Portsmouth School Board Goals SY 2023-2024 and Guiding Pillars

PORTSMOUTH SCHOOL BOARD GOALS SY 2023-2024

Approved 9/12/2023

Strategic Planning

The Portsmouth School District started the 2022-2023 school year with a new superintendent, a new assistant superintendent, a new high school principal, a new curriculum director at our high school, and a new program director at our alternative high school. We, therefore, found this an appropriate and exciting time to initiate a strategic planning process. The Portsmouth School Board partnered with Great Schools Partnership in the 2022-2023 school year to develop a 3-5 year strategic plan. We set the following strategic planning objectives for the 2023-2024 school year:

 1.     Provide regular strategic planning progress updates throughout the 2023-2024 school year.

2.     Complete a 3–5-year strategic plan by the end of the 2023-2024 school year.

3.     Develop a communications plan for sharing the finished strategic plan with all stakeholders.

4.     Identify resources needed, and budget implications, to implement the strategic plan starting in the 2024-2025 school year.

5.     Continue to engage the community in the strategic planning process and implementation.

 

Communication

The Portsmouth School District worked in the 2022-2023 school year to develop a Communications Plan shaped by four guiding principles: clarity, credibility, reliability, and connectivity. We anticipate that the new strategic plan will help shape communications going forward. We set the following communications objectives for the 2023-2024 school year:

 1.     Continue to work on improving communications in the 2023-2024 school year.

         The Superintendent has identified the following top priorities: 

  •      Create consistent messages across schools and across the district to improve credibility, accuracy, timing, and reliability of communications
  •      Website improvements to make this a more effective default resource for information
  •      Work to improve the use of Parent Square and social media for communication

2.     Identify resources needed, and budget implications, for these top priorities

3.     Identify metrics for evaluating progress towards achieving these top priorities

4.   Develop and consider alternative ways to engage the district and greater community in conversations, such as through the strategic planning process, community events, announcements, targeted social media marketing, fundraisers, etc.

 The Board will evaluate progress toward these goals on a quarterly basis.

 

Portsmouth School Board Guiding Pillars

Revised 3/30/23

Guiding Pillar #1 – Equity

For any given measure of enrichment, rigorous achievement or opportunity, the achievement or enrollment of students on free and reduced lunch will be equal to the proportion of students on free and reduced lunch in the general population. Work to reduce any identified gap in performance or participation as quickly as practical and address systemic change to eliminate all gaps.

Guiding Pillar #2 – Opportunity

Expand opportunities for all students to access personalized learning pathways (intervention, enrichment, extended learning opportunities, internships, career pathways, etc.) and monitor for student success.

Guiding Pillar #3 – Community

Clearly and purposefully communicate the work in the district to achieve our goals and engage the community in generating support and innovation to further this work and expand equity and opportunity.

Guiding Pillar #4 – Student Wellness

Establish baseline indicators for social and emotional learning (SEL) at each level and expand strategies for supporting all learners for success in schools. These strategies will include trauma-informed, schoolwide systems of support to improve the mental health, substance prevention, and overall well-being of all Portsmouth students.