Engaging the Community in Planning for the Future

Listening to our stakeholders — both internal and external — continues to be a critical component in maintaining calm in your district, especially as districts attempt to tell the stories of schools today — with a focus on the individual needs of each student — compared to when many of our stakeholders were in class. This disconnect is often at the heart of the struggle for many strategic change initiatives in school districts. While engagement has always been a critical component to readying our organizations for change, our current politically divided society makes such efforts even more challenging. Add onto that, the isolation of the last few years of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the concept of civil discourse seems like a distant dream. In this session, we will explore strategies that enhance engagement efforts by creating opportunities that bring people back together in ways that they can share, listen and connect with fellow members of the school community.