At its Nov. 26 meeting, the School Board of the City of Virginia Beach adopted the new strategic framework for Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS). Called Compass to 2025, this new framework takes effect July 1 and will set the school division's future direction for the next five years.

"As global commerce and the very nature of social interactions evolve, so does the educational experience within our division," said Superintendent Dr. Aaron Spence. "Put simply, we must adapt to meet the needs of today's learners-and tomorrow's-and Compass to 2025 will drive that work, giving our students the tools for meaningful community engagement and fulfilling, successful lives, no matter where their paths take them."

The new framework builds upon the goals of its predecessor plan, Compass to 2020, which resulted in a string of unprecedented successes for the division: earning accreditation three consecutive years; reaching record-high graduation and low dropout rates; students' achievements being recognized with nearly half a billion dollars in scholarships since 2015; and students earning a milestone 100,000 industry certifications.

The six overarching goals in the new framework are: Educational Excellence; Student Well-Being; Student Ownership of Learning; an Exemplary, Diversified Workforce; Mutually Supportive Partnerships; and Organizational Effectiveness and Efficiency.

One key difference in the new framework is that an emphasis on equity is embedded across all six goals. Spence, who was hired in 2014, has been a staunch advocate of equity, constantly emphasizing that every student-regardless of economic status, race or school-should be provided the learning experiences and the knowledge, skills and dispositions needed to succeed.

Compass to 2025 was developed over the past year by a strategic planning committee composed of parents, students, school division staff and military, business and higher education representatives. Their job was to review community feedback and then develop the overarching goals of the framework. Teams of central support staff developed the strategies for each goal. The goals and strategies represent strategic areas the division will work toward improving over the next five years to help achieve student, workforce and organizational success.

Read the plan in its entirety at vbschools.com.

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Department of Communications and Community Engagement, [email protected]

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