District Vision and Mission Oskaloosa Community Schools

Mission or Mantra?  Jerry McGuire – Mission Statement Jerry McGuire

Why develop Vision/Mission  Helps organization focus on what is really important  Help us remember what is important as you get caught up in daily work  Lets others know who you are and what you want to do  Helps people see what you are about without having to dig or work hard for information  Put on letterhead, posters, signs  Bound together in a common purpose  Constant reminder of what is important to organization

Vision vs Mission  Vision is your dream  Inspires people in organization to dream  Ideal conditions for your organization  If things were perfect, this is how it would look  Short phrases or sentences conveying your hope for the future  Beliefs and governing principles of your organization

Vision  Inspiring and uplifting  Fits on a t-shirt  “Caring Community”  “Healthy Children”  “Education for all”  “Prepare students for success by partnering with educational leaders, students, parents, and community to provide educational excellence through quality programs and opportunities while emphasizing character development”

Vision vs Mission  Mission is what the group is going to do and why it’s going to do it  Similar to vision statements – look at big picture  More concrete than the vision  More action oriented  Inspires members to action

Mission Statements Should  Express your organization’s purpose that inspires support and ongoing commitment  Motivates those connected  Convincing and easy to grasp  Use proactive verbs  Be free of jargon  Be short enough to repeat

Mission Statements 1.What are the opportunities or needs that we exist to address (The purpose of the organization) 2.What are we doing to address these needs? (The business of the organization) 3.What principles or beliefs guide our work? (The values of the organization)

Mission Statements  “Promoting community health and development by connecting people, ideas, and resources”  “Empowering all students for success”

Mission or Mantra?  Mantra – don’t write a Mission Statement! Mantra

Let’s Create!  Vision Statement 1.Each person write a headline that might appear in a newspaper 20 years in the future. This is your dream of what an exemplary school would look like or what you want for our students in the future. 2.Share out as a group and then come up with a shared vision statement involving all of the ideas in your group. 3.Place your vision statement on the sentence strip and put it up on the wall.

Let’s Create!  Mission Statement  Look at the handout provided  Answer the questions about the action Oskaloosa wants to take that will bring the vision to life  Small groups will then work to draft a Mission Statement embodying the answers