2023-2026 HWRSD Strategic Plan
Summary of the Strategic Planning Process
The strategic plan is a powerful tool that can assist a district in staying focused on what it is, what it wants to be, and how it can achieve its goals. It represents “the set of actions an organization chooses to pursue in order to achieve its objectives. These deliberate actions are puzzle pieces that fit together to create a clear picture of how the people, activities, and resources of an organization can work effectively to accomplish a collective purpose.” (Curtis & City, 2010, p. 20). The strategic planning process affords the opportunity to seek feedback from constituents that comprise the school district: students, parents, staff,
administrators, school committee, and the community, in order to best serve the
educational community in the future.
In the Fall of 2022, members of the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District and community came together to develop a strategic plan that would serve as a road map for improvement for the 2023 through 2026 school year. The following three-step strategic planning process was employed to help guide the planning process:
Phase One:
Phase One represented an important step in beginning the building of a strong foundation in the strategic planning process. In this phase, relevant data representing the performance of the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District was collected and community input and feedback was solicited. A series of forums were conducted with parents, community, school committee, staff and leadership. Ex-post facto data about the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District was also collected to be used in Phase Two of the process. This data guided the work of the Strategic Planning Committee in Phase Two and Phase Three of the process.
Phase Two:
In Phase Two, a Strategic Planning Committee was established to begin the important work of analyzing
internal and external data to guide the work in establishing a mission, core values, and a vision. The 2022-2023 District Goals were assessed to inform the development of a new strategic plan. During Phase Two work, members of the Strategic Planning Committee analyzed internal and external data collected in order to identify focus areas. The Strategic Planning Committee established a strategic objective for each focus area, developed strategic initiatives for each objective, and identified outcomes for each strategic initiative. The Strategic Committee also revisited the vision in this phase to ensure it represented the mission of the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District. A theory of action was also developed.
Final Phase:
In the final phase of the strategic planning process, the Strategic Planning Committee discussed how the newly developed contents of the strategic plan could be implemented both vertically and horizontally in the organization to guide the change process over the next three years. Strategies were developed that will be employed to ensure that district improvement would highlight the identified focus areas. The graphic below highlights the process for using the strategic plan to guide the district in shared vision and vertical alignment of goals.
