Destination 2028, Waukegan Community Unit School District 60’s new strategic plan designed to take the district through the next four school years ending in 2028, offers the public an opportunity to see how the district and its students are performing.
Along with seeing the district’s objectives, Superintendent Theresa Plascencia said anyone can log onto the plan on the District website, go to the dashboard, and click on an element of the plan to learn about student achievement, attendance progress and more.
“It’s real-time information that’s uploaded so that the community can see our key performance indicators from day to day, week to week, quarter to quarter, semester to semester,” Plascencia said during a Waukegan Township Town Hall on July 10.
District 60 launched Destination 2028 on July 1 sending information to community members and posting the plan on its website as it prepares to begin making it a crucial part of educating youngsters for the next four years when school opens Aug 12.
Eduardo Cesario, the district’s deputy superintendent of academic support and programs, said the overall objective of the plan is developing an inclusive learning environment at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. He considers it a living document.
“We want to make this something we can look at regularly, examine our progress and share that data with our community,” Cesario said. “We’re going to continue to refine this as we go. This lets our stakeholders know our progress.”
With school not starting until Aug. 12, dashboard information is not current. After students return, it will become up to date. Plascencia said it is important to find effective ways to communicate with the community.
Plascencia said it is hard to find successful ways to inform the district’s stakeholders. The dashboards will help because people can see relevant data whenever they want. They will add transparency.
“The community (will know) where we are with the (goals) we have set in our strategic plan and it’s there whenever you want to look into it,” Plascencia said. “You can see how we’re doing and hold us accountable and check our progress.”
Built on four pillars — developing inclusive learning environments, equitable learning environments, 21st Century learning environments and partnering with parents — Cesario said some elements like the middle school redesign start now but are well tested.
With the first quarter of the 21st Century almost in the rearview mirror, Cesario said in an interview that new opportunities for students to engage and learn will be a continual part of the plan. Laboratories may be built inside a classroom.
“We will look for ways for students to engage in new and flexible learning opportunities,” Cesario said. “There will be new ways for s students to learn and grow.”
An enhanced effort to engage with the community and keep it informed which includes the dashboards is another pillar of the plan. Cesario said the FACE (Family and Community Engagement) Department will lead the effort. They will network with community partners and seek resources the community can offer.
Some elements of the development of equitable learning environments have started like the African American Male Achievement Initiative first conceived a year ago and getting closer to implementation.
After data revealed black male students were not learning as quickly as other parts of the population, Plascencia launched the initiative. She developed a task force and put personnel in place to make it work.