Lakewood Schools Adopt New Strategic Vision

LAKEWOOD, OH — The Lakewood Board of Education adopted a new strategic vision for the district this week. The plan, called the Vision of a Lakewood Graduate, is based on the skills, abilities and habits of mind a Lakewood High graduate will need in order to succeed post-graduation.

The vision was developed using feedback from 2,000 community members. The plan will be implemented throughout the district.

“The Vision of a Lakewood Graduate represents the hopes, dreams, and aspirations that the Lakewood Schools community has for its graduates,” Superintendent Mike Barnes said. “The Vision of a Lakewood Graduate will serve as our District’s North Star. It moves Lakewood City Schools’ students and staff members to look beyond the high-stakes testing environment and to help students develop skills, abilities, and habits of mind that will help them succeed and compete in this complex and rapidly changing world.”

Building the new strategic vision for the district including community listening sessions, surveys for community members, staff and parents, discussions with business leaders, spiritual leaders, PTA groups, community organizations and the Board of Education. Six key "core competencies" emerged from those sessions:

• Critical and Creative Thinking
• Collaboration
• Communication
• Empathy
• Growth Mindset
• Global Awareness/Citizen

"School is about more than testing. You can’t gauge creativity, empathy, global awareness in a test. We’ve taken a step beyond the infatuation with testing. If we don’t do more, we are doing our students a disservice. This new vision goes beyond that,” said Board President Linda Beebe.

As the new strategic vision is implemented, the district will continue to seek input from the community to ensure Lakewood Schools are moving in the right direction and providing what students need.

A Lakewood Schools official shared a graphic focused on the new strategic vision.