Message from the Superintendent
At our regularly scheduled Board of Education meeting on May 26th, the Board unanimously voted to approve a partnership with Minnesota State University Mankato to begin a Long Range Planning Process for the New Prague Area Schools. Minnesota State University Mankato was chosen due to their extensive experience with strategic planning and their desire to partner with school districts in our area.

The process and planning will take place over the next 18 months to two years and will be a comprehensive plan which looks at our entire system. We will begin our work by identifying our core fundamental beliefs, mission, and vision for the New Prague Area Schools. The mission and vision will define who we are as an organization and where we are going. The purpose of the Long Range Plan is to get a structural framework in place which aligns all of our goals and resources. Implementing a Long Range Plan for the district will drive all of our decisions and aligns our entire organization in a common direction. It identifies what we are about, and more importantly, what we should be doing. I am pleased that the Board supported the concept to develop a plan and I am excited to begin engaging our stakeholders in the process. This document will help the Board set its goals and then all schools and programs can align with these goals.

At the conclusion of the process, our end product will include strategic and comprehensive goals, steps to achieve the goals, a time line, who is responsible for the goal and an evaluative phase to measure the outcomes and progress.

Our intent is to have a "living" document. It will be a document that we will re-visit annually. Ultimately the plan will be one owned and shared by both the community and the school district. As Joel Barker stated, "vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world."

As we begin the process, please look for ways to become engaged with the plan by completing online surveys, attending a community meeting or being involved with a focus group.

I am excited for us to begin!