Park Ridge-Niles School District 64 is inviting community members to preview a working draft of a new, five-year strategic plan on Wednesday, April 15 at Emerson Middle School (Learning Resource Center), 8101 N. Cumberland, Niles. Separate, hour-long sessions are scheduled: 4:30 - 5:30 p.m. or 6:00 - 7:00 p.m.
“More than 830 surveys were returned from community members in March, which greatly helped to inform the work of our Strategic Planning Steering Committee as it develops a draft,” according to District 64 Superintendent Laurie Heinz.
“As the committee continues its work to develop a ‘2020 vision’ for our schools, we are pleased to offer another opportunity for community members to contribute their input through these preview meetings,” she added.
The sessions will be led by the District’s strategic planning consultant, Bob Ewy, who is guiding the work of a volunteer, 40-member committee of community stakeholders. In addition to the online survey, committee members also visited personally in March with local community and civic organizations to share information about the strategic planning process and invite residents to contribute their ideas.
At its March meeting, the committee reviewed responses from the surveys and meetings, and also heard from District 207 Superintendent Ken Wallace about the challenges facing the high school district. In addition, the strategic planners explored the results of the District’s current 2010-15 strategic plan and also reviewed findings from an organizational quality “audit” conducted through a partnership with the Consortium for Educational Change (CEC).
The committee will continue its work through the spring to complete the new plan, which is expected to be presented to the Board of Education in June.