District Design Thinking, Consideration of Divergent Perspectives Key to Reopening Planning Process
Using Purposeful Design Tools to Prepare for All Scenarios spent nine hours thinking about the future and using design tools to understand and carefully think through what to expect. Our work focused on considering three potential scenarios:
Engaging in Divergent Thinking By inviting stakeholders to share their "lived" experiences over these past four months, we have developed a shared sense of empathy and understanding for the unique needs and challenges of our students, parents and staff in order to capture varied perspectives and divergent thinking beneficial to moving forward. We were purposeful in trying to bring in representatives from all valued facets of our school community (students, parents, teachers, administrators) to delve deep into our understanding of the human challenges faced during this extended school closure. Separately, we are currently in the process of analyzing the results from our recent parent survey, which also will provide us with opportunities to absorb a range of insights.
Narrowing Our Focus in the Planning Process Breaking up into planning teams at all levels -- elementary, middle school and high school -- we went from examining the larger picture (thinking about the future) to more substantive plans relative to areas of focus: issues around developing school schedules, prioritizing health and safety, and understanding what we need to consider around school climate and culture, in addition to the social-emotional well-being and learning of students who have been isolated over a four or five month period and will require extra support upon return this fall. We also discussed the need to design, test, and revise prototypes and models in advance of reopening
Next Steps: Moving from Initial D-Lab Launch to Detailed Planning Our detailed planning process over the next several weeks includes the following:
I realize that parents want assurance and answers as to what school will look like in September. While we cannot plan with certainty at this point in time, we CAN plan effectively. We are doing our part to ensure that our schools are prepared for these three potential scenarios and that we have the foundation in place to evolve as necessary. As more details are developed in the coming weeks, we will continue to share them and report out.
I hope today is a celebratory day for all. While we are missing the traditional rituals of saying goodbye in-person to students and families for the summer, we take pride in what we have accomplished over the course of the entire 2019-2010 school year, reflect on the hopes and joys to come, and wish each of you an enjoyable, safe and healthy summer.
Warm Regards,
Dr. Robert I. Shaps © 2016 School Name |