1. (Your school’s name) Creating a mission, vision and beliefs Date

2. Agenda Why are we doing this? Definitions Looking at our school & district examples Quiet reflection Group work Sharing Synthesizing Future work

3. Why are we doing this? Timing with district Create a framework so we can collectively move forward It’s the first step in developing learning communities

4. Mission WHY ? What we do? Fundamental Purpose Clarifies Priorities and Sharpens Focus

5. Vision Where we want to be ? Our hopes and aspirations - Where do we want to be in five years? Compelling Future Gives Direction

6. Beliefs Statements of our values - Actions that will achieve our vision Collective Commitments Guides Behavior

7. Let’s take a look at (your school’s) former mission statement

8. Aligning with the District Let’s take a look at the work the district has done. Where do they want us to be? This will be a template for creating our mission, vision, and beliefs.

9. Quiet Time!! Think about the questions in each area and record your answers on your sheet. Put down your own thoughts and ideas for each question. Be ready to share with your team of six.

10. Teams of 6 On chart paper, collectively document ideas in pictures, words or metaphors. One sheet is for mission, one for vision, and one for beliefs. Synthesize ideas and transfer themes from your group on to sentence strips. Place a red dot on mission strips, a blue dot on vision strips and a green dot on belief strips.

11. Sharing Each team will share their mission, vision, and belief statements to the larger group. Three teams will be created. One will have mission, one vision and one beliefs. Synthesize statement strips and narrow down common themes.

12. Where do we go from here? Once strips have been synthesized, the building professional development team will wordsmith and write our mission, vision and beliefs statements. These will be shared with all staff and there will be a chance to give feedback. Once completed, these will be shared with parents and families.

13. Future Conversations Goals - What do we want to accomplish? Strategies - How we achieve our goals?