ACS launches strategic planning process

Dear Editor,

The Almont Board of Education and the Administration an-nounced they are launching a new initiative to guide them through a three- to five-year Strategic Plan.

The process will include community and staff input events, data collection and other efforts to create a shared vision and goals for the future of the district and strategies to achieve them, all while using scarce public education resources in the most effective and efficient way.

Stakeholder feedback will be an important part of the planning process. Community members, parents, students, teachers and all district staff members will have the opportunity to give input on the strengths of the district, opportunities for improvement, barriers for implementation and their vision for the district.

Community members and parents are welcome to drop in on Wednesday, November 19 from 4:00-6:00 p.m. at Almont Middle School in the Media Center to share their input.

Almont school stakeholders can also visit www.almontschools.org and take a quick survey. Stakeholder input, along with essential district data, provides the basis for the district to choose approximately five priority goals to be implemented over the next three to five years.

The benefits of the strategic planning process are many. Most notable are:

• Provides integrated, important input from community and staff

• Presents a succinct and graphical picture of the district’s current status

• Sets focused strategic goals that identify target areas to improve student achievement

• Clearly delineates the role of the Board of Education and the superintendent/staff in
strategic planning

• Uses data to set goals and make important decisions

• Helps identify areas to allocate increasingly scarce resources

• Aligns Board priorities with school improvement processes

Janaea Smith, the Almont Board of Education President stated, “As school board members, we have to make the best decisions in these challenging, changing times. It is essential we use data
forecasting and stakeholder input to make decisions and set shared priorities for the future of our district.”

Scott Morrell, consultant for the Michigan Association of School Boards, will work with Almont Community Schools for the next three months to complete the strategic plan. Morrell said,

“Almont Community Schools and MASB have worked together to design a customized process that ensures broad stakeholder involvement and will result in an effective strategic plan implementation. We look forward to involving the community in this process.”

Please call the district’s Central Office at 810-798-8561 if you have any questions about the process. Thank you for your continued support of Almont Community Schools!

Sincerely,
— Kimberly VonHiltmayer
Almont Supt.