Superintendent presents proposed strategic goals for North Shore

Last week’s Board of Education meeting centered on the proposal and development of North Shore’s strategic planning goals for the 2018-19 school year. Over 2,600 surveys were collected from students, parents and teachers to identify focal areas of improvement in the district, according to Superintendent Dr. Peter Giarrizzo.

Giarrizzo worked with a 33-person core planning team to develop three goals based on trends and information presented in the surveys. “These are adaptive, high yield and high impact goals that demonstrate our forward-thinking and will focus on the growth and evolution of our future,” he said.

Each goal would be achieved through an implementation of clear action steps over the next three to five years. Giarrizzo said over the next two months, administrators will conduct research-based work to develop and present the steps to the board, which will be followed by a vote to adopt a finalized strategic plan this June.

A goal that came up in every survey from every constituency group, Giarrizzo said, was the need for greater social emotional learning. The spirit of the goal is to teach students self and social awareness, self-management, relationship skills and responsible decision-making.

The second goal was to build a more contemporary teaching and learning environment, which Giarrizzo said students requested. “The development of this goal engaged student input, and we want to maintain student voice throughout the project.”

The third and final goal he proposed was diversity. Giarrizzo said the day the planning team wrote the description of the goal was the same day the board was visited by representatives of Weave Together, an anti-discrimination group that aims to bring social and institutional change to the district.

The board was split on the priorities set forth by Giarrizzo. Trustees David Ludmar and Sara Jones supported the proposals, stating that they addressed “the most pressing issues for our district.”

Trustee Marianne Russo was struck, she said, by the absence of any reference to academic achievement. “I’d like to see more opportunities for the students who don’t achieve,” she said. “These goals aren’t addressing those issues, which have been repeated concerns of the board and the community.”

Trustee Herman Berliner agreed. “I believe we should be more ambitious with the goals,” he said. In terms of teaching and learning, Berliner would like to see the tenants of leadership, social responsibility and sustainability echoed within North Shore’s classrooms.

Parent Andrea Macari, of Glen Head, said the teaching goal should focus less on “modules” and more on a philosophy that greater supports social-emotional learning.

Glen Head parent Lisa Vizza added that the district should solicit more parent input in the development of the strategic goals, as they are the ones who know what best suits their children as students.

The board will meet again on May 3 in the high school library at 7:30 p.m. The results of the district-wide Bach Harrison survey will be presented during the meeting.