Following the hiring of the current Superintendent, Dr. Heinz, in 2019, the strategic planning process was updated to better outline the important work needed to move District 15 forward. Over the last four years, the District has worked to fulfill its four commitments to students, staff, results, and facility and finances. 

Throughout this past school year, the district began creating an updated Strategic Plan as the previous four-year plan expired at the end of the 2022-2023 school year. This work began with engaging Hanover Research, a nationally-recognized research and analytics company, which began to analyze various data sets such as student discipline, access to acceleration and advanced placement of students, as well as staff retention stats with the intent of using findings to guide areas of focus within the new Strategic Plan. Additionally, Hanover administered surveys to the District Leadership Team, the certified staff, students in grades 5 to 8, and parents. Hanover organized this data and it was analyzed by a multi-stakeholder committee to help identify the District’s priority areas to address.

To ensure a variety of voices were represented in the development of a new roadmap, a large multi-stakeholder steering committee, all of which were professionally facilitated by trained Hanover staff met to draft a new direction and areas of focus for District 15. Through this work, the key features of the draft plan below have been shaped. 

At the May 2023 Board of Education meeting, Dr. Heinz, Superintendent of Schools; Dr. Edgar, Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning; and Robyn Cook, Director of Curriculum and Instruction; presented the draft District 15 Strategic Plan. The team walked through the process for developing the updated strategic plan, an understanding of the draft plan, an overview of the timeline and process for creating the plan, and reviewed the strategic priorities, AIMs, and goals.

View the Strategic Plan Presentation in BoardDoc. 

Mission: “By leveraging strengths and providing high quality support, we will honor our diverse learners in reaching their full potential.”

Vision: “Actively engage all learners to believe that they can and will learn.”

Core Values:

• Belonging 
• Collaborative 
• Engaged Community 
• Results Driven 
• Safe, Secure, and Updated Physical Environments 

Priorities: 

1. Success and Belonging 

2. Staff Engagement and Retention

3. Community and Family Engagement 

4. Facility Improvements & Moving 15 Forward Transitions

• A finalized Strategic Plan will be presented to the Board of Education at an upcoming Board meeting

• Action steps for each priority and goal area will be fully developed by departments over the next 6 months

• The District will communicate our priorities to staff, families, and our communities

• A Strategic Plan scorecard for each KPIs will be developed to help the District monitor progress and hold themselves accountable to the work outlined