Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS) is charting the course once again by launching a digital storyboard of the division’s groundbreaking strategic framework, Compass to 2020.
As some may already know, Compass to 2020 has outlined four main goal areas for the division: high academic expectations for students, multiple pathways, social-emotional development, and a culture of growth and excellence. This new storyboard illustrates the work of those goals as well as gives updates to the key indicators on where the division stands in reaching these goals. These indicators are referred to as navigational markers.
Visitors to the division’s Compass to 2020 website will now be able to scroll, click and discover a storyboard full of visuals illustrating both the vision and achievements so far of the strategic framework.
“We wanted to ensure that audiences could engage with the work,” said Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer Dr. Don Robertson, whose office is charged with providing leadership and support to champion the work of Compass to 2020. “There are links within the pop-up boxes that connect visitors to our strategic framework and our navigational markers that will familiarize them with the work we’re trying to do.”
For example, if you want to see just how the division is working to maintain high academic expectations for students, visit the new storyboard, where you can see updated data on that goal’s navigational markers, including the percentage of students enrolled in AP courses, the percentage of students graduating on time as well as earning advanced diplomas.
On the site, visitors can continue to scroll, which advances the ocean waves to a second board, depicting work for the 2015-2016 school year.
“Visitors will see more detail and clickable icons where they can dive into the framework as deep or as shallow as they want to go,” said Director of Innovation and Strategic Planning Dr. Lisa Banicky.
In addition to being an engaging tool for students and families to track the division’s work under Compass to 2020, this digitized format also honors the work that community members themselves put in while helping to draft the framework back in 2014.
“I hope visitors are drawn in to explore and see the commitment that we have to the strategic framework; not because it’s some framework, but because we listened to the community. It’s a way of showing the community that we heard what you said you want for your students and with visuals we can represent the work in a more engaging way.”
These storyboards were commissioned to celebrate the work, and Banicky shared that additional storyboards will be added in subsequent years.
“For me it’s getting back to the bigger picture. When you put it all in one place it’s amazing to see the awesome work taking place to move students forward,” she said. “I’m excited about watching our story unfold.”