Fair Haven community members collaborated at a third strategic planning workshop tied to the future success of the school district.

The workshop, entitled Defining Action Steps and part of the school district’s FAIR HAVEN VISION 2020 initiative, was held on Dec. 1 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Knollwood School and facilitated by Dr. Charles Ivory and Dr. Gerard Woehr of the non-profit Education Information and Resource Center (EIRC).

At previous workshops, attendees worked together to communicate points of pride in the present-day school district as well as define concrete goals in seven specific areas to help ensure the district’s future success.

Those in attendance at Defining Action Steps, including a group of  students, took part in what was described as a “carousel brainstorm” of practical measures that could be taken to reach the future goals communicated by attendees and recorded by EIRC.

“Lots of consensus will emerge, and that is very powerful because it represents the vision of a diverse group of individuals,” said Ivory. “The result will be a list of action steps for which you will be holding the school district responsible going forward.

“This is very important work, because anything we do for the schools represents the entire community.”

Attendees were referred to a “wish list” of community-identified goals in seven areas: teacher quality and retention, curriculum, school community, administration, and student success.

Working from this community consensus vision, groups brainstormed on and recorded action steps on poster paper for one of the seven areas. The posters were then shared in a round robin fashion until each group had added their recommendations. At the conclusion of the activity, each group’s original poster was returned with a list of action steps reflecting input from other groups as well as their own.

Working with the “larger vision” on their original topics, each group then needed to arrive at a consensus to choose two action steps that would be most likely be attainable at low or no cost, as well as a “dream action step” —  one that stood out from the crowd and should be considered regardless of what its completion would entail.

These three action steps were shared by each group with all in attendance and collected by the EIRC facilitators for analysis and communication.

Information recorded through all three workshops, as well as input from a web-based community survey, will be used to pinpoint recommendations for the district’s current FAIR HAVEN VISION 2020 strategic planning initiative.

Among other benefits, FAIR HAVEN VISION 2020 will allow the district to create a shared vision for the future and identify a plan of action to achieve it. More information can be found under “Strategic Planning” on the Fair Haven School District Web site, www.fairhaven.edu.

Data Night, the fourth and final workshop, will take place from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 21 in the Knollwood School All-Purpose Room.

Data Night will cover the overlay of each goal area with community data including demographics, student enrollment, student achievement trends, and community ratables.

This process is designed to engage the school district and community in considering strengths and vulnerabilities as they relate to capacity. All members of the Fair Haven school community are invited to participate, whether or not they have attended previous workshops.

— Edited press release from the Fair Haven School District