Beechwood adopts new goals, mission, confirms commitment to tradition, future student success


Shared by Melanie Stricker, chair of the board of Beechwood Independent School District:

You might think that school administrators inside a boardroom create a school’s mission and vision statements. But at Beechwood Independent School District, it was the role of the entire community.

In January 2014, the Beechwood School Board created goals for the 2014/2015 school year and formed the following three committees were formed to work on the board goals:

Communication
Facilities
Finance

The communication committee was assigned the goal of revising the district vision statement, mission statement and school slogan. When board members attended the annual Kentucky School Board Associations (KSBA) meeting in Louisville in February, Board Chair, Melanie Stricker, and Superintendent Steve Hutton attended the session “Revisiting Your District’s Vision and Mission” presented by the Ft. Thomas district and learned about a process that would help achieve the board goal in a very unique way.

Beechwood

In April, the full committee was formed with representation from each of the following stakeholder groups:

Board/Administration
Teachers/Staff
Parents
Students (Elementary and High School)
Community Members

The committee used the KSBA process with an external facilitator to allow all committee members to participate in the process. Beechwood and Bellevue schools have a history of collaboration and Wayne Starnes, Bellevue’s former Superintendent, graciously agreed to facilitate the first several meetings.

To begin the Mission and Vision work, the committee kicked off the process last April with five members of each stakeholder group sharing ideas and words that described the Beechwood School District.

Susan Huff Schilling, a Beechwood graduate and parent said, “It was a privilege to work with the leaders of the school and community in moving Beechwood towards the future with a renewed vision to continue the tradition of excellence we are all proud to be a part of.”

During the May meeting, each stakeholder group picked three committee members to continue representing their group at future meetings. In June and July, the smaller group worked through previous ideas to find common words and common goals and then picked two committee members to continue in future meetings. In July Starnes transitioned the facilitation to Stricker and during two additional meetings, the goals became clearer as the smaller group fine-tuned the vision and mission products.

In October, one member of each stakeholder group completed the drafts of the Vision and Mission statements and committee members unanimously agreed on:

Vision Statement:
To inspire students to embrace responsibility, productivity and compassion as citizens of a global community

Mission Statement:
To provide innovative education grounded in tradition

Beechwood Independent Schools Core Values:
Challenging students to excellence through critical thinking, collaboration and creativity
Fostering a culture of unity that inspires and empowers all students
Providing a safe environment for learning
Promoting open and respectful communication for all stakeholders

School Slogan:
Innovative education grounded in tradition

It was a community effort that not only supported Beechwood Schools, but also successfully demonstrated living our mission and core values. Melanie Stricker stated, “I am very proud of the effort by the communication committee; it was great to see our stakeholders work together to create the vision and mission products which will become the guiding principal for district decisions in the future.”

Beechwood Independent School District provides a co-educational public education for 1,200 students in grades K through 12. Its elementary and high schools are integrated into a single campus in Ft. Mitchell.  More information is available at www.beechwood.kyschools.us.  


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