Strategic Plan

What is a Strategic Plan? A tool to define where our organization wants to go and the actions we will take to achieve those goals.

Visit this link to view or download the complete D128 Strategic Plan Book

Progress Dashboard

Mission

A formal summary of the aims and values of our organization.

Foundation Strategies

A framework of choices that determine the nature and direction of our organization.

Strategic Boundaries

Guidelines that delineate what we will NOT DO to achieve our strategic goals.

Strategic Goal

The bridge from where we are now to where we want to be.

Action Plans

How we will achieve our goals and mobilize the resources needed to take those actions.

Message from the Superintendent and Board President

How does a school district move from excellent to world class? When you’ve been ranked among the best school districts in the state, received countless honors in the areas of academics, extracurricular activities, and athletics, and have been named twice to Chicago’s Top Workplaces list, how do you move to the next level?

Those were some of the questions that Community High School District 128 asked when a core team of staff members met to begin charting the course for a new district strategic plan in the fall of 2021. Building upon the compelling mission statement that was authored in 2018, the next phase was to create a strategic plan that would guide us in attaining our mission of developing graduates who are DARING.

We asked ourselves two key questions: where are we now and where do we want to be? Staff, parents, students, and community members identified areas of improvement to determine how we can better serve students by gathering and analyzing multiple forms of data from the perspective of an academic community, which included demographics; student learning; student staff, and parent perception data; and an audit of programs and processes. The next step was prioritizing areas of need and identifying short- and long-term goals, which would give clear direction to the board of education, community, and staff as to where and how resources should be allocated. This fall, action plan teams created a roadmap for each goal area to guide decisions, set growth targets, and select strategies for improvement, to ensure all of our students have the opportunity to become DARING graduates.

There are countless individuals to thank for their participation in the work done over the past 18 months. Know that regardless of how many meetings you attended, surveys you completed, or how much feedback you voiced, your participation and input were valued. As a result, we are pleased to share the Strategic Plan that you will find outlined in this document. In conjunction with our unwavering commitment to teaching and learning, the five-year action plan will add focus in the following goal areas.

There is much work to be done, and as we advance on this journey we will review our work and make adjustments as necessary to meet our goal of full implementation of the plan by 2028. We will keep you updated on our progress, and encourage you to share your thoughts along the way.

Denise Herrmann, Ed.D.
Superintendent

Lisa Hessel
Board of Education President

About District 128

District 128 students and staff are consistently recognized on the local, state and national levels for their outstanding academic and extracurricular achievements. District 128 was named the number one school district in Illinois in the 2019 Best Schools ranking by Niche.com. U.S.

News and World Report ranks LHS 12th and VHHS 15th among Illinois high schools, and in the top 3% of all public high schools nationally. Both high schools are recipients of the U.S. Department of Education National Blue Ribbon of Excellence Award, with LHS receiving the honor in 2018 and 1990 and VHHS receiving the honor in 2010.

D128 Board Members

Lisa Hessel - President
Jim Batson - Vice President
Don Carmichael - Secretary

Sonal Kulkarni
Casey Rooney
Kara Drumke
Cara Benjamin

Student Representative

The District 128 Board of Education has included student board representatives in its meetings since the 2001-2002 school year. Student representatives, selected through an application and interview process, participate in regular board meetings and share monthly reports from their schools. The 2021-2022 student board representatives actively participated in developing the D128 Strategic Plan.

2021-2022

Faith Davidson
Sofia Gonzalez Bernier
John Graham
Tiffany Kang
Ryan McGrory
Kevin Schumacher

2022-2023

Fatima Elmenshawy
Jasmine Lafita
Sarah Wuh
Hary Jun
Sofia Marin
Ariel Shifrin

Goal Areas

Goal 1:
Health and Wellbeing

D128 will increase access to social and emotional learning (SEL) support and services to improve mental health and wellbeing for all students.

Goal 1 Details

Goal 2:
Equity and Inclusion

D128 will ensure equitable opportunities and outcomes for all student populations.

Goal 2 Details

Goal 3:
Explore Multiple Paths

All D128 students will explore various career, college, military and trade pathways and graduate informed, prepared, and empowered to pursue the future career of their choosing.

Goal 3 Details

D128 Strategic Planning Foundational Strategies

What are the shared values and the core beliefs that guide the behaviors of a group? How must we behave to achieve our Mission and Goals?

Collaboration

We promote a collaborative culture that empowers organizational synergies and strong partnerships.

Continuous Improvement

We focus on learners’ experiences, stakeholder engagement, and data collection and analysis to guide and inform the conditions, processes, and practices that will improve teaching and learning.

Financial Stability

We will provide resources in alignment with the strategic plan and demonstrated needs provided by the school communities.

Innovation

We create transformational systemic change to ensure equitable student achievement.

Partnerships

We engage students and families as partners to achieve our mission and goals.

Strategic Boundaries

What we will NOT do to ensure we stay focused on our Mission, Vision and Goals

Allow past practices to create barriers to new and innovative ideas.
Make decisions without the use of pertinent data provided by the relevant stakeholders.
Adopt any new program or service unless it is:
- accompanied by staff development needed to implement effectively
- accompanied by the means to assess its effectiveness
- staffed and funded sufficiently

Your Voice Matters!

We value the input of our greater school community. If you would like to be contacted to participate in one of the community forums that will be scheduled this fall, please visit this link to complete a brief form.

Take the Survey

Timeline

Fall 2021

A New Plan Begins

In the Fall of 2021, a core team of Community High School District 128 staff members met to begin charting the course for a new district strategic plan. The goal: to create a strategic plan that would help D128, Vernon Hills High School and Libertyville High School attain its mission of developing graduates who are DARING.

2021-2022 School Year

Adding Voices and Data

Over the course of the 2021-22 school year, the core team expanded its reach to include the voices of D128 staff, students, parents and community members, gathering the input of those stakeholders via surveys and in-person meetings.

In addition to these important conversations, a group of staff data experts compiled a district data profile that was used to help highlight and focus our work on the needs of our students.

“It was such a wonderful experience and very eye opening.”

-D128 Parent

Strategic Planning Sessions

June 2022

Plan Approved

The result of these hours of meetings and conversations resulted in a Strategic Plan that was approved by the Board of Education in June 2022. Our current work is focused on crafting action plans that will help us achieve our three goal areas of the Strategic Plan: Health & Wellbeing, Equity & Inclusion, and Explore Multiple Paths.

Fall 2022

From Strategy to Action

We look forward to incorporating the ideas and dreams of our broader school community over the coming months to develop those action plans, and put the D128 Strategic Plan into action.

Develop DARING Action Plans

Develop DARING Action Plans which list the specific actions that must be taken, by whom, by when, in what order, and at what cost to achieve an overall goal.

Board of Education to approve action plan and metrics.