Vision, Mission, Values

Vision: Reaching beyond success to develop individuals of character

Mission: Kearney School District is committed to providing exemplary educational experiences in a safe and supportive learning environment where all students discover their gifts, find their voice, and develop into strong citizens for tomorrow.

Values:

• Integrity
• Respect
• Future Readiness
• Student Focus
• Resilience

Strategic Goals

Climate & Culture - Kearney School District creates a safe learning environment of respect and belonging fostering a path to success.

Academic Success & Student Support - Kearney School District delivers high-quality educational experiences supporting the diverse needs of all students.

Responsive Leadership & Community Engagement - Kearney School District facilitates stakeholder engagement and empowers student voice.

Exemplary & Valued Employees - Kearney School District is committed to high-quality staff who are dedicated to students.

Designing and Building the 2022-2027 Strategic Plan

Every three to five years, KSD evaluates our goals and desired outcomes. The result is a visionary plan that serves as a navigation chart for everything we do in KSD. Our schools are defined by high-quality educational experiences and supported by a community of students, parents, faculty and staff. This joint effort extends to our strategic planning.

KSD’s last strategic plan came to a close at the end of the 2021-2022 academic year. This made the development of a new five-year plan one of the district’s top priorities in the summer and fall of 2022. The launch of the sixth version of the Missouri School Improvement Program (MSIP 6) made this strategic planning work even more urgent.

The theory of action that drove the entire strategic planning process was the fundamental belief that gathering input from a deep and wide selection of key constituents will result in a relevant long-range strategic plan that will achieve the community’s desired outcome. With this in mind, the district’s leadership team was determined to engage with a broad range of stakeholders that included parents/guardians, students, staff members, business owners, organizational leaders and local government representatives.

Work on KSD’s 2022-2027 Strategic Plan began in earnest with the Superintendent’s listening and learning tour at schools in the week leading up to the start of classes on Aug. 23. All KSD stakeholders were asked to complete an online survey starting on Monday, Oct. 3 and continuing through Sunday, Oct. 9. This outreach was done through a landing page on the district website, social media posts, eblasts, robocalls and text messages. In addition, school leaders and staff facilitated times for students to take the survey during class time.

In September, the district leadership team selected 60 stakeholders to serve on the KSD Strategic Planning Committee. Over the course of five committee meetings starting on Oct. 3 and ending on Dec. 5, the members worked together with an open, collaborative and non-judgmental mindset to develop proactive solutions that best serve all students and the entire community.

From a list of priorities, the Strategic Planning Committee further identified four key pillars to support the district’s work during the life of this plan:

• Climate & Culture
• Academic Success & Student Support
• Responsive Leadership & Community Engagement
• Exemplary & Valued Employee

The four pillars combine to summarize how we are going to achieve our global ends: Bulldogs CARE! The result of this entire process is the engineering of a strategic plan that is focused on the core public education goals of the KSD community. Together, we will use this plan to build a school system structured on hometown values and achieve world-class results. This is how Kearney School District will frame a successful future for our students.