The Lenape Regional High School District Board of Education is on its way to finish a five-year plan by September.
At least that’s what the board had in mind when it contracted with the New Jersey School Boards Association last July.
And according to the first presentation at the latest board meeting, the plan is heading full steam ahead in the right direction.
Jesse Adams and Terri Lewis, from the NJSBA, presented the LRHSD Strategic Plan Goals and Objectives for the board’s approval on Wednesday, April 17 in the District Administration Building.
They provided the board with data and surveys that were completed over the year to show how the information led them to reach conclusions of the proposed plan.
Since July, the group has been conducting interviews and “task force” meetings from stakeholders and leadership perspectives from Lenape, Seneca, Cherokee and Shawnee high schools.
“We were able to get the task force to look at it and say, OK, well these are the goals that came out of this and this is what should carry us forward, and what we need to work on, over the next five years,” said Lewis.
Students, faculty, administration, and even alumni offered over 1,000 responses through surveys during the community engagement sessions. The questions asked the community what was most important to their education and what was sufficient or flawed in their schools.
The group then evaluated common themes within the whole district that emerged from the community engagement research.
When asked about what is most important in an education, some of the common themes found in the survey were academics, extra-curricular activities, college preparation, school pride and celebration of diversity, among others.
Among the common themes that present a challenge to the district include resources for mental health well-being, GPA class rank and air conditioning.
It’s been 10 years since the district proposed a long-range plan, and some within the board believe that it’s time for a new one.
“I think we all know that a lot has changed in the educational landscape in the last 10 years, so it’s about time that we have a new strategic plan put in place,” said Superintendent Carol Birnbohm.
Many of the plan’s goals were developed to answer: What does the district want to look like in 2023, and how do we get there?
Taking the district’s challenges, the plan establishes student-focused goals and ways to improve them.
Among them are health and well-being, which has five new objectives to improve opportunities for students to feel safe and welcomed in their programs and schools. Another is student achievements, which has six objectives to create a learning environment for “evolving” students.
The district and NJSBA will spend their time through the summer to achieve a finished plan to be presented to the public in September.
“I was just extremely grateful for the level of participation that we received. I’m overwhelmed by the number of people that would spend late hours at night to come to a community engagement series, that was unbelievable,” said Birnbohm.
The next board of education meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 1, at 7:30 p.m. at the Lenape District Administration Building in Shamong.
