Strategic Plan 2015-2016

Strategic Goal 3: Improve the academic achievement and life success of students in the Court and Community School Programs.

Initiative 1: Program Staffing Increase program staffing (e.g., mental health counseling and a licensed social worker) to better connect school programs with parents, outside partnering agencies, and mental health counselors.

Initiative 2: Truancy and Graduation Rates Concentrate efforts on increasing school attendance and the number of students who earn a high school diploma.

Initiative 3: Staff Development Provide ongoing staff development and coaching on Common Core standards and their implementation in the programs.

Initiative 4: Parent Engagement Initiate activities to increase parent involvement with their children’s school success through improved home-to-school communication, parent advisory committees, and frequent celebrations and student recognition events.

Initiative 5: Internet Connectivity and Use Assure high speed Internet connectivity in all classrooms and provide a technology mentor for teachers.

Strategic Goal 4: Improve the facilities housing NCOE programs. Initiative 1: Facility Survey Conduct a facility survey to determine NCOE school facilities in need of improvement. Develop a plan to follow through in making need improvements and begin implementation.

Initiative 2: New Community School Campus Build a new Community School campus that is safe, welcoming and conducive to improved student learning.

Initiative 3: Child Development Program Upgrade Move the Napa Child Development Program to a better quality facility that includes an outdoor playground that is comparable or better than the program’s current arrangement.

Strategic Goal 5: Improve the quality of NCOE’s internal organization and share information about it with our employees and the community.

Initiative 1:Effectiveness of NCOE’s Workforce Increase the efficiency and effectiveness of NCOE’s workforce through introducing technological enhancements (equipment, software and staff training) and proactively recruiting, developing and retaining high quality employees. Focus on addressing specific challenges facing our office: assuring quality substitute teachers and teaching assistants, adjusting business practices to improve the financial well being of AmeriCorps members, and joint planning between NCOE’s Research and Professional Center and all other NCOE programs to create synergies that enhance the performance of all organizational units.

Initiative 2: Career Advancement of NCOE Employees Facilitate the career advancement of existing employees by developing career ladders, prioritizing internal promotions when appropriate, and continuing to work with our collective bargaining partners to assure a compensation system that is fair and competitive with industry standards.

Initiative 3: Internal Communication and Understanding Develop and implement a systematic strategy to improve communication among NCOE employees regarding the successes and challenges facing all sectors of our organization. This will include scheduled opportunities for interaction between business and direct service personnel.

Initiative 4: Social Media and Other Communication with the Public Utilize social media and all other available means, such as the preparation of a brief video, to increase public awareness of NCOE’s services and resources, as well as to increase back and forth interaction with the Napa community.

Barbara Nemko, Ph.D. Napa County Superintendent of Schools

Napa County Board of EducationAnn Cash, Don Huffman, Jennifer Kresge, Lisa Lindsey, Steve Orndorf, Ken Slavens, Janna Waldinger

Napa County Office of EducationBarbara Nemko, Ph.D. Napa County Superintendent of Schools 2121 Imola Avenue, Napa, CA 94559 bnemko@napacoe.org 707-253-6810 www.napacoe.org

Your Partner for Educational Excellence

Our MissionThe mission of NCOE – a flexible, county-wide educational resource – is to offer a broad range of student services in response to changing community needs, to support and collaborate with local school districts, and to disseminate research-based best practices to educators locally and statewide.

Our Strategic Goals and Major InitiativesStrategic Goal 1: Develop programs to support students and their families through meaningful partnerships with school districts, NapaLearns and other local and governmental agencies in areas of common purpose, ideally based on long-term agreements.

Initiative 1: Early Childhood Services Improve the quality and availability of early education across the county including emphasis on parental partnership; mental health and social services; alignment of preschool, transition kindergarten, and kindergarten services across local education agencies, and expanded access to early digital learning. The overarching goal of these efforts is to reduce the achievement gap.

Initiative 2: Career Readiness Support Increase focus of college and career readiness across the county through support for career pathways, linked (academic and career technical) instruction, and college and career planning tools for students and parents in middle and high schools.

Initiative 3: Community Programs Operate high quality after school and expanded learning programs that provide educational enrichment, academic support and tutoring. Address prevention, health and wellness by raising awareness of the risks of tobacco, alcohol and other drugs and promoting positive choices through education and quality role models for students and families. Promote the effective use of volunteers to build capacity to address the unmet needs of children and families. These programs augment school district initiatives and are delivered in collaboration with teachers, community partners and NCOE’s AmeriCorps program.

Initiative 4: Local Control Accountability Planning Assist school districts in preparing, budgeting and evaluating local control accountability plans to assure their compliance with state standards and their likelihood of producing significant improvements in student learning.

Strategic Goal 2: Maintain and continuously improve training and professional development for NCOE staff, district personnel, and community members.

Initiative 1: Parent Education Workshops Provide parent education workshops on a variety of topics including sessions focused on digital literacy.

Initiative 2: Business Services Professional Development Workshops Deliver professional development workshops for NCOE and district employees aimed at improving business services, including expanded and ongoing training on the new financial system, Digital Schools.

Initiative 3: Student Services Staff Development Workshops Deliver professional development workshops for NCOE and district employees aimed at improving student learning, including a BTSA program for first and second year teachers.

Initiative 4: Teacher Leader Collaborative (TLC) Provide training for experienced educators with new leadership roles. Engage and develop 21st century skills and collaborative cultures to transform our schools.

Our Strategic Planning Process The Napa County Office of Education (NCOE) prioritizes its activities and allocates its resources in accordance with a strategic plan developed every two years. The Cabinet of NCOE creates this plan based on thorough and rigorous consideration of information from a variety of sources. All strategic plan related reports may be found at napacoe.org/about/ncoe-strategic-plans/:

1. An examination of how the office performed in relationship to its previous strategic plan (implemented across the period January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2014).

2. Responses to an electronically mailed survey sent out to 800 stakeholders (employees; district teachers and administrators; business leaders, and community members including parents who have attended events at NCOE and leaders of community organizations). A total of 207 people responded to this survey: 107 NCOE employees and 98 non- employees.

3. Feedback gained through a series of six face-to- face focus group discussion sessions attended by NCOE employees and outside individuals. A total of 113 people participated at these meetings.

4. The content of NCOE’s Local Control Accountability Plan, a state mandated report prepared by NCOE in Spring 2014 based on feedback from a series of public meetings. This plan may be found at napacoe.org/wp-content/ uploads/2013/06/NCOE_LCAP_final_6-24-14.pdf.