OPRF Board Approves 5-Year Strategic Plan

Oak Park and River Forest High School District 200 board members Thursday approved a five-year strategic plan focused on holistic community education, equity, supportive learning environments, transformational teaching and learning, transformational leadership and facilities and finances, according to a news release from the district. 

The final plan is the result of a process that began in October 2012, according to the release. Direct input from nearly 100 stakeholders—representing students, parents, faculty, staff, local government, community organizations, administrators and Board members—was "essential to creating the plan," it reads. The plan is available online here. 

Roughly 2,000 students, parents, faculty, staff and community members provided feedback through strategic-planning surveys and focus groups. 

Board President John Phelan said in a statement, “This Board worked very well together to craft and adopt a clear, concise plan that lays out the work to be done to move District into the future.  We are indebted to the faculty, staff, community members and others who worked so hard for so long to get this plan off the ground."

The strategic plan will guide the work of the district for the next five years. Providing the foundation of the plan are the vision and mission statements:

Vision
Oak Park and River Forest High School will become an ever-improving model of equity and excellence that will enable all students to achieve their full potential.

Mission
Oak Park and River Forest High School provides a dynamic, supportive learning environment that cultivates knowledge, skills, and character and strives for equity and excellence for all students.

The approved plan also includes the following six high-level goal areas, each supported by a stated goal:   

1. Holistic Community Education
2. Equity
3. Supportive Learning Environment
4. Transformational Teaching and Learning
5. Transformational Leadership
6. Facilities and Finances

In order to create a plan that is both ambitious and concise, the goal statements provide the foundation for three to four intentionally broad action steps. For example, one action step under the Holistic Community Education goal states: “Improve transitions from middle school to high school and from high school to post-secondary experiences.”

Over the coming months, implementation teams of stakeholders will develop detailed plans for executing the action steps to ultimately achieve the goals of the plan.

Information courtesy of a news release from District 200.