Dr. Reza Namin
Superintendent Entry Plan 2005-2006
Ralph Mahar Regional School District
(Voted by the School
Committee on October 4, 2005)
The purpose of this
entry plan is to assist me in developing a
comprehensive picture of the Ralph Mahar Regional
School District, including the students, staff and
community stakeholders that will help me to better
understand the school system and will lead to the
creation of a report and recommendations. My plan
will consist of interviews with various individuals
and groups, open forums with towns of Orange,
Wendell, New Salem, and Petersham as well as a
review of plans and documents, in an effort to
develop a sense of the system and provide a basis
for future goats, objectives and activities.
It is my plan to present a report of my findings to
the Ralph Mahar Regional School District School
Committee and the community in December, 2005. These
findings will also include my recommendations for
future actions.
General Goals
To get to know the school district and its people
as fully as possible in a brief period of time,
outside the daily context of crisis and problem
solving;
To examine key issues in the school system's past,
m order to make sense of how such issues are handled
and to identify the norms which
affect how the
organization may; function in the future;
To identify the tasks which need to be done and to
rank them in order of priority; and
To establish how these tasks should be
accomplished.
Specific Objectives
To examine the ground rules and procedures which
have governed how the School Committee has conducted
business in the past.
To develop with the School Committee a set of
ground rules and procedures that will govern how we
operate in the future.
To determine the issues on which the Committee
believes we should concentrate in the next year and
then to ask the Committee to rank
these in priority
order.
To develop charts of the predictable tasks on
which the Central Office and School Committee will
work in the next year. The chart will not only
list
what has to be done but also describe how it is to
be done.
To determine the issues which District and School
leadership face in their work next year.
To determine the norms, procedures, and processes
which govern how each of the task of the District
and School leadership is accomplished.
To develop work plans for the predictable tasks
which District and School leadership will undertake
next year. The work plan will describe not
only what
has to be done, but how (the steps in the process,
the time frame, and the roles/ responsibilities).
To determine what the keys issues are at the
building level.
To clarify the role and responsibilities of
Principal and how they coordinate with Central
Office administration, as well as how the work of
building leaders can best be supported.
To examine all possible Administrative
Restructuring that would best improve our students
support, attitude and performance as well as the
school climate, participation, involvement and
ownership of all stakeholders.
To develop a three years Strategic Plan that would
address the recommendations made by this reports
findings, EQA Report and NEASC.
To determine what the issues are for other
stakeholders.
Interviews
The following
individuals would be interviewed as part of this
entry plan:
October November 2005
School Committee
Members
Parents and Community Members through Feedback
Forms posted at School Website and or mailings
Senior Cabinet which may include all the
department coordinators, Director of Special Education,
Building and Grounds, Student Services, Food
and Cafeteria,
Athletics, Business Manager, Assistant Treasurer,
Library Media Specialist
Principal and Assistant Principals
Town Administration
Association/Union Presidents
Town Selectmen
PTO Presidents
School Council Members and Chairpersons
Special Education Parent Advisory Council
Other Town Government Officials
Town Finance Advisory Committee
Central Administration
Central Office Staff
Student Leaders (group interview)
Teachers (group interviews)
Community Open Forum at Petersham, New Salem,
Orange, and Wendell (group interaction)
Cafeteria Employees (group interview)
Building Clerical Staff (group interview)
Document
Review
The following documents will be part of the materials
review:
Strategic Plans, If Any
EQA Reports
Collective Bargaining Agreements and Grievances
Budget Documents (FY05 & FY06)
Recent Financial Audits
Policy Manual
Administrator job Descriptions and Evaluations
Curriculum Guides
School Improvement Plans
Handbooks and Promotional Brochures
Annual Town and/or School Reports
NEASC Accreditation Reports
School Committee Meeting Minutes and Agendas
Program Evaluations and Forms
Pending Litigation
Special Education Appeals, Hearings and Decisions
Organization Chart, If any
Teacher Evaluation Process and Products
School Committee Goals
Town Financial Plan
Capital Improvement Plan and Policies
Town-School Partnership Agreement
Special Education Task Force Reports
Others??
Visitations
The entry plan process will include a one-day visit to
Orange, Petersham, and Wendell-New Salem Elementary
schools, as well as a the Ralph C. Mahar Regional
School. Principals will be asked to plan my visitation
with the goal of providing me with a ''sense of the
school,'' as well as an opportunity to conduct an
interview with the staff. In case of each Elementary
School, this will be done only after prior notification
and permission of the Superintendent and Principal of
each towns elementary school.
This plan will also have many Open Forum Sessions in
each town as well as the Open Forum for the Faculty and
Staff at the Ralph C. Mahar Regional School District.
Resources
1. Jentz, Barrv. Entry:
The Hiring, Start-Up & Supervision of Administrators.
McGraw-Hill (1982).
2. Lupini, William. Brookline Public Schools Entry Plan.
With Permission to Use and Reprint by the Massachusetts
Superintendent Association and Dr. William Lupini,
M.A.S.S. (2005 New Superintendent Conference)
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