Strategic Plan - Empower95
The Empower95 Strategic Plan
Throughout the 2022-23 school year, Lake Zurich Community Unit School District 95 engaged in a Strategic Planning initiative to develop a roadmap for the strategic initiatives of the school district for the next 5 years. This plan follows the successful completion of the Forward95 Strategic Plan (click here to see information about Forward95) which was adopted in 2017.
Below are the Mission, Values, Vision, Goals & Strategies as defined by the teams involved with the Empower95 strategic planning effort. Also defined below are the action plans for the current year as defined by the administration and Board, to meet the objectives of this plan.
An overview of the process and the team members involved with the development of the Empower95 Strategic Plan are also shownbelow.
- Mission & Values
- Vision: Portrait of a Graduate
- Goals & Strategies
- Action Plans for the 2023-24 School Year
- Overview & Process
- Strategic Planning & Portrait of a Graduate Team Members
Mission & Values
Vision: Portrait of a Graduate
VISION: Portrait of a Graduate
The Portrait of a Graduate represents an aspirational view of a District 95 graduate.
CHARACTERISTIC | DEMONSTRATED BY |
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Effective Communicator |
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Global Citizen |
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Advocate for Self & Others |
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Future Ready |
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Growth Oriented |
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Goals & Strategies
GOAL & STRATEGIES: Our priorities for the next 5 years
GOAL AREA | STRATEGIES |
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Students |
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Staff |
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Resources |
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Family & Community |
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Action Plans for the 2023-24 School Year
Action Plans 2023-24
Click on the Action Plan titles below to see more details.
Goal Area: Students
Action Plans
- Student Language Offerings
- Career Exploration/Pathways, Personal Interests, and Authentic Learning
- School Safety
- Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Standard Integration
- Post-Secondary Employability Skills
Goal Area: Staff
Action Plans
- Staff Professional Learning, Diverse Student Needs
- Staff Recruitment, Retention, and Development
- Candidate Recruitment & Hiring
- Staff/Administrator Growth & Learning
Goal Area: Resources
Action Plans
- Furniture Replacement to Promote Ideal Classroom Environments
- LZHS Facilities Improvements Enhancing Programming & Student Experiences
- Implement New Student Information System
- Transportation Real Estate Investment Analysis
- Energy Cost Reduction Analysis Through Solar
Goal Area: Family & Community
Action Plans
Overview & Process
Overview & Process
Using a strategic planning framework which was presented to the Board of Education in July 2022, the process included a wide range of stakeholder involvement. Nearly 60 people participated on two teams representing the following stakeholder groups: parents, PTO representatives, high school students, middle school students, teachers, administrative support staff, administrators, community partners including local government representatives, area business representatives, Educational Foundation representatives, higher education representatives, and Board of Education members. In addition, nine Cabinet members were present as observers, presenters, and occasionally as participants in meetings. Across both teams, participants were highly engaged throughout the process.
The Strategic Planning team was formed with approximately 40 team members from the stakeholder groups mentioned above. The team met in person six times from August through January with some additional work outside of the meeting times. The focus of this team was to review and define the district’s Mission, Vision, Values, Goals, and Strategies, providing the Strategic Planning framework under which action plans (projects) will be created annually. Each team member contributed approximately 22 hours of time to the process.
The Portrait of a Graduate team was formed with approximately 20 team members from the stakeholder groups mentioned above. This group met in person in September and October over the course of three meetings and was also given some additional work outside of the meeting times. The focus of this team was to define an aspirational picture of a Lake Zurich Community Unit School District 95 graduate in terms of characteristics and attributes, known as a Portrait of a Graduate. Each team member contributed approximately eight to ten hours of time to the process.
To assist in the entire Strategic Planning process, the district hired an outside lead facilitator, Dr. John Burkey, Executive Director of the Large Unit District Association for Illinois. Dr. Burkey has participated in many strategic planning initiatives and brought a valuable lens as well as expert facilitation skills to the process.
As an additional tool to help gather broader stakeholder feedback, the district licensed a tool called ThoughtExchange which not only has survey capabilities but also poses open-ended questions, allowing for broader feedback capabilities. Participants have the opportunity to share their own freeform thoughts, and the Exchange provides transparency into how others are thinking as respondents rate the thoughts of others. Allowing this open dialogue helps large groups of people understand how others are thinking and can foster a sense of trust through transparency in the process. Engagement levels are analyzed both through the level of commenting and through the rating of other people’s thoughts; a rating exchange ratio of 20-30 and above indicates a high level of engagement. The district launched two Exchanges to assist the teams with broader community feedback; both Exchanges had high levels of community engagement with rating exchange ratios of 32 and 33.
For more information about the work of the Strategic Planning and Portrait of a Graduate teams, please click on the links below to see the comprehensive report to the Board of Education on March 23, 2023:
Click here for the comprehensive Strategic Planning report to the Board of Education
Click here for the branded Strategic Plan, Empower 95, as presented to the Board of Education
Strategic Planning & Portrait of a Graduate Team Members
Strategic Planning Team Members
- Lincoln Adams, LZHS Student
- Kelley Belew, Elementary Teacher & Parent
- Jess Butera, Elementary Teacher
- Rosa Castaneda, Parent Representative
- Katie Culver, Elementary Administrator
- Natashia Dannegger, Parent Representative
- Ketan Date, Middle School Student
- Anthony Dengler, MS Administrator
- Dominick DiMaggio, Village of Hawthorn Woods, Mayor
- Michael Drawhorn, Parent Representative
- Carinn Fleming, Parent Representative
- Scott Floy, Parent Representative
- Doug Goldberg, Board of Education Vice President
- Brian Hefferan, MS Teacher
- Steve Husak, Village of Lake Zurich, Chief of Police
- Kathy Jamison, LZEA Representative & MS Teacher
- Paige Kutsor, LZHS Student
- Kristen LaJeunesse, HS Teacher & Parent
- Andrew Lambert, HS Administrator
- Theresa Lipari, Parent Representative
- Maddie Lynch, Middle School Student
- Gabriela Martin, District Administrator/Bilingual
- Scott McConnell, Board of Education President & Parent
- Lucas McMahon, LZHS Student
- Gloria Palmblad, Ela Township Supervisor
- David Pilgard, Village of Lake Zurich, Fire Chief
- Angie Powers, Elementary Coach & Parent
- Tom Poynton, Village of Lake Zurich, Mayor
- Sue Richards, ESP Support Staff (Elementary) & Parent
- Megan Roscoe, Village of Deer Park, Village Treasurer & Parent
- Lauren Rosenthal, Ela Library Director
- Kelly Schoonover, Parent Representative
- Claire Slattery, LZACC President & Parent
- Lori Smith, ESP Support Staff (Secondary)
- Danielle Stevens, District Safety Manager
- Cara Stronsky, LZHS Counselor
- Sheila Wells, LZEA Representative & Elementary Teacher
Portrait of a Graduate Team Members
- Jennifer Adams, Elementary Assistant Principal/Parent
- Alexis Alt, MS Student
- Erin DeLuga, LZHS Principal
- Randal Dunbar, LZHS Teacher/Parent
- Ali Finn, District Development Coordinator
- Anni Ford, Smalley Steel Ring
- Mark Frey, SRO
- Julie Garrow, Elementary Teacher/Parent
- Melissa Gray, Technology
- Kelly Green, Math Coach/Parent
- Joe Haney, LZHS Dean
- Todd Jakowitsch, Middle School Principal
- Niki Jensen, LZHS Division Head – Innovation & Pathways
- Sebastian Kapala, Lake County Tech Campus
- Carl Krause, LZHS College & Career Counselor
- Lucas Lindberg, MS Student
- Don Malin, Medline/Parent
- Eileen Maloney, Board of Education Member
- Jenna Moller, Learning & Innovation - LZHS
- Courtney Nordstrom, Parent
- Cara Obrochta, LZHS Assistant Principal – Student Services
- Vasili Russis, D95 Foundation Representative/Parent
- Magdalena Scanlan, Good Shepherd Hospital/Parent
- Sarah Stashkiw, College of Lake County
- Sohan Vuppala, HS Student
- Lisa Warren, Board of Education Member
- Ashley Weltler, LZHS Assistant Principal – Academics, Assessment, & Innovation
- Brittany Yates, LZHS Transition Teacher
- Hannah Zoibi, HS Student