Monday, November 21, 2016

BPS and Strategic Planning

On the east side of town sit two buildings, one is Bayard’s Grade School, and the other is Bayard’s High School. They are bastions of education that house over 400 students.

On any given day some of the students go there to learn, some are just there, and some, for whatever reason, are not there, period. As a percentage of the whole, the three groups vary from day-to-day.
Also in the picture are the school board, administration, teachers, and staff. Then, too, billowing in the background looms the Federal and State Governments with their various educational mandates, which are generally deified from whence they emanate.

Finally, in order to educate your child, all those contrasting entities need to mesh.

At BPS, the wheels on which the education of your child rolls to fruition are retread in a process called Strategic Planning, which is a comprehensive plan that encases a 3 – 5 year time frame.

For example, a previous article about Strategic Planning dealt with BPS integrating their Vision and Mission Statements into a process which, every school day, includes faculty, students, and visiting parents.   

Strategic Planning involves every aspect of the process of educating. Thus, over the next few weeks, articles will cover different tread marks that Strategic Planning leaves. Hopefully, this will give readers an in depth look at what it takes to balance the tires of education.   

Strategic Planning is comprehensive and involves everyone, not only the school board, administration, teachers, staff and students, but parents, and community. Each unit has a voice.

The value of parents and community is dependent on the units that make up the school, and vice-versa. Because each knows their appropriate lane, balanced communication leads to mutual goals and eliminates uncertainty between the different factions.

The Strategic Planning journey begins and ends with teaching the students. With that in mind, BPS’ partner is the acronym TAPPLE.

Teach First: Before asking a question make sure the student is ready to respond.
Ask a question that’s specific to what’s been taught.
Pause: Give students time to respond.
Pick a Non-Volunteer: Select students at random to make sure they’re listening.
Listen to the response: Responses determine the level of instruction.
Effective Feedback: Echo if correct, elaborate if unsure, and explain if incorrect.

That acronym seems like a good Strategic Planning draft for all of us in our respective lives?




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