Strategic Planning
Prepare:
Communicate:
Prepare:
We start with a kick-off meeting to finalize the timeline, survey needs, deliverables, and key committee members. Bell Street collaborates with the superintendent and/or district leadership, recommending a Primary Point of Contact (not the superintendent) for logistics, feedback, and project management.
Needs Assessment: We conduct a thorough review using existing plans, qualitative/quantitative data, focus groups, surveys, interviews, performance metrics, prior plans, and communication channels to identify the district's current state, desired future, and barriers. Engagement options include in-person and virtual formats (virtual often preferred for community convenience), with diverse channels (e.g., social media) to ensure all voices are heard. Processes and timelines are customized with leadership, aligning to the district's existing continuous improvement cycle.
Plan:
Communicate:
Prepare:
Bell Street supports 3- or 5-year plans, starting with alignment of Mission, Vision, and Core Values via surveys and focus groups. Facilitators guide stakeholders through an iterative process (typically 4-6 in-person meetings) to create goals and supporting sub-goals/KPIs.
Facilitation ensures inclusivity, contribution from all, and stakeholder buy-in—turning participants into key communicators. Our facilitators, former practitioners, excel at building consensus.
Communicate:
Communicate:
Communicate:
As the plan finalizes, the stakeholder group serves as primary internal and external communicators. Bell Street provides a communication toolkit to help them engage the broader community effectively.
We also offer a data dashboard for superintendents to access real-time implementation updates and inform boards of education on progress.
Implement:
Implement:
Communicate:
Bell Street assists in creating detailed implementation/project plans for goals and sub-goals. We emphasize Supportive Accountability, ensuring each action has an owner/champion, due date, and early warning system ("yellow flags") to address barriers and meet timelines.
Align:
Implement:
Measure:
To break silos, Bell Street helps establish and facilitate Cross-Functional Teams across departments/divisions. This promotes horizontal alignment, highlighting interdependencies and interconnections.
Measure:
Implement:
Measure:
We develop aligned metrics horizontally (across departments) and vertically (to schools/classrooms). These are tracked in real-time on Bell Street’s dashboard, with data rolling up to provide ongoing goal updates.
Revise:
Revise:
Revise:
Plans may require adjustments due to changing factors. Bell Street transforms strategic planning from a static document into a dynamic process, supporting efficient revisions as new data emerges to keep the plan relevant and adaptive.