Community members encouraged to apply to be part of steering committee

ALAMOSA Schools has launched a campaign to recruit community members to help co-create a new strategic plan.

“We often hear that people want their voices to be heard and this is a wonderful opportunity for people to join forces with us as we begin to create a strategic action plan to move Alamosa School District forward,” said Superintendent Diana Jones.

Jones and assistant superintendent Luis Murillo are seeking parents of students, community members, business leaders and teachers and staff of the district to apply to be part of a steering committee that will develop the school district’s strategic plans. The school district also plans a series of “listening sessions” to gain broader community input.

“At the same time,” said Jones, “we will develop a ‘Graduate of a Profile’ so that we know and understand what the community wants for our students to look like when they graduate,” Jones said.

Alamosa Schools is working with Colorado Education Initiative, a non-profit that helps school districts develop plans for the K-12 system. 

“We don’t want it to be and it will not be Dr. Jones’s and my vision,” said Murillo, who is organizing the effort. “It is going to be the whole community’s vision.”

Murillo emphasizes the “co-creation” aspect of the community helping write the plan in partnership with the school district. 

“What are those trades and skills that our community feel that an Alamosa High School graduate should have by the time they graduate from our high school to either be ready for the workforce, to be ready for college, to be ready for a junior college, to be ready to go into the military.”

The school district is moving quickly to accept applications for the steering committee. A meeting schedule that begins in February has already been established. It is below:

Steering Committee Meeting Schedule:

  • Wednesday February 9, 2022, 6-7:30 p.m.
  • Wednesday February 23, 2022, 6-7:30 p.m.
  • Wednesday March 9, 2022, 6-7:30 p.m.
  • Wednesday March 16, 2022, 6-7:30 p.m..
  • Wednesday April 6, 2022, 6-7:30 p.m.

“The way that we visualize this being is really our North Star,” Murillo said. “It’s going to give us a direction for what our work is going to be for the next  five to 10 years.”

Follow this link to apply to be part of the strategic planning steering committee: ​​https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdufo91PJR_jd7CZot4sCdWw3VLx37CCQnowyzb9Rdbp0bR2Q/viewform.

Asked what the ideal makeup of the steering committee looks like, Murillo said to think about the local supermarket and people of all walks of life inside it. That’s what Alamosa Schools is shooting for, a steering committee that reflects the diversity of Alamosa.

To hear more about Alamosa Schools’ strategic planning efforts, listen to this episode of The Valley Pod.

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