Greenwich Public Schools

Project Plan

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PROJECT PLAN

Project Description and Definition of Project Success

Project Description

Greenwich, Connecticut is located in Fairfield County at the southwestern tip where Connecticut meets

New York. The proximity to New York City (accessible via a 38 minute train aboard Metro North’s New

Haven Line), attracts globally diverse residents and a richness of cultural traditions. Greenwich also boasts

a thriving financial service industry. Wedged between two major access roads, (Interstate 95 and the

Merritt Parkway), Greenwich enjoys a small downtown. Nearly 63,000 people call Greenwich home and

nearly 9,000 students attend the Greenwich public schools. Greenwich is also home to ten private schools.

The Greenwich Public Schools (GPS) are made up of eleven elementary schools, three middle schools,

one comprehensive high school, an alternative high school, and a preschool at four sites. Considered

among the most affluent communities nationally, nearly an eighth of the students are eligible for free and

reduced lunch and a quarter of the population is categorized as minority. The GPS has been under State

mandate to address the concentration of minority populations in three of its elementary schools. The

Greenwich Public Schools provide an excellent education to this diverse population, representing over 50

different languages spoken at home, resulting in strong achievement on multiple measures. Whether the

measure is college matriculation, AP and SAT results, state standardized assessments, or national, state

and regional awards and accomplishments, our students perform at top levels, academically, athletically,

artistically and in service to their community.

With this backdrop, the Board and GPS Leadership embarked on fashioning a strategic plan that would

shape the vision of the District for the next five years. By prioritizing the development of a strategic plan

during the forthcoming academic year, the Greenwich Public Schools is sending a clear message to the

community that they are interested in building upon their strengths and successes to push the boundaries

of educational possibilities and accelerate achievement for all.

Over the course of this project, PCG will facilitate GPS stakeholders in the development of a strategic plan including the following elements:

Measureable key performance-based outcomes, based on quantitative data

A maximum of no more than five high-leverage and achievable strategic goals addressed over the next five years

Inclusive of community and stakeholder input Developing a multi-year strategic plan will provide GPS with greater clarity around priority areas by

identifying shared goals and pathways to accomplishing them. Specifically, PCG will facilitate the

development of Greenwich Public Schools’ strategic plan, inclusive of the following:

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A vision statement, indicating the aspirational outcomes for the district and its students;

A set of priorities, inclusive of the academic and financial imperatives that arise in addressing

these priorities;

A gap analysis between current practices and anticipated desired practices;

A set of well-defined goals with accompanying action plans, including implications for policy,

budget, and curriculum, specificity of activities, target dates, indicators of success, and

responsible individuals;

A set of key performance indicators of success on each of the priority areas;

A report of supporting evidence and research for best practices and current trends in academic

development from which best practices can be derived.

Key steps along the way include:

Intensive, PCG-facilitated focus groups invested in the ongoing success and growth of GPS;

Examine the best practices and performance (financial and academic) of other like school

districts.

Use of multiple data collection, visioning, and action planning protocols developed or adapted

by PCG’s subject matter experts to help GPS identify, contextualize, and act upon those findings

through methodical, focused goal action maps;

Collaboration with GPS to develop a positive future vision, guiding Vision statement, and

creation of a 5-year strategic plan.

Key documents include:

An agreed-upon Project Plan (this document) and timeline;

Survey results summary from school employees and community members;

A summary of findings (themes) from Focus Groups;

A gap analysis in the form of a District and School Capacity Profile;

Final Report encompassing the Strategic Plan, including the vision, goals, action maps (including

financial and other resources), and supporting documents spanning the entire engagement.

Definition of Project Success

The final GPS strategic plan will include a set of clearly defined goals, action plans, guidance for

accountable behavior and the means to review, reflect, and revise the plan to meet the goals over the

short term (up to five years) and expand over the longer term.

The goal of this project is to identify a set of shared values and principles among families, community

members, and professional educators upon which a set of achievable and adaptable educational priorities

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will be established and enacted. By creating a shared vision of the future together, the GPS community

will be prepared to take action on each priority.

Other Indicators of Success

The following are additional success factors critical to the development of the GPS Strategic Plan. The

greater degree to which these factors are adhered to over the life of the project, the higher the chances

of overall project success:

An inclusive process drawing on the many voices of the GPS community to build a vision of the

future in which people feel heard and improves overall communications.

Reflects and expresses the unique character and potential of GPS.

Provides clarity of direction and reduces tensions associated with politicizing public education.

Provides direction that also addresses resource allocations.

Sufficiently detailed to drive future behaviors.

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Project Objectives

Phase 1 – Project Launch and Data Collection

Kick-off Meeting

Engage with a leadership team to review the project plan and bring greater clarity related to

overall goals of the strategic planning initiative and project tasks, dates, and deliverables.

Identify key people

Create school-driven communications plan

Prepare a draft of the project work plan and agree to working assumptions.

Data Collection

Conduct focus groups of various constituents served by the school

Develop forward-looking vision for the school through facilitated focus groups.

Survey school (students and teachers/staff) and community members (parents).

Interviews with key stakeholders.

Phase 2 – Developing the Vision

Narrow Priorities and Establish Goals

Engage with the GPS leadership team to review and identify emerging priorities, expectations,

and aspirations for the future based on data collected, the mission, vision, and areas of focus.

Seek supporting data for emerging priority areas to support evaluation metrics. Establish KPIs

and determine best practices from literature and observed practices elsewhere.

Establish goal statements within specific areas of strategic focus that reflect the collected data,

mission, vision, and value statements.

Gap Analysis

Conduct gap analysis

Facilitate School Capacity Profile

Phase 3 – From Strategic Goals to Action Maps

Develop an achievable set of goal statements to form the basis of the strategic plan.

Incorporate academic best practices wherever appropriate in support of strategic goals

Parse goals into time-bound actions.

Identify actionable steps that will support the realization of the strategic goals as identified in

Phase 2 of the project.

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Identify key personnel responsible for ensuring the success of a goal.

Identify evaluation metrics for determining the success of each goal.

Phase 4 – Complete and Deliver Final Strategic Planning Document

Prepare a final document that provides specific guidance for implementing the Strategic Plan

(e.g., inclusive of goals, rationales, actions steps, metrics for evaluating success).

Present the strategic plan (a work product of the GPS leadership team assembled by PCG)

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Project Organization

The success of the project is dependent upon a sustained partnership between PCG, the GPS team, and

involvement from the staff of GPS and from the community-at-large. The Strategic Planning team will

provide overall project sponsorship and decision making authority for development of the Strategic

Plan. The Team will work in concert with PCG to maintain the overall schedule and processes of the

project.

Project Role Description of Roles and Responsibilities

Leadership Team

Executive Sponsor

Project Manager

GPS Team

Provide overall project sponsorship

Participate in regular check-ins with PCG

Identify the stakeholders that will participate in focus groups and

forums

View the data collections tools and protocols and provide feedback

Assist with identifying/sourcing relevant data sources for metric

development

Review draft deliverables

Select a co-project manager to provide support in scheduling and

coordinating logistics for focus groups, interviews, completion of

school capacity profile, and other meetings

Executive Sponsor

Provide executive sponsorship for the project

GPS Co-Project Manager

Serve as the “single point of contact” from GPS for managing project logistics

Maintain the project schedule

Schedule the stakeholders that will participate in focus groups

Participate in Vision activities

Provide oversight and guidance

Review of emerging themes and priorities

Review of Final Report during draft stages

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Project Role Description of Roles and Responsibilities

PCG

Steve Kutno, Lead

Facilitator

Phil Obbard,

Project Director

Anna d’Entremont

PCG Project Manager

Steve McLean, Project

Advisor

Other PCG Support Staff

PCG Team

Support GPS in the development of a vision

Support GPS in development and execution of communications plan

Complete data collection and analysis

Guide the development of strategic goals and action maps

Support data collection for metric development

Facilitate the completion of a final strategic planning document

PCG Co-Project Manager

Serve as the “single point of contact” from PCG for managing

project logistics

Maintain the project schedule

Communicate project status across teams

School Representatives

School Leadership Teams

Teachers

Administration

Business Office

Participate in Focus Groups

Participate in School Capacity Profile and gap analysis

Participate in Action Planning

Public Consulting Group Project Team

PCG has put together a team of staff that has extensive experience in assessing current state to facilitate

goal development, engaging stakeholders from multiple domains, and fostering strategic planning.

Descriptions of roles and responsibilities of staff in the development of GPS’ Strategic Plan are delineated

below.

PCG Education Team Description of Roles and Responsibilities

Dr. Steve Kutno,

Lead Facilitator

Develop the data collection and strategic planning tools

Facilitate focus groups and completion of school capacity profiles

Report development

Facilitate the strategic planning process

Anna d’Entremont

PCG Project Manager

Project Advisor

Facilitate Focus Groups and Interviews

Communicate project status across teams

Facilitate regular check-ins

Ensure that project tasks and deliverables are completed on time

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Review deliverables

Phil Obbard,

Project Director

Project oversight

Ensure that all work is successfully completed

Review risks and mitigation approaches

Steve McLean,

Facilitator

Support during data collection activities (survey development, data

analysis)

Final Report development

Other PCG Staff Data analysis

Research and Final Report development

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Key Stakeholders

PCG Education and the Strategic Planning team recognize that stakeholder involvement at every stage in

the development of a Strategic Plan is critical to ensuring its breadth, depth, and future success. To help

facilitate community input, select stakeholders (to be defined at a later date) and expected

contributions are delineated below. Overall, we will solicit feedback from the stakeholders stated below

over the course of the strategic plan’s development.

Stakeholder Group Project Contributions

School Board Members Interviews

Survey

Cabinet Survey

District Capacity Profile

Interviews

School and Program Administrators School Capacity Profile

Survey

Focus Group

Middle/Secondary Parents Focus Group

Survey

Pre-K/Elementary Parents Focus Group

Survey

Student Services (Spanish-speaking) Focus Group

Students Focus Group (1 hr)

Survey

Pre-K/Elementary School Teachers Participate in School Capacity Profiles

Focus Group

Survey

Middle/High School Teachers Participate in School Capacity Profiles

Focus Group

Survey

Business and Community Leaders Focus Group

Support Staff Focus Group

Survey

Former Parents/Alumni Survey

Social Services (Board of Selectman, Towns

Boards and Commissions, Fire/Police)

Focus Group

Survey

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Families in Private School Focus Group

Survey

PTA Council (inc. SPED, ALP) Focus Group

Survey

RTM & BET Focus Group

Survey

Preschool Parents Survey

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Work Plan

The Work Plan displays shared tasks, project dates, and deliverables. Its purpose is threefold: 1.)

Establishes a shared ownership of the project, as PCG is dependent upon GPS engagement in order to

facilitate the development of a strategic plan; 2.) Demonstrates the importance of maintaining the

calendar, as the timeline delineated is aggressive and succeeding tasks are largely dependent on the

completion of previous tasks; and 3.) Clarifies what is not in the project scope so that both parties can be

focused in their efforts.

Below find a high-level overview of the project components. The following table summarizes the

timeline for completing each of the phases of the project.

Month Phase Deliverables

November 2014 Project Launch Project Work Plan

December 2014 Data Collection Survey (Online)

Focus Groups (held over a 5-day period)

Community Forum

January 2014 Data Analysis Key themes and priorities identified and ranked

February 2014 Data Review A narrowing of priorities

March 2015 Gap Analysis Within each priority, identified policy, budget and curriculum changes

March 2015 – May

2015

Action Planning Community Forum

Action plans with specifics of work to be completed

May– June 2015 Compiling of final

document and presentation

Final strategic plan

Community Presentation

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Deliverable Summary

The Deliverable Summary describes the material that PCG will provide GPS with over the course of the

engagement. Several items will be on-going:

Status Meetings. Initially weekly (but changing to bi-weekly after Phase 1 is underway) meetings

with the PCG Project Team and the GPS Leadership Team.

Deliverable Description

Phase 1: Project Launch and Data Collection

Project Plan

Description: A mutually agreed upon document that outlines the

roles and responsibilities of PCG and GPS, establishes a project

calendar, and establishes principles and objectives to provide

guidance to the project

Draft Due Date: November 17th

Due Date: Week of November 24th

Survey

Description: Survey for staff and community

Draft Due Date: November 17th

Due Date for Administration: Week of December 1st

Focus Groups

Description: Group specific protocols and facilitation of Focus

Groups

Due Date: Week of December 1st, December 15th

Phase 2: Developing the Vision

Data Analysis Summary

Description: PCG will summarize the data, identify major themes,

derived from the data collection activities (Focus Groups, Surveys,

Interviews).

Due Date: Week of January 12th

Phase 3: Identify 3-5 Strategic Goals and Action Plans

Strategic Goals Identified

Description: From the data analysis, 3-5 priority areas will be select

for strategic goals.

Due Date: Week of February 9th

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School Capacity Profile / Gap

Analysis

Description: Facilitation of School Capacity Profile

Due Date: March 2015

Action Planning

Description: From the agreed upon strategic goals, action maps

will be developed.

Date: March 2015

Due Date: May 2015

Phase 4: Complete and Deliver Final Strategic Planning Document

Final Strategic Planning

Document

Description: The final document containing a summary of findings,

final goals, action maps, and multiple appendices.

Due Date: Week of June 8th