Croton-Harmon Community Weighs in on District Educational Plan

From Croton Harmon School District: Parents and members of the Croton-Harmon Schools community were instrumental in helping to shape the direction of the district’s five-year educational plan during a forum at the high school on Dec. 6.

Attendees were welcomed to the forum by Superintendent of Schools Dr. Edward R.Fuhrman Jr. and Assistant Superintendent Dr. Deborah O’Connell. “As many of you know, we are in the process of [rolling out] a five-year facilities plan,” said Dr. Fuhrman. “What we want to do now as a district is come up with a five-year educational plan.” Dr. O’Connell explained that in June, the district formed a Strategic Coherence Planning Committee made up of teachers, administrators, board of education members, students and community members who were tasked with identifying an educational focus for the next five years. “As a committee, we have zeroed in on our focus: critical and creative thinking for problem solving,” said Dr. O’Connell. “That is going to be our core as we look at where we are as a system and where we want to be.”

The committee is in the process of collecting data from all district stakeholders to determine how the focus will be implemented over the next five years. The forum served as one of the avenues to collect that information. Led by Putnam-Northern Westchester BOCES Assistant Superintendent Dr. Lynn Allen and longtime educational consultant Jonathan Costa, community members met in small groups to answer questions and identify themes related to the Strategic Coherence Planning Committee’s focus.

The information collected at the forum will be used, along with the responses received from surveyed students, parents, teachers and other district stakeholders, as the committee takes its next steps.

Photo Courtesy of Croton Harmon School District