San Carlos School District Adopts Groundbreaking Strategic Plan

[Editor's note: The following was submitted by the San Carlos School District.]

At last Thursday night's School Board Meeting, the Governing Board of the San Carlos School District (SCSD) approved a new five year Strategic Plan designed to re-imagine public education for the modern era.

To view the SCSD five-year Strategic Plan, click here.

Approximately two years ago, SCSD kicked off a process to build an updated vision and plan for the school district aligned with the requirements of 21st century learning and creating a richer, more personalized, and more relevant learning experience for all students. Living in a connected and borderless world with new workplace requirements for 21st century skills, the District understood that the implications for teaching and learning were profound. Accordingly, the Strategic Plan focused on rethinking how public schools can break down the “walls” – both literal and figurative — in the learning process.

Over the past 24 months, the District held dozens of community and school site meetings and engaged all constituents, including teachers, other staff members, principals, district leaders, parents, and other community members. The result was the new SCSD Strategic Plan, which was approved unanimously by the Governing Board at its June 20th meeting.

"This plan is written in the context of truly re-thinking how public education should be structured in the 21st century," said Tom Keating, Director of Instruction and Educational Technology. "We are no longer constrained by 19th century limitations on the who, what, where, when, and how we educate our children."

The Strategic Plan includes some of the following key aspects:

• Emphasizing the Whole Child, focusing on the 5Cs (Critical Thinking & Problem Solving, Communication, Collaboration, Citizenship, and Creativity &Innovation), and embodying design and innovation thinking in the curriculum

• Developing a project-based, technology-infused approach to teaching and learning, featuring real-world, meaningful design challenges, including a deep appreciation for and exploration of the creative expression found within the arts

• Bringing together a team of educators, broadly defined, from the community and across the globe, to be part of the educational “workforce”

• Challenging the traditional “sorting” mechanism of students (age, grade level, etc.)

• Extending and redefining the school day, leveraging the exploding opportunities afforded by blended learning, and redefining the notion of the “classroom” and “school.”

Much of the instantiation of the goals in the Strategic Plan will likely first be visible in the new 4th-5th grade "bridge" schools that the District is building as part of its Facilities Master Plan. The first of these schools is projected to open in 2016. 

In addition to the new pedagogical design envisioned in the Strategic Plan, the physical design of these schools -- as well as others throughout the District which will be remodeled -- will incorporate greater use of “learning commons,” flexible walls within “learning suites,” and a technological infrastructure to support 21st century learning.

"This was truly a groundbreaking effort, and I commend the vision and dedication of both our staff and our parent community in bringing this to fruition," said Craig Baker, San Carlos Superintendent of Schools. "It is clear that our community has come to expect schools to undergo a fundamental shift, and I'm confident we will make lasting changes to public education."

The SCSD Strategic Plan can be viewed here: http://www.sancarlos.k12.ca.us/strategic- plan/.

For more information, contact SCSD superintendent, Craig Baker, Ed.D., 650-508-7333.

To view the SCSD five-year Strategic Plan, click here.