Strategic Planning Web Workgroup

August 7, 2003, 2003

Strategic Planning 2003... a productive followup to the first Strategic Plan created two years ago

n July 2003, the second edition of the Strategic Planning initiative was underway. Created in the same format as the first plan that was created nearly two years ago, the mission and objectives that came out of that process were now re-examined to determine which objectives were met, and which need more attention or adjustment.

As with the first session, hosted by the Dubuque Community School District Board, it invited citizens with a variety of backgrounds but all of whom shared a common interestest in maintaining excellence in education.

We've prepared a video program of the event, and it's available for you to download and view with RealPlayer (available free on this site). We are in the process of creating a published report from the Strategic Planning Session which will be available online and from The Forum Administrative Offices for the District at 2300 Chaney Road.

View the Video of Strategic Planning II Business people, educators, community leaders, school administrators, and teachers attended this session and all shared a common interest in excellence in education. The turtle downloads a complete movie, no streaming. This is best for telephone modems. After saving this file, you can play it with RealPlayer. The rabbit button is a streaming movie. If you have high-speed web access such as DSL, it will begin playing immediately. The rocket button is for high-speed networks (like our schools have), DSL, and cable modems. It's the largest size streaming movie file with full-stereo audio. Further instructions are below on how to play video and audio files that appear on our website.

Below is a compendium of papers, the first Strategic Plan, meeting notes, and other interesting materials from the process as it has evolved. It's a living archive that is continually being updated with more and more data and multimedia. Mark this site in your bookmarks.

Updates To The Strategic Plan Formulated Summer 2003 by the Strategic Planning Task Force:

Long Range Strategic Plan Document (Acrobat PDF)2003

This document contains a summary report and spread sheets showing the latest strategic planning long range recommendations and objectives for infrastructure improvements and growth in the the district.

Facilities Planning Task Force Report Summary and Recommendations Report:

Public Planning Task Force Meeting Minutes

The School Board and the Architects meet with all interested parties in all building plan underway for the district. There is a lot to consider. For example, our director of Special Education Lynn Helmke attends these meetings, and one of her questions was, "Does the square footage of the building plan accommodate a percentage of students who will be confined to wheel chairs?" Find out this and many more facts by downloading the meeting minutes below.

Click here to see Superintendent John Burgart's Recommendations and Survey Results on the Downtown School Plan.

Welcome to the Dubuque Community Schools Strategic Planning Web Workgroup Page.

The Official Ten-Year Strategic Plan for Capital Improvements to the District.

This is the culmination of more than a year's work of community wide strategic planning that has been conducted on behalf of public education in Dubuque, Iowa. Our board and staff have been on a mission to widen the circle of collaboration with many parties who have a vested interest in the future of education in our community. They included representatives of business and industry, our venerable education and quality of life institutions, and average citizens from all walks of life.

The documents below are in Adobe Acrobat (PDF format) that will open automatically in your Web browser. You can view, save, and print these documents on your own printer, but be advised that paper sizes on some of the documents are up to 11 x 17 (tabloid) size to accommodate the large number of statistical information that is included in the full plan. In all practicality, you shouldn't really have to print it out. It's perfectly viewable and useable as an electronic document. And, if there are any revisions or things to add, you will always have a current document where a printed one would instantly become obsolete the moment it emerged from your printer. But if you absolutely positively need a hard copy, you need to find a printer that can accommodate legal sized (8.5 x 14 inches) and tabloid sized (11x17 inches) paper. Most quick-print shops in the Dubuque area have capabilities to download and print the pages for a nominal fee. A limited number of copies are being distributed by our Administration Office, however, each full document is expensive to produce and collate. Please contact Joan Sigwarth for details and availability at The Forum 563-588-5100. We may not be able to handle every request for a printed copy.

Here's a great tip on how to navigate through these documents with a minimum of mouse clicks and keystrokes. On newer versions of your browser software (Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Explorer) Adobe Acrobat reader opens pages right in the browser window. By clicking on the BACK button on your browser menu tool bar, you can return to the table of contents to go somewhere else in the total plan. It's that simple.

Plan Archives (previously released documents which are here for posterity)

It includes a compendium of goals and objectives set down by the Strategic Planning Committee, a decision matrix... a chart with goals distilled from planning team members' input. Recommendations and goals from the first Strategic Planning Session in December 2001 well organized. You also have available the

• Download the Strategic Plan in Adobe Acrobat Format
• Download the Planning Matrix in Microsoft Excel (you must have Excel to read, edit and print this document)

The Participants List is available in the report above. It contains names and their organizations. These are the people who participated in the Strategic Planning Opening Session held at the Forum, December 7, 2001.

This page is designed and maintained to be a repository of all things related to the District's Strategic Planning effort. This is a community-wide project uniting everyone who has a stake in the growth of our educational capabilities. As you will see by the list of participants included with this Web site, the organizations are many, varied, but all have one thing in common... the viability of our education facilities and programs to ensure well-prepared future generations to fill important jobs, start new businesses, raise productive families, and embrace the rest of the world and all its possibilities. We will endeavor to keep you up to date with all topical material discussed at our session plus follow-up, action plans, and anything else that may be pertinent and helpful.

Photo Album of Proceedings: If you would like to see a photo album of the proceedings, click on the button at left which will take you to a complete image library of this historic event.

We received excellent coverage in the media (TH December 8th). And now you can listen to some of your Strategic Planning colleagues right here on this Web site. With RealMedia's RealPlayer, you can listen to a less-than-10 minute compendium of interview highlights captured by Dubuque Schools' Community Affairs Coordinator, Gary Olsen. Just click on the microphone to listen to the program.

You may be prompted to download the free software from Real.com if your Web browser is not equipped to play RealMedia files. It's worth the effort to update your browser. Then you can listen to or view all sorts of multimedia files we have on our Dubuque Schools Web site, videos, sound bytes, music, student performances and news clips. Click here to visit the page from which the software is available free.

The Five Strategic Goals that were the result of the December 7th, 2001 Meeting

From the breakout sessions and the resulting distillation process, five strategic priorities were identified:

1. Partner with the community to increase awareness and mutual understanding

2. Continue to improve student achievement.

3. Improve recruitment, development and retention of quality educators and staff.

4. Develop an understandable, comprehensive short- and long-range financial and capital improvement plan.

5. Continually review and assess the structure and processes of the school district.

More information if coming, so mark this page as a resource, and welcome to Strategic Planning at the Dubuque Community School District.

E-mail us with any comments or suggestions you may have.

© 2000, 2001, 20021 Dubuque Community Schools All Rights Reserved. No portion of this Web site can be reproduced without expressed permission of the Dubuque Community School District. Contact Dubuque Community Schools, Office of Public Affairs, 2300 Chaney Road, Dubuque, IA 52001. View our Privacy Statement.