and play. 
Sincerely,
John J. Ramos
John J. Ramos, Sr., Ed.D.