District 15 reports progress on strategic plan; officials cite hundreds of completed action steps and academic recovery
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Summary
Superintendent Dr. Wright reported midyear progress on District 15's strategic plan, saying the district completed 246 district-level action steps and schools completed 368; leaders said reading and math scores have returned to pre-pandemic levels and listed ongoing initiatives including safety protocols and AI planning.
Superintendent Dr. Wright told the McHenry Elementary District 15 Board of Education on Feb. 11 that the district’s two-year strategic plan is producing measurable activity in classrooms and buildings across the district.
“Since we have started our plan, the district has completed 246 action steps,” Dr. Wright said during a midyear update. “Our schools... have completed 368 total action steps.” He credited administrators, strategic-plan team leaders and teachers for sustaining momentum.
Wright highlighted several areas of work tied to the plan: curriculum, instruction and assessment refinements; expansion of multi-tiered systems of support at the middle school level; more consistent specials scheduling so students have one 45-minute special each day; and actions linked to safety and well-being. On reading and math, Wright said district scores have returned to pre-pandemic levels: “for the first time since pre pandemic times, our scores in, reading and math are back to pre pandemic, scores that we've had.”
Other initiatives mentioned in the update include: - A districtwide adoption of the Standard Response Protocol for safety, endorsed by local police and emergency responders. - Action steps addressing adult and student social-emotional learning, including training for paraprofessionals. - Planning for technology and artificial intelligence use in classrooms, including developing policies and teacher guidance. - Facility investments such as HVAC and air-quality work and installation of a community-accessible track at McHenry Middle School. - A new district web platform slated to launch at the start of the 2025–26 school year.
Wright said the strategic plan is implemented via a “plan-do-study-act” cycle: the district and schools set action steps at the start of the year, check progress midyear and report at year end. He described a midyear “jingle and mingle” meeting where administrators and strategic-plan leaders share practices and accountability.
Several principals and teacher leaders appeared in a video shown to the board describing school-level examples: a sensory space open to all students, a middle-school hallway pass pilot, Riverwood’s grand opening after construction, the district’s “Dragon Brew” coffee-shop project and enhanced Tier 1/Tier 2 supports at Hilltop.
The board offered thanks and recognized staff and volunteers for the work. Superintendent Wright closed by thanking staff and the board for ongoing support of the plan; he said the district will continue periodic reporting to the board.