Cherry Hill Public Schools looking for input from community as it prepares for comprehensive revision of strategic plan
The school district is asking for community members to share their ideas on improvements for the school district through “Cherry Hill Public Schools 2020: A Clear Vision for the Future.”
Cherry Hill Public Schools is looking for all members of the community to get involved as it begins the first comprehensive revision of its strategic plan in almost two decades.
The school district has released a document named “Cherry Hill Public Schools 2020: A Clear Vision for the Future.” Feedback from the survey will be used as the basis for the district’s revised strategic plan.
Superintendent Joe Meloche said the last time the district did a comprehensive review of its strategic plan was in the late 1990s. Though there have been small updates to the plan over the years, the district feels it is time to do a large update, with directives focused on the future.
“One of the challenges we have that exists in public education is taking the time to reflect on what we do, how we do it and why we do it,” Meloche said.
A huge part of Cherry Hill Public Schools 2020 is going to be community input. The school district is holding three community input sessions over the next month to gather ideas.
Meloche said the district is looking for ideas from everyone, including parents, teachers, residents and other community members. Anyone connected with Cherry Hill Township is welcome to submit suggestions.
“We have such a wonderfully engaged community, and people will all different backgrounds will have something to add,” Meloche said.
The community input process is very open-ended. The Cherry Hill Public Schools 2020 document details the process. Below the outline are a number of pages with boxes. Each page focuses on a different area, including mission statement, vision statement, facilities and infrastructure, materials/supplies/services, staffing, process and governance, and other. Community members are invited to write their suggestions for each area and submit the document to the district.
The same document will be available at three community conversation meetings over the next month. The first session was scheduled to take place on Thursday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. at the Cherry Hill High School East cafeteria. The second session is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. at the Cherry Hill High School West library. The final session will be on Wednesday, Dec. 7 at 2 p.m. at the Malberg Administration Building board room. Administrators will introduce Cherry Hill Public Schools 2020 at the sessions, and community members will be able to discuss their ideas for the plan.
Meloche said all of the ideas the district collects will be analyzed over the next couple of months.
“We’re going to collect all of this information,” Meloche said. “At the end of the December committee meetings, the committees will send the information to (Assistant Superintendent for Business) Lynn Shugars and I. At the January committee meetings, we will present back to the committees what we found.”
According to the Cherry Hill Public Schools 2020 document, the late winter and early spring will be spent having discussions to refine the information collected and create a formal document.
In May, the district’s strategic planning committee will hold a formal discussion on the final document. A full presentation on the document is planned to take place at the board’s May action meeting.
“Ideally, by the end of May, when we do the formal presentation to the board, the way we envision it is a roadmap for the things that will occur next,” Meloche said. “Everything that we do, making decisions going forward, will need to go back to and align for this.”
Residents can view the full “Cherry Hill Public Schools 2020: A Clear Vision for the Future” document at http://www.chclc.org/board-of-education/vision-for-the-future. The document can be filled out and emailed to publicinfo@chclc.org or mailed to Cherry Hill Public Schools, Attn: Public Information Office, 45 Ranoldo Terrace, Cherry Hill NJ 08034.
