School Improvement & Strategic Plan

For more than a year, Mason Public Schools administrators and staff have been actively putting the 2023-28 Strategic Plan into action. This action plan leads our efforts across four key focus areas- Instructional Improvement and Innovation; Student Supports; Staff Recruitment, Retention, and Development; and Facilities and Infrastructure.

Work on the plan takes place every day in our buildings and classrooms, but also behind the scenes with professional development, system improvement, strategic decision-making, innovation and forward thinking. 

As we implement the Strategic Plan, our staff and stakeholders are working with the executive team to carefully monitor and track progress, providing status updates to ensure that the work stays on track and aligned with the district’s goals.

To keep families and the community informed, we will share regular updates about the plan. Status Updates are available for each of the focus areas outlining the progress for each objective:

• Status Update September 2024- Instructional Improvement and Innovation
• Status Update September 2024- Student Supports
• Status Update September 2024- Staff Recruitment, Retention, and Development
• Status Update September 2024- Facilities and Infrastructure

We are excited to share the progress we’ve made so far while focusing on setting and completing additional goals and striving to serve Every Student. Every Day.

Nearly a year into the launch of our new strategic plan, teams are working to implement actionable initiatives into the district’s day-to-day operations. The plan outlines four areas of focus:

• Instructional Improvement and Innovation
• Student Supports
• Staff Recruitment, Retention, and Development
• Facilities and Infrastructure

I’d like to share with you some of the unique and specific projects and programs we have initiated this year that tie into our areas of focus and align with our overall mission to serve Every Student. Every Day.

Instructional Improvement and Innovation

This portion of the plan focuses on cultivating an innovative teaching and learning community to improve educational outcomes for all students and prepare them to become active and engaged citizens. So far this year:

• Educators are providing all prekindergarten-12th grade students with instruction and assessments aligned to standards.
• MPS teachers are reviewing core curriculum material.
• A committee of 22 teachers, coaches and administrators reviewed three math programs and will select two to pilot next year.
• Prekindergarten through 5th grade administrators are working to strengthen tier-one literacy instruction through effective practices on essential standards.

Another focus in this area of the plan is to build a collaborative culture for all staff members to empower teachers and students to take risks and try new strategies. We have done this by:

• Reviewing meeting structures to support a more collaborative decision-making process.
• Employing a number of instructional coaches to help support innovative and creative teaching practices.

Student Supports

With an emphasis on building an intentional culture that generates systems and strategies to increase authentic engagement, this portion of the plan focuses on promoting positive perspectives toward self and others that will establish healthy relationships. Work in this area includes:

• Expanding our social emotional learning programming to include all grades.
• Implementing a therapy/facility dog program in the district with dogs at the middle and high schools and plans to add dogs to all buildings in future years.
• Creating a District Improvement Team and building increased capacity in the Multi-tiered System of Supports (MTSS) processes to focus on building structural support systems and strategies.
• Building cultural awareness which is represented in our schools through the district’s inaugural Inclusion Week in March.

Staff Recruitment, Retention, and Development

The strategic plan also includes a portion focused on the district’s aim to attract a larger and more diverse candidate pool, retain talent through efforts to build a system of staff supports, and develop staff to better serve students and improve the employee experience. This year, the district is:

• Transitioning to a new recruiting platform in order to improve the ease of applying for positions, to modernize the recruitment software and to improve advertising networks.
• Adding professional development for targeted employee groups that will be expanded in coming years.
• Providing staff an opportunity to complete a survey to assess their experience as a team member and to identify areas of emphasis to grow the culture of the district.
• Next year, a marketing budget will be established with the purpose of reaching a wider audience during recruitment and allowing the district to more broadly share our story and opportunities.

Facilities and Infrastructure

In addition to students and staff, the strategic plan also focuses on modernizing current district facilities and planning for future improvements as well as enhancing safety and security in the district. Work on these goals includes:

• Focusing on updating the Sinking Fund language and any future bond offerings for the middle and high school buildings along with the transportation and maintenance buildings.
• Selecting Plante Moran Realpoint as the district’s owner’s representative to assist with pre-bond planning services. Plante Moran Realpoint has experience leading K-12 schools in capital bond planning/programs for more than 45 school districts throughout the state.
• Upgrading interior door locks, public address systems, and interior/exterior cameras in all buildings.
• Implementing a School Resource Officer (SRO) program and hiring a full-time SRO, in consortium with the City of Mason and funded by a grant received by the district.

This strategic plan is a living document and a roadmap for continuous improvement for all of us in the district. Our teachers, administrators, staff and community all play a role in ensuring our students have the best environment and opportunities to learn. We look forward to sharing an online dashboard of progress with you this spring along with continued progress of implementation of our strategic plan in action.

Sincerely,
Gary Kinzer, Ed.D.
Superintendent, Mason Public Schools

Annual Education Report Harvey Education Center

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Annual Education Report North Aurelius

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Annual Education Report Middle School

Annual Education Report High School