Webberville Community Schools Creating a Shared Vision for the Future - December 2003
Dr. William C. Skilling, Superintendent

 

In my article of November 10, 2003, Proud of Our Past – Promoting our Future, I mentioned several strategies for how Webberville Community Schools would achieve a premier status among rural schools. One of the strategies was to develop a five-year strategic plan. We had a three day planning session December 4, 5 and 6, 2003. More than 35 community leaders, parents, board members, church leaders, teachers, support staff and senior citizens participated in a comprehensive planning process and developed a strategic plan to guide the district over the next five years, 2004 – 2009. We analyzed our strengths and weakness. We discussed our dreams, vision and goals we had for our school system and community. As a result, we set some high standards for our school district to achieve with built in accountability measures. The strategic planning committee will be reconvening on Monday, January 19, 2003 to review the plan and make final changes. The strategic plan will then be approved by the Board of Education that evening.

 

Our strategic planning included developing a shared vision for the future to guide the district toward a new standard of excellence. A mission for what we are guaranteeing our students and parents. And we identified the core values we are committed to modeling and teaching to our students.

The Vision

A premier school system that is setting the new standard of excellence

 

The Mission

The mission of Webberville Community Schools, an exemplary school system, is to guarantee a progressive, personalized education in a safe and caring environment by a dedicated, vision-driven staff.

 

The Core Values

We are committed to the principle of Respect.

We believe in:
Dedication, Diplomacy, Courtesy, Honesty, Statesmanship, Discernment

 

We are committed to the principle of Dedication.
We believe in:
Making personal sacrifices in order to achieve our goals, Persevering through challenges, A strong work ethic, Keeping our word and following through

We are committed to the principle of Compassion.
We believe in:
Diversity, recognizing and accepting others for who they are, Fairness, Discipline to build character, Being empathetic, Being personable
Sacrificing for others

We are committed to the principle of Loyalty.
We believe in:
Long-term commitment, Building community, Building strong families, Tying the past to the future

We are committed to the principle of Excellence.
We believe in:
Putting forth our personal best effort at all times, Continued commitment to lifelong learning, Expanding our horizons, Challenging others to strive for their own personal best, Instilling trust and building confidence

We are committed to the principle of Responsibility.
We believe in:
Reliability: following through with tasks, Consistency: sense of fairness toward all, Accountability: having to answer for our behaviors,
Quality: putting forth your best effort, Committed: saying what you are going to do and do what you say, Timeliness: meet deadlines and people’s needs, Keeping promises

We are committed to the principle of Integrity.
We believe in:
Being honest, Being just, Being trustworthy, Modeling strong morals, Being accountable, Having humility

 

The Shared Vision created during our strategic planning, “A premier school system that will set the new standard of excellence,” will be achieved through the following nine strategies.

 

1. We will implement a systematic and systemic continuous curriculum improvement process to modify, replace and expand curriculum.
2. We will design a comprehensive staff development program to include multimedia learning systems, brain based learning research, assessment, and instructional technology training.
3. We will expand our student opportunities in co-curricular, foreign languages and fine arts.
4. We will design and implement a comprehensive K-12 technology education program.
5. We will implement a district-wide accountability system to monitor our progress and meet the standards of No Child Left Behind, Education Yes and the NCA Transitions model for School Improvement.
6. We will implement an essential skills program to include life skills and careers awareness.
7. We will develop a marketing program to promote and enhance perceptions of the Webberville Community Schools.
8. We will evaluate our delivery system including our schedule and school calendar
9. We will implement a facility improvement project including a long-range maintenance plan.

 

The details associated with each strategy are too long to report in this article. However, the complete strategic plan will be published after it receives formal Board approval on January 19, 2004. The strategic plan will also be posted to our school website.

 

Accountability is critical for the success of this strategic plan. The strategic plan will be reviewed every six months. The administration team will be giving a public accounting of how we are progressing with each strategy. Please feel free to contact one of the principals or me if you have any questions regarding our strategic plan. We would appreciate input from any concerned community member or parent.