Strategic and District Operational Plans

The purpose of the Superintendent’s Strategic Advisory Council is to inform the development of the District Operational Plan and to seek input on systemic and strategic issues from key parent, business and community leaders. The council includes 20-30 members who are invited by the superintendent. Interested individuals can self-nominate to be considered as a member. The council meets three-four times each year and may be asked to share input electronically between meetings.

At various times during each school year, the superintendent and district administration schedules meetings with groups of community leaders. Community Leader Meetings will likely include, but are not limited to, groups such as legislators, local clergy, business network groups, and social service agencies who work with children and families. The purpose of these meetings is to share information with community leaders and to solicit input. If you are a part of a community leader group and would like to schedule a meeting, please contact the superintendent’s office. 

Along with using community conversations for other topics, the district also conducts two-three community conversations each year related specifically to the District Operational Plan. In the spring, a session is held to seek input from parents and community members. In the fall, a session is held to review the previous year’s work and to learn about the current year’s plan. 

It is important to note that staff have the opportunity to provide input and influence in the development of the district operational plan as well. Teachers and other staff lead some of the district operational plan projects, as well as serve on design teams and task forces. Input is sought purposefully throughout the year at staff meetings, through surveys and rounding (short, one to one interviews), and influence is provided by studying professional practice data that is gathered. In addition, teacher and staff representatives serving on the district Learning, Teaching, and Accountability Advisory Council provide guidance to the development of the district operational plan based on feedback gathered from their staff and school leadership teams, as do principals, continuous improvement and innovation coaches, curriculum leads, and others. These are just a sampling of the many ways staff input is gathered.

Learner profiles and personal learner maps are specific tools of personalized learning. Learner profiles provide information about a student’s interests, strengths and needs as a learner. Personal learner maps provide a framework for goal-setting and feedback to help students identify and achieve next steps in their learning and achieve desired outcomes.

These tools actively engage our students and families in the process of learning and allow staff to know their learners more deeply and design learning experience specific to them.

Our graduation rate data indicates that students who move into Spring Lake Park High School during their high school years, as well as students who receive free or reduced-price meals, are less likely to graduate within four years. Using learner profiles and maps with these students helps them to achieve learning outcomes and prepare for the next class, grade level, or step after high school.

Intervention teachers, counselors for personalized learning and support specialists receive professional learning and curricular resources that focus on co-creating learner profiles and personal learner maps with students. Creating together fosters a sense of belonging with students and engages students through a coaching for success model.

Students will receive up to daily coaching and connections, as well as specific strategies and resources to build academic and life skill competencies. Short-term learner maps support goal setting and feedback that moves learning forward.

Career Pathways courses and courses that provide opportunities to earn college credit by while still in high school support students in preparing for their next steps after graduation.

We have a cross-district partnership with Mounds View Public Schools. We share enrollment in specific, identified college-credit bearing courses. One goal is to reduce the racial and economic disparities by providing opportunities to bring students of different racial and/or economic backgrounds – representing the demographics of each district - together for semester or year-long courses.

Cross-district partnership courses will expand over the three years of this plan. Starting in the 2022-2023 school year, Centennial Publish Schools will join the collaboration with cross-district partnership courses. Districts collaborate on curricular work and the teaching of shared courses. Additionally, we provide transportation for students to ensure that all students have the opportunity to enroll across districts.

In addition to courses offered in partnership with Mounds View, Spring Lake Park High School is focused on increasing access to college-credit bearing courses (including AP courses, embedded college courses, and articulated college courses) for student groups not enrolling in these courses at the same rate as their peers. We also are providing additional opportunities for students to enroll in career and technical education pathways courses.

Through targeted outreach and ongoing support to students and their families, we aim to decrease racial and economic enrollment disparities and increase social cohesion within Spring Lake Park High School. For year one, the focus is on increasing access to all AP courses; all embedded college courses and all Pathways courses.

Through targeted outreach and ongoing support to racially diverse students and their families, we also aim to decrease racial and economic enrollment disparities in our child development and teacher education pathways courses. These courses allow students to explore and gain experience in teaching, expose younger students to more diverse teacher aides in their classroom (part of the course programming), and increase number of Spring Lake Park High School students pursuing teacher education programs in college, and hopefully, returning to teach in Spring Lake Park.

These courses are part of a larger “grow-your-own” initiative in partnership with Mounds View Public Schools, our adjoining district. For year one, teacher education and child development courses will be offered only to Spring Lake Park students, with the goal of offering these and additional teacher education pathway courses across districts in later years.

AVID trains educators on how to use proven practices in order to prepare students for success in high school, college, and a career, especially students traditionally underrepresented in higher education. AVID strategies support students in developing critical thinking, literacy, and math skills across all content areas.

In Spring Lake Park Schools, AVID is a school-wide program from Grades 5 through 12 and strategies are embedded throughout the curriculum. AVID is an elective course at Grades 7-12, which provides intensive support for students to achieve success in their rigorous coursework through tutorials and strong teacher-student relationships. Spring Lake Park partners with districts within the North Suburban Post-Secondary Success Consortium (Fridley, Columbia Heights, Roseville) to provide professional learning on AVID to teachers across districts. Students across the consortium districts also interact as they explore colleges, careers, and opportunities for service learning.

Student and family advocates work directly with students, families, and teachers to help build positive relationships between and among all stakeholders to create the conditions for an inviting school and district learning environment. Some of the critical services advocates provide include:

• leading family engagement initiatives that provide resources and learning opportunities for staff and families
• facilitating communication between school staff and families from a range of racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds
• leading professional learning and coaching for all staff to increase their understanding of their own culture, and the impact it has on their work and interactions with each other
• supporting the goal of diversifying our staff by facilitating connections and networking within the district and across our consortium schools, providing additional learning and mentorship, and partnering with our human resources department to diversify staffing processes