Newark Parents Voice Off About School Priorities At Strategic Planning Meetings

Newark, NJ – Newark school officials recently shared a summary of the feedback that was collected in a final strategic planning session Feb. 25 at Central High School.

According to school officials, almost 500 community members attended the February meetings, which were hosted in each ward and included parents, educators and community leaders.

Each ward meeting was hosted by community-based organizations – Ironbound Community Corp., Newark Fairmont Promise Neighborhood and the Urban League, La Casa de Don Pedro, United Way of Essex & West Hudson, and Strong Healthy Community Initiative – as well as the local ward council person who helped facilitate several small-group discussions.

Parents, educators and community leaders were encouraged to share their feedback and insight on the following subjects: curriculum and academics, student supports, great educators, community engagement, school planning and choice, accountability for progress and operations, budgets and governance.

WHAT THE COMMUNITY SAID

School officials shared some “high-level priorities” that came out of the meetings:

Academics and curriculum

• PreK
• Arts
• STEM
• Humanities (literature, social studies), especially culturally relevant curriculum

Student Supports

• Social and emotional supports
• Safety, security and school culture
• Academic supports such as smaller class sizes, tutoring, guidance counselors

Great Educators

• Recognize and retain effective teachers and principals
• Strong processes for recruiting and supporting
• Coach, evaluate and provide feedback

Community Engagement

• Expand partnerships
• Support for English Language Learner (ELL) students and families
• Advocacy training for parents, community members

School Planning and Choice

• Inform and involve community in decisions on school locations
• Ward-specific assessments and quality options
• Community schools: pilot and expand

Accountability for Progress

• Help parents analyze info, make informed choices
• Train district and school staff in using data for decisions

Operations, Budgets and Governance

• Improve services (food, transportation, etc.)
• Update policies and train Board members
• Student-based funding

According to school officials, district administrators gathered feedback from community members on these initial findings, and will continue to collect community input through focus groups, one-on-one meetings and a community survey.

When all of the information is collected, school administrators plan to share a document with a “more robust” outline of goals and priorities at the end of March.

Once that document is shared, the district will engage in another round of feedback throughout the months of April and May, before sharing a final Strategic Plan in June, school officials stated.

For more information about the district’s Strategic Planning Process click here.

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