District Embarks on Five-Year Strategic Plan Development

Every five years, the district embarks on the creation of a strategic plan to help move the Nutley Public Schools forward. This year a community survey was sent out to parents, staff, and community to gather data on the things that the Nutley Schools should focus more of their attention on. Once the results came in, Superintendent, Dr. Julie Glazer, planned meetings to assess the most prominent concerns based on the survey responses. Based on the survey data, five areas rose to the top:  Communications/Engagement; Student Health/Wellness; Curriculum/Programs; Safety/Security, and Configuration/Infrastructure. The district scheduled one focus group per topic during  May and June.

A community survey was distributed in March 2018 was emailed to staff, parents, commissioners, community members, and Board of Education. The survey was also posted to the district website, Facebook and Twitter pages. In total, there were 847 responses that answered at least one portion of the survey. There were 321 open-ended responses about security, 424 open-ended responses about the successes of the district, 483 open-ended responses that talked about the areas to improve, and 141 community members interesting in participating in the process.

The new strategic plan will be implemented in September 2018 and will guide the district through June 2023. The previous strategic plan, which was implemented in 2012 and ran through 2017, focused on Character, Communication, Community, Competency, Configuration, and Curriculum. A presentation, detailing the progress of that plan can be found here. 

The Strategic Plan process brings the Nutley community together to talk about priorities for the district. “As a district, we are making a commitment to continuing to look at what we do well, identify areas for growth, and aspire to what can accomplish strategically,” said Dr. Julie Glazer, Superintendent of Nutley Public Schools. 

The district worked diligently to involve all stakeholders in the process, while also holding Board of Education meetings, community meetings, and individual meetings with students. “We are really endeavoring to make this process, and the resulting implementation, inclusive,” Dr. Glazer said.

The district is hopeful for the five-year plan to continue to strengthen areas like curriculum and assessment, while enhancing safety and security and improving the buildings' infrastructures.