Laconia superintendent previews five-year strategic plan focused on literacy, wellness and pathways

Superintendent Champlain presented the Laconia School District's five-year strategic plan and outlined the district's mission, vision and implementation schedule. He said the plan centers on students developing the skills and confidence to succeed and highlighted a "portrait of a graduate" that includes communication, collaboration and perseverance.

Champlain described five task forces—literacy, teaching and learning, assessment, wellness and community engagement—and said task-force members reconvened in October and November to update subgoals. He said the literacy task force is pursuing multi-measure proficiency gains and will examine 8th-to-9th-grade vertical alignment in January. On wellness, he said the plan aims to have 80% of students supported at tier-one levels by 2028; wellness and diversity/inclusion work were merged this year to improve coordination.

Board members asked clarifying questions about numeracy and implementation. Champlain said materials will be shared with schools and staff, and that the full board will get deeper reviews on specific topics in upcoming months—Wellness in January, community goals in February, literacy in March and teaching and learning in April—followed by a year-end review in June. The superintendent emphasized that embedding the plan's attributes into daily curriculum will require targeted professional development and teacher engagement.

Next steps: task forces will continue work through the winter, staff will distribute presentation materials to buildings, and the board will receive more detailed updates at scheduled meetings in March and June.