“Our strategic plan will provide a road map of what is to be accomplished within the next five years at CACS,” shared Kathy Koetter, director/ lead teacher at the Clarkfield Area Charter School. She went on to state in her letter of acknowledgement in the strategic plan document, “Only when an organization has created a clear vision for where it is going is it possible for it to effectively work towards achieving its core purpose. Our core purpose is to “Enable students to reach their maximum potential.”
In July 2010, the CACS school board, teachers and staff determined a need for a systematic approach towards school-wide improvement. Educa-tional consultant Wade McKittrick, was charged with identifying five system goals, strategic objects, strategies, measures and performance targets as a guide toward school-wide improvement. To accomplish this he engaged the community, parents, teachers and staff through small group focus meetings and electronic surveys in order to determine the local expectations for the school.
“The group I was a part of included people from all areas of the community. There were 30 – 35 people involved. It included retired people, people like me with no kids in school and a mom of pre-school students,” shared Clarkfield resident Hazel Hanson. She went on to explain that the group she was a part of talked about what they felt were the challenges facing CACS. Some of the questions they discussed included the strengths of CACS; the situations or issues that exist that could stand in the way of the school achieving its goals; defining possible threats that could have a negative effect on CACS; the most important skills students will need to be successful in the 21st century; financial priorities; and what evidence would be required to show that students are receiving a high quality education.
Using the perception data gathered from the community, parents, teachers and staff the strategic plan includes methods of gathering student performance data that will be used to establish a clear balanced scorecard that will track the annual achievement of the five system goals.
The five system goals have been identified as: Goal 1: Achieve Aca-demic Excellence; Goal 2: Maintain Fiscal Responsibility; Goal 3: Insure Stakeholder Satis-faction; Goal 4: Ensure Excellence in Teaching; and Goal 5: Growing the School.
In the area of Academic Achievement the strategic plan sets out percentage growth in the areas for individual students in mathematics and reading as well as all students meeting standards in technology, communications, fine arts, and physical education by the end of the sixth grade.
In the area of Fiscal Responsibility the strategic plan states that the school should maintain a minimum of a 30 percent fund balance; operate under a balanced budget annually, set percentages for funds allocated towards employee salaries and benefits; set percentages allocated for updating curriculum and instructional resources as well as identifying revenue sources outside of state and federal funding.
In the area of Stake-holder Satisfaction the strategic plan identifies the stakeholders as members of the community, parents, teachers and staff. The plan sets a minimum of 95 percent parent satisfaction in regards to the quality of education their child receives; a goal that 95 percent of the students feel safe at school and a goal that 95 percent of surveyed graduates indicate they were prepared for junior high school.
In the area of Excellence in Teaching the strategic plan identifies that 100 percent of the teachers will meet the State of Minnesota’s “highly qualified” standards; 100 percent of the teachers effectively implement differentiated instructional practices; 100 percent of the teachers complete the CACS Teachers Academy; 100 percent of the teachers receive a minimum of 85 percent parent satisfaction and 90 percent of the staff are satisfied with the working conditions at CACS.
In the area of goal 5: Growing the School the strategic plan identifies the need to increase school wide enrollment, to provide a facility that accommodates all school programs and that each individual grade level has a full time, highly qualified teacher.
As with any educational endeavor, the strategic plan states that tremendous effort must be undertaken within the school to achieve the goals. A truly collaborative effort needs to develop in order to achieve the school’s vision. The strategic plan document states, “It [the strategic plan] is a framework to focus the school’s efforts over the next five years and beyond. It is the commitment of the CACS staff to act on this framework therefore bringing it to life in order to see children’s life’s changed forever.”
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“Our strategic plan will provide a road map of what is to be accomplished within the next five years at CACS,” shared Kathy Koetter, director/ lead teacher at the Clarkfield Area Charter School. She went on to state in her letter of acknowledgement in the strategic plan document, “Only when an organization has created a clear vision for where it is going is it possible for it to effectively work towards achieving its core purpose. Our core purpose is to “Enable students to reach their maximum potential.”
In July 2010, the CACS school board, teachers and staff determined a need for a systematic approach towards school-wide improvement. Educa-tional consultant Wade McKittrick, was charged with identifying five system goals, strategic objects, strategies, measures and performance targets as a guide toward school-wide improvement. To accomplish this he engaged the community, parents, teachers and staff through small group focus meetings and electronic surveys in order to determine the local expectations for the school.
“The group I was a part of included people from all areas of the community. There were 30 – 35 people involved. It included retired people, people like me with no kids in school and a mom of pre-school students,” shared Clarkfield resident Hazel Hanson. She went on to explain that the group she was a part of talked about what they felt were the challenges facing CACS. Some of the questions they discussed included the strengths of CACS; the situations or issues that exist that could stand in the way of the school achieving its goals; defining possible threats that could have a negative effect on CACS; the most important skills students will need to be successful in the 21st century; financial priorities; and what evidence would be required to show that students are receiving a high quality education.
Using the perception data gathered from the community, parents, teachers and staff the strategic plan includes methods of gathering student performance data that will be used to establish a clear balanced scorecard that will track the annual achievement of the five system goals.
The five system goals have been identified as: Goal 1: Achieve Aca-demic Excellence; Goal 2: Maintain Fiscal Responsibility; Goal 3: Insure Stakeholder Satis-faction; Goal 4: Ensure Excellence in Teaching; and Goal 5: Growing the School.
In the area of Academic Achievement the strategic plan sets out percentage growth in the areas for individual students in mathematics and reading as well as all students meeting standards in technology, communications, fine arts, and physical education by the end of the sixth grade.
In the area of Fiscal Responsibility the strategic plan states that the school should maintain a minimum of a 30 percent fund balance; operate under a balanced budget annually, set percentages for funds allocated towards employee salaries and benefits; set percentages allocated for updating curriculum and instructional resources as well as identifying revenue sources outside of state and federal funding.
In the area of Stake-holder Satisfaction the strategic plan identifies the stakeholders as members of the community, parents, teachers and staff. The plan sets a minimum of 95 percent parent satisfaction in regards to the quality of education their child receives; a goal that 95 percent of the students feel safe at school and a goal that 95 percent of surveyed graduates indicate they were prepared for junior high school.
In the area of Excellence in Teaching the strategic plan identifies that 100 percent of the teachers will meet the State of Minnesota’s “highly qualified” standards; 100 percent of the teachers effectively implement differentiated instructional practices; 100 percent of the teachers complete the CACS Teachers Academy; 100 percent of the teachers receive a minimum of 85 percent parent satisfaction and 90 percent of the staff are satisfied with the working conditions at CACS.
In the area of goal 5: Growing the School the strategic plan identifies the need to increase school wide enrollment, to provide a facility that accommodates all school programs and that each individual grade level has a full time, highly qualified teacher.
As with any educational endeavor, the strategic plan states that tremendous effort must be undertaken within the school to achieve the goals. A truly collaborative effort needs to develop in order to achieve the school’s vision. The strategic plan document states, “It [the strategic plan] is a framework to focus the school’s efforts over the next five years and beyond. It is the commitment of the CACS staff to act on this framework therefore bringing it to life in order to see children’s life’s changed forever.”
