The Rocky View School (RVS) board of trustees approved a four-year division-wide strategic plan during the Dec. 15 board meeting.
The strategic plan was designed based on the feedback collected from more than 27,000 parents, guardians, staff, and the community in May, about their children’s education, school experience, and what RVS should focus on.
“This is the essence of the work we’ll be doing over the next four years, it’s so important, and I’m so proud of the work the board has done on this,” RVS ward four and board chair Norma Lang said.
The purpose of the strategic plan is for RVS to connect with all students to ensure everyone learns, belongs, and succeeds.
The strategic plan has four main priorities including improving students learning, strengthening the workforce, bolstering infrastructure, and connecting with the community.
After reviewing survey feedback, respondents were supportive of the draft strategic plan and resonated with goals one and two.
To improve students’ learning, RVS is working to deliver instruction with a focus on numeracy and literacy, provide student-centred education that is inclusive, safe, and supportive, and offer diverse learning opportunities.
Improving students’ learning would lead to improved student achievement, increased student engagement, and an increased sense of belonging, and ensure parents and guardians feel students are learning the skills that they need to be successful.
To strengthen the RVS workforce, the division is working to develop and implement strategies to retain and attract a diverse workforce, support professional learning opportunities, enhance leadership development, and create an inclusive team environment.
The outcomes of strengthening the workforce include creating a positive and healthy workplace where staff can contribute, feel valued, and belong, and have a high-performing team ready to meet the division’s needs.
RVS is also working to provide spaces for students to learn, operate well-maintained schools, provide support to meet the needs of students and staff, build new relationships, enhance learning opportunities, and increase access to specialized skills.
“Our goal is to improve our students learning, we can only do that with a strong support system,” RVS ward six trustee Fiona Gilbert said. “We can’t do it without safe, and clean school buildings, and we can’t do it alone. We need to connect with our community.”
The board of trustees will guide the division’s focus over the next four years and develop plans for implementation.
“This plan for me empowers us as a board to look at how we offer education differently, to think outside of the box, and to be creative,” RVS ward one trustee Shali Baziuk said. “This bursts the door wide open for opportunity, and I’m excited about this.”
