Superintendent 100 Day Plan - Dr. Brian Hill
A Message from the Superintendent
Dear D51 Family,
I am honored to be able to serve as your new Superintendent of Schools in Mesa County Valley School District 51. We have much to celebrate in D51, and it has been a privilege to serve alongside our D51 Family for the last 3 years as your Assistant Superintendent. My family and I love the Grand Valley, and we are committed to this community for the long term.
It is my belief that the central office staff in a school district exist to serve our schools. We are charged to remove barriers to success for our students and staff, and I am committed to that work moving forward. Our organization is perfectly designed to get the results we are currently getting, and in order to improve those results, we have to improve upon our delivery of support.
While I have been a part of the D51 Family for the last 3 years, I still have much to learn from you. The goal of this 100 Day Plan is to look, listen, and learn as much as I can. To be an effective leader for our almost 22,000 students, over 3,000 employees, and numerous families and community members, I have to be willing to listen more than I speak. Only after listening first can I act with the best interest of the D51 community in mind.
We have a District 51 Strategic Plan that the Board of Education adopted in February of 2022. This Strategic Plan will guide our work moving forward for the next 3 years. By fulfilling the goals set out in the Strategic Plan, we will realize our vision to engage, equip, and empower each and every student, each and every day. This 100-day plan is split up into 3 sections revolving around the themes of our district vision to engage, equip, and empower. While this plan doesn’t encompass all of the work I will need to accomplish this year, it provides a roadmap for myself in order to hold myself accountable to the work.
I look forward to continuing to serve this community, and I look forward to seeing you at schools, events, and in the community.
Sincerely, Dr. Brian Hill, Superintendent
Mesa County Valley School District 51
100 Day Plan Overview
It has been my honor to serve as the D51 Assistant Superintendent for the past 3 years. Because I have been a part of the D51 Family prior to moving into the Superintendent role, my transition will look a little different than that of someone entering the district for the first time. I view my transition into the D51 Superintendency in three phases.
PHASE 1: PRE-ENTRY (FEB.-JUNE 2022)
On Feb. 22, 2022, the D51 Board of Education voted 5-0 to approve my contract as the next Superintendent of D51, beginning July 1, 2022. Since that time, and even prior to that date, I have worked with our Senior Leadership Team to identify areas within the structure of the organization that are working and where improvements can be made. This work set the stage for the current organizational chart and the hiring that took place this spring. The goal was to create a more effective and agile Senior Leadership Team without adding any positions to the senior level of the organizational chart. I’ve also used this time to begin setting up structures for effective oversight and collaboration with the different departments throughout the district that support our schools. I have also used this time to work with our Board of Education to finalize our new 2022-2025 Strategic Plan
PHASE 2: FIRST 100 DAYS (JULY 1-OCT. 8)
I will use the first 100 days as the Superintendent of D51 to look, learn, and listen. This new role will come with new challenges and new opportunities, and it is important for the leader of the school district to take the time to engage the different voices throughout the school district and the community to truly understand the work that needs to be done. This time will be spent visiting schools, establishing relationships and building upon ones already created. I will also purposefully create opportunities to engage with the community and the different stakeholders throughout Mesa County. This time will be invaluable and will help set the foundation for years to come.
PHASE 3: AFTER THE FIRST 100 DAYS
I am proud of the work we have done to create the new 2022-2025 D51 Strategic Plan. With the strategic plan as the foundation for all of the work we will do, along with the information I will gather during my first 100 days in the Superintendent role, I look forward to the work we will do over the next few years. This work will be a collaboration with our D51 Board of Education, students, staff, families, and community. In doing so, we will Engage, Equip, and Empower each and every student, each and every day.
ENGAGE
Goal: To build meaningful and positive relationships with all District 51 students, staff, families, and community stakeholders to ensure a seamless and strategic change in district leadership.
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Visit every D51 school and facility to meet with students, principals, teachers and support staff.
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Meet individually with each Board of Education member at least once a month.
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Conduct frequent outreach to parents, employees and community members and share the key components of the D51 2022-2025 Strategic Plan.
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Meet with each local chamber to learn more about our community and its businesses.
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Meet with local municipal and county leaders to learn more about our community.
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Attend community events within the district to connect with families and community members.
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Attend existing advisory meetings with students, staff, families, and community members.
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Create a Superintendent’s Teacher Advisory Roundtable that meets regularly to keep me informed of what is happening in D51 schools.
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Create a Superintendent’s Student Advisory Roundtable that meets regularly to keep me informed of what is happening in D51 schools.
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Create a Superintendent’s Principal Advisory Roundtable that meets regularly to keep me informed of what is happening in D51 schools.
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Work with our D51 Communications Department to find ways to better engage with the students, staff, families, and community in order to better tell the story of D51.
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Conduct a communication audit to determine levels of effectiveness of community outreach.
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Continue to meet with leaders of local media outlets, editorial boards, and education reporters to establish a framework for collaboration that is open, honest, transparent, and accurate.
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Continue to meet with MVEA leadership to strengthen our partnership and address concerns that arise.
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Host five listening sessions across the community in Fall 2022.
EQUIP
Goal: To foster a productive and successful professional learning community through continuous improvement and collaboration in order to support school improvement and ensure academic achievement and growth among all students.
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Work with members of the Senior Leadership Team to review available data and look for successes and areas needing more support.
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Streamline central office processes and procedures in order to be more responsive to school needs and better remove barriers to success.
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Create a system to regularly monitor the goals within the D51 2022-2025 Strategic Plan and report out progress on those goals.
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Review the district and school Unified Improvement Plan processes to ensure goals are aligned to the D51 2022-2025 Strategic Plan and alignment to the district’s Plan, Do, Study, Act process is being followed.
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Work with the Director of Equity & Inclusion to assess district and school procedures and processes to ensure access and opportunity for all students, staff, and families in D51.
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Meet with our Safety & Security Department to assess all current district practices related to school safety, including safety protocols and school safety plans, to ensure students are learning in safe environments and ensure our plans for creating safe learning environments throughout the district are being followed.
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Meet with our District Athletic Director to ensure we are meeting the needs of our students and staff when it comes to extracurricular activities.
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Meet with our Executive Director of the D51 Foundation to discuss collaborating on the foundation’s strategic initiatives to better support D51 staff and students.
EMPOWER
Goal: To continue to gain knowledge about what drives the successes of District 51 in order to collaboratively determine priorities as we work toward our shared vision of academic success for all students for the upcoming school year and beyond.
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Develop a trusting, productive, collaborative relationship with the Board of Education and empower them with the tools and information they need to practice good governance and advocate within the community.
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Empower each of our central office departments to support the Strategic Plan work.
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Review the district budgeting process to continue to improve transparency, communication and involvement for the 2022-2023 budget cycle and ensure that the budget is tied to the D51 2022-2025 Strategic Plan goals.
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Research new ways to recognize and celebrate student, staff, school, department, and community achievements.
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Set an expectation of open, effective, and consistent communication within the district and within our community Collaborate with Human Resources and the Professional Learning Department to find ways to better invest in our people, including teachers, administrators, and support staff.
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Work with the Board of Education to restructure school board meetings and agendas, ensuring that work sessions are meaningful and are focussed on board work on policies, Strategic Plan data reviews, and other items of high importance that fall within the policy governance framework.
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Work with the Board of Education to ensure we have a regular Board Policy review cycle that evaluates current policy and updates policies, if needed, to ensure alignment with our district’s vision, mission and new strategic plan.
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Continue to engage in ongoing training with the Board of Education through our EASI Grant funds to strengthen our understanding of Policy Governance and create a Board Handbook to map out that work for current and future boards.
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Use the findings from my first 100 days to create a multi-year plan that will empower and guide my work for the remainder of the year and years to come.