On September 13, 2018, I formally shared my entry plan with the Lynn School Committee. Having spent the previous three years as Deputy Superintendent, partnering with all seven secondary schools and five elementary schools, I definitely had strong contextual knowledge of the Lynn Public Schools (LPS) prior to assuming the role of Superintendent on August 1, 2018. Nonetheless, it seemed both prudent and necessary to fully engage an entry plan. The purpose of the entry plan was to structure and define my effort to become better-acquainted with the most central elements of the Lynn Public Schools - most notably all aspects of the student and family experience and community partnerships. The focus of my entry involved hitting the ground learning (instead of running).

The goals of the entry plan were as follows:

1. To determine strengths, challenges, and goals in our schools and supporting departments
2. To gain deeper insight to the student experience
3. To determine the nature of the relationships between schools and families and schools and the broader community
4. To become familiar with policies, protocols, and norms
5. To identify data to inform a long-range strategic plan

While typically the form and function of an entry plan might appear to serve strategic planning exclusively, I engaged this highly collaborative and interactive process with hopes that would result in new and meaningful relationships, which it most certainly did.
As was presented in September 2018, the entry plan featured three phases:

• Phase 1: Listening and Learning: gathering information through a series of interviews, forums and document review.
• Phase 2: Analyzing and Sharing: making sense of the information gathered and share it publicly.
• Phase 3: Planning and Implementation: explicit effort to tie the analyses and outcomes, related feedback, and other data to a long-range strategic plan. The district partnered with a professional from Planning for Success toward this end.

The entry phases and activities therein were meaningfully reinforced by a parallel, long-range strategic planning initiative. Timing was favorable for this approach as the previous district plan expired in 2017. This approach provided depth and stronger understanding as I moved between the two processes. Further, the parallel approach allowed me to test conclusions I was drawing from interviews and entry-related processes.

With the first school year as superintendent now complete and both my entry plan and a substantive framework for the strategic plan also complete, I offer this report of findings. Please download the full report below:

Entry Report Download And Archive (PDF)

Superintendent's Entry Report 2018-2019