The La Cañada Unified School District introduced and approved the Governing Board strategic domains at its Dec. 12 meeting.
After two retreats this year with district leaders, the Board discussed and developed an interest in creating LCUSD strategic domains to help push forward its initiative in maintaining long-term goals.
“These domains are designed to guide focus and inspire the longer-term vision and the work of the district,” said Superintendent Wendy Sinnette.
The four domains include:
- Educational excellence and unparalleled student outcomes
- Supportive, healthy and inclusive schools
- Safe and inspiring facilities and learning spaces
- Community-centric approach to education
The Board was asked to review and approve each domain and its associated description and come up with a plan in the future to develop actions and outcomes they would like to see with each domain.
“The design for the governing board strategic domains is to engage in model governance and have a long-term view of actions and services that have a longer lead time, things that we want to accomplish in three to 10 years,” said Sinnette. “And for the full development of these strategic domains, we would need to develop outcomes, actions and services.”
FIRST DOMAIN
The first domain — educational excellence and unparalleled student outcomes — gives a description of LCUSD’s emphasis on every student’s success.
It reads, “LCUSD’s commitment to unparalleled educational outcomes is enabled by its emphasis on curricular innovation, exceptional educators, and a relentless commitment to the success of every student. By providing cutting-edge learning experiences, LCUSD will empower every student to unlock their full potential and realize a successful and productive future. This dedication propels LCUSD to be one of the highest-performing school districts in California and the nation.”
SECOND DOMAIN
The second domain — supportive, healthy and inclusive schools — provides a description of LCUSD’s commitment to wellness.
It reads, “LCUSD’s commitment to inclusion, wellness and social-emotional safety is both unyielding and comprehensive, serving as a foundational priority that enables educational excellence for all students. LCUSD strives to create an inclusive culture where students, staff and families of diverse backgrounds and identities not only feel valued, respected and supported, but also actively contribute to a community of belongingness. This domain extends to nurturing positive relationships between students and adults on campus, while providing opportunities for students to exercise agency and build their capacity for college, career and beyond.”
THIRD DOMAIN
The third domain — safe and inspiring facilities and learning spaces — gives a description of maintaining LCUSD’s future-ready facilities.
It reads, “LCUSD seeks to design welcoming and productive school environments through well-maintained and future-ready facilities with reliable infrastructure. Through community support, LCUSD is undergoing a physical transformation that it plans to continue. LCUSD is committed to establishing school facilities that instill pride and belonging, setting a high standard of excellence for future generations that matches our commitment to a world class education.”
FOURTH DOMAIN
The fourth domain — community-centric approach to education — shares a description of LCUSD’s lasting relationships.
It reads, “LCUSD values its relationships with community partners. Cultivating these relationships is integral to enriching the educational and extracurricular student experiences LCUSD provides. Collaborative relationships with neighboring school districts, Pasadena City College, educational and professional agencies, the city of La Canada Flintridge, local businesses, and other civic partners optimize LCUSD’s delivery of best-in-class services designed to benefit our students and amplify their life experiences.”
Then-Board President Joe Radabaugh was pleased with the domains and their respective descriptions, since this has been a concept the Board has been wanting to move forward with.
Board member Dan Jeffries shared the same sentiment.
“I think what we all realize too, is we have an appetite for continuous improvement, and so being able to [have] unparalleled student outcomes to me means that you can monitor [in] real time, react [in] real time, have a toolset to really slice and dice your information and meet kids where they are and try to get them on track as fast as possible, and if not, exceed where we need to,” said Radabaugh.
Then-Board Vice President Josh Epstein spoke in favor of including all students in the domains rather than just high achieving ones.
“I like that it really talks about every student and empowering every student to unlock their full potential, so we’re not talking about just the highest performers,” said Epstein.
Then-Board member Octavia Thuss is also happy with the results of the domains and said that the work to make LCUSD better is never complete.
“I think work is never done, and we’re just reminded that we do actually have to look out in the future beyond three years, while we’re doing a ton of work right now, facility wise,” said Thuss. “There will always be something to think about, and it is a good reminder that we need to stay on top of things and not have deferred issues.”
Sinnette said that the Board members can decide if they would like to discuss actions and outcomes associated to each domain in another public meeting or during another retreat, and the Board showed interest in another retreat.
Sinnette said that she would work with Epstein, the new Board president, to establish a date for the retreat.
First published in the December 28 print issue of the Outlook Valley Sun.
