Oxford Area School District superintendent presents 2025-26 draft goals emphasizing instruction, community engagement, policy rollout and construction oversight

At the Oxford Area School District Board of Directors work session on Aug. 12, Superintendent Dr. Woods presented draft goals for the 2025-26 school year that the district intends to use to guide priorities for instruction, community engagement, policy implementation and ongoing construction projects.

Dr. Woods told the board, “First goal will be to improve education program for scheduling, curriculum reviews, and data analysis.” He described four headline goals: (1) improve instructional programming through scheduling, curriculum review and student-data analysis; (2) enhance community engagement using a Chester County Intermediate Unit (CCIU) survey effort and other stakeholder outreach; (3) implement new and revised policies approved by the board; and (4) oversee current and forthcoming construction projects through completion.

The instructional goal covers all buildings but includes targeted work at the middle school. Dr. Woods said the district tried a revised middle-school schedule over the summer to “afford more time in the core areas” and to create dedicated MTSS (multi‑tiered system of supports) time for small‑group interventions. “Through data analysis, … small groups of students are in the classrooms to work on the areas that they are struggling with,” he said, describing the intent to use schedule changes plus data-driven interventions to improve outcomes.

On community engagement, the superintendent said the district plans to work this year with the Chester County Intermediate Unit to deploy surveys and other stakeholder outreach. The planned approach includes virtual options and a stakeholder component; Dr. Woods said leadership will meet with CCIU representatives this month to finalize modalities and respondent lists. Board members asked whether surveys would target only parents of enrolled students; Dr. Woods said initial plans focus on families with enrolled students but that virtual links could allow other interested community members to participate if the district and CCIU choose that approach.

The policy implementation goal highlighted recent and forthcoming policy work. Dr. Woods cited Policy 6300 (library policy) and a proposed live‑streaming policy as examples that require operational steps before they “go live,” including ensuring libraries meet the policy’s requirements prior to school openings.

On facilities, Dr. Woods described construction as a multi‑phase effort. He said phase 1 is currently underway, the board will begin phase‑2 planning at committee level in September (finance and facilities committees), and work on phase 2 would run into late winter or early spring; the district expects additional planning for a possible phase 3 later in the year.

No formal board votes were recorded on these goals at the work session; Dr. Woods asked for questions and indicated the drafts would be available for continued review.

Board discussion included clarifying questions about which schools and stakeholders each goal covers, and requests that staff return with implementation details during committee meetings prior to any formal adoption.

Looking ahead, Dr. Woods signaled the district leadership will refine timelines and deliverables — including the middle‑school schedule and CCIU survey plan — before the start of the school year.