Superintendent Entry Plan

To build a foundation for success by engaging in purposeful activities that lead to a deep and systemic understanding of the district’s strengths, challenges, and aspirations for the future.

• Work effectively with the ORCSD School Board to establish clear processes and practices that prioritize effective co-governance.
• Build meaningful relationships that empower stakeholders and support student success.
• Learn about the proud history and diverse experiences that make ORCSD truly unique.
• Identify next level of professional work, opportunities for growth, and areas of support to sustain excellence.
• Ensure a seamless transition of leadership.

Connect: Build relationships, establish trust, and form partnerships

Listen: Hear the stories and voices associated with ORCSD

Learn: Synthesize understanding of students and staff experiences, programs, and interests - How do we define ORCSD and an ORCSD education?

Pre-Entry Activities

Interviews

• Board Members
• SAU Staff
• School Leaders
• Students

Workshops

• Reunification
• Legal Topics

Hiring

• HR Administrator
• Dir. Facilities

Site Visits

• School Tours

Meetings

• Faculty/Staff
• Guild Leadership
• Safety Team
• DEIJ

Document Review

• Contracts
• Budget
• Student Assessment Data
• Enrollment Projections
• Comp.-based Survey

Leading by Learning

• Launch listening tour with focus groups.
• Develop a schedule of regular school visits and debriefs.
• Organize meet and greets with municipal leaders and community organizations.
• Activate agreed upon School Board – Superintendent practices and procedures.
• Formulate a communications plan that aligns with Entry Plan objectives.
• Finalize 2024 – 2025 administrative team goals and metrics.
• Complete document review (e.g., student/school performance data, capital plan, course enrollments, extra-curricular participation).
• Immerse myself in the ORCSD community.

Facilitating and Guiding

• Co-construct the School Board 2024–2025 District Goals.
• Organize regular Board Chair/Vice Chair – Superintendent planning meetings to guide co-governance agenda.
• Collaborate with Board Finance Committee and SAU team to review and develop a Budget Framework/timeline.
• Develop clear and communications protocols with Board specific to reports, presentations, meetings, etc.

Phase I Summary

• 75 people attended Superintendent Shaps' 5 Community Conversations focus groups.
• The focus groups were open to all Oyster River families and were hosted at each ORCSD schools. A virtual opportunity was also offered to ORCSD alumni.
• In addition to the focus groups, Superintendent Shaps met with all ORCSD departments, groups of high school students, and is on track to have visited all classrooms by the end of the school year.
• Focus groups key findings and observations will be determined in Phase II and utilized in Phase III to build a solid foundation and guide the development of a strategic plan. 

Building a Solid Foundation

• Publicly present focus group findings, school visit themes, and general observations.
• Update the School Board and community on goal attainment progress.
• Review student data examining gaps/strengths between aspirational goals and current outcomes.
• Determine what support may be needed for school-level and district-level initiatives.
• Align and prioritize budget resources (e.g., programs, staff, facilities, etc.) with short-term goals.
• Assess status of the District Strategic Plan and begin community conversation about strategic planning process.

Phase II Summary

Superintendent Shaps leveraged his Entry Plan Phase I activities to identify 3 key findings. These observations supported the creation of guiding questions and key actions to develop a strategic plan in Phase III

Key findings:

1. Explicit trust in the public school system.
   • Confidence in our professionals and their commitment to students.
   • Unwavering focus on the whole child (e.g. SEL, academics, and relationships).
   • Historical investments in programs, services, and breadth and depth of experiences
   • Guiding question: How can the system enhance the personalization of learning for every student at all levels of learning?
   • Key action: Investigate how we “know students in the round” and create systems and structures to support their individualized academic and social-emotional growth and learning (dispositions, skills, knowledge, and interests).
2. Emphasis on community, parent engagement, and connections between school and families.
   • Partnering with elementary parents in the process of learning.
   • Prioritizing communication to leverage engagement and partnerships.
   • Purposefully centering learning through authentic experiences.
   • Guiding question: How can we increase parent engagement-partnership in the educational process as students progress through secondary-level learning?
   • Key action: Create opportunities to expand parent engagement in the educational process at the middle/high school levels (e.g. curriculum nights, competency workshops, SEL and student transitions).
3. Commitment to innovative, authentic, and deep meaningful learning.
   • Learning opportunities that connect classrooms’ academic work to the broader world (e.g. local history, regional and worldwide connections).
   • Investment in performance and project-based learning experiences.
   • Emphasis on passions, interests, and individualized learning experiences.
   • Guiding question: How can we increase parent engagement-partnership in the educational process as students progress through secondary-level learning?
   • Key action: Create opportunities to expand parent engagement in the educational process at the middle/high school levels (e.g. curriculum nights, competency workshops, SEL and student transitions).

Developing a Shared Vision of the Future: Strategic Planning

• Introduce a framework for developing ORCSD's Five-Year Strategic Plan.
• Launch process for plan development.
• Align budget process and financial planning with strategic plan development.
• Establish processes for school and community feedback.

Phase III Summary

A summary will be made available once Phase III has concluded.