This week’s meeting asked members of the public to decide what they’d be proud to see in the district in the next three years.
Mt. Laurel Schools moved forward this week with the second event in the district’s ongoing series of strategic planning meetings for its “A Path to Success 2030” initiative.
District officials once again invited Mt. Laurel’s parents, district staff, business owners, municipal officials, community leaders and all stakeholders in the Mt. Laurel community to meet and share feedback about Mt. Laurel Schools, as well as contribute to a discussion on goals the district should strive toward in the coming years.
District officials plan to use the information gathered at this week’s meeting, in addition to information from a meeting in early November and from a final meeting on Dec. 7, to develop a three-year strategic-action plan they can use as a guide for the district starting in July.
Officials also note that any actions from the final plan would leave a lasting impact in the district beyond the next three years, which is why officials say they chose to include the year 2030 in the plan’s title to reflect how this year’s kindergarten class is set to graduate high school in 2030.
While the theme of the first meeting in early November asked participants to identify points of pride in the district, this week’s meeting tasked participates with determining what they would be proud to see accomplished in the district during the next three years.
Similar to the first meeting in the series, participants at this week’s meeting broke into small, random groups to collect their individual thoughts.
Participants then worked to find a consensus among their groups, before then briefly sharing their common ideas with about 150 other people in attendance.
Just some of the ideas that multiple groups of participants said they’d like to see for the future of the district included:
• Full-day kindergarten
• Improvements to district buildings and facilities
• More attention for students’ emotional and physical health
• More uniformity between the district’s different schools in regards to curriculum, activities and regulations
• More diversity among the district’s teachers to better reflect Mt. Laurel’s diverse community
• Continued emphasis on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math programs
• Continued emphasis on technology upgrades
• Increasing the number of staff and classroom aides in the district
• A focus on keeping classes sizes small
• More extracurricular activities to better students beyond academics
• Continue the move away from teaching students in preparation for tests
• More free time for students to use for play or a study hall environment
• An improved transition program for students moving from the elementary schools, to the upper elementary school, to the middle school and finally to Lenape High School
Charles Ivory, one of the consultants hired to run the meeting, said of the nearly 600 school districts in the state, about 10 percent of those might engage in strategic planning.
However, Ivory said most of those districts did not have the level of community involvement he was seeing in Mt. Laurel.
“I want to commend your board of education for realizing they needed to reach out to you,” Ivory said. “We can’t thank you enough for how valuable it is for your board of education that all of you are here tonight.”
The final meeting in the district’s strategic planning series is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 7, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Hartford School.
According to Ivory, the final meeting will have participants review the goals they’ve identified so participants can present ideas for specific action steps the district can take to achieve those goals.
Officials are once again inviting all stakeholders in the community to attend the final meeting. Those interested in attending are not required to have attended one of the past meetings in the series.
To sign up for the final meeting or to read the minutes from the past meetings, visit the district’s website at www.mtlaurelschools.org.
