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A Journey that’s Worth the Wait: Creating a District Shared Vision to Harness the Power of a Community

Updated: Jan 23

All districts have a strategic plan, but not every district uses the strategic plan. In using a strategic plan, every stakeholder in the district community is thinking, making decisions, acting, and teaching, according to a common plan, with a common set of goals. When this happens, it’s a strategic plan with a shared vision, and it’s magic for learners and irresistible for educators!

When a strategic plan lacks the life, ideas, and voices of its community, there is little ownership. Often, then, the strategic plan becomes a checklist, which blocks the entire school community from the joys of ownership, teamwork, and commitment. 


At Partnerships, we observe the strategic-plan-as-checklist phenomenon frequently. The strategic plan is often a “have-to” in an already crowded list of school and district responsibilities. But we have also observed what happens when a shared vision is the outcome of the strategic plan - the devotion and commitment to it are the priorities that anchor the vision. We have learned that shared visions are a super power that makes decision-making easier, the purpose of our pursuit in education clearer, and the goal, the north star, more exciting to shoot for. 


In this article, we highlight four school districts that are working with us to create a shared vision. They are all at varying stages in the process, but they have one thing in common. They are shortening the distance between their school community (teachers, staff, parents) and their “north stars.”


  • Tallmadge City Schools - Their shared vision is complete and they operate with a track record of using it to lead decision-making and instruction.

  • United Local Schools - Their shared vision is complete and they are in the process of aligning decision-making and instruction to the shared vision.

  • Eastwood Local Schools - This district is using existing language around their “Eagle Way” to create a shared vision for the student experience. They will use this to help them make future facilities and instructional decisions. 

  • Galion City Schools - The district is spending time with a variety of stakeholders to understand the desired student and staff experience as a foundation to creating a shared vision for the future.


From the list above, let’s look at how the process unfolds to help create a shared vision and foster a sense of commitment to that vision. 


  • Lesson 1: People support what they build. People usually do not support what is thrust upon them. Knowing this, we work with administrators and teachers to help them remember their best days of teaching and learning. Likewise, we develop interactive experiences in which teachers have the opportunity to share their hopes and dreams for students. 


  • Lesson 2: Our personal missions for the profession live in a district shared vision. Galion City Schools is currently in the process of listening to all stakeholders around these themes and will soon enter into discussion around what it means to become a values based organization where we make decisions based on our values.


  • Lesson 3: Pictures of a future world for families arise from the voices of teachers, administrators, and other community stakeholders. Eastwood Local Schools is at this phase of the work. Having already done the work of defining their “Eagle Way,” they are ramping up the picture of success and building it out to include what a Best Day of Teaching and Learning really looks like at Eastwood and defining the ways in which instruction should, 1) remain the same, and, 2) change and adapt in order to help students reach the hopes and dreams the school has for them.


Creating a shared vision is the first step in a journey that turns a typical school district into an irresistible one!


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