What’s The Plan For Montclair Schools? 5-Year Blueprint Approved

MONTCLAIR, NJ — The Montclair Board of Education has signed off on a five-year strategic plan for the local public school system.

The board approved the district’s latest long-range plan at their meeting this week. It can be seen online here. Read a summary report here.

There are four main goal areas identified in the plan:

• Achievement for All (includes staff success)
• Community Engagement and Communication
• Operations and Systems
• Equitable, Safe and Healthy Learning Environment

The five-year plan came together after the district held multiple workshops open to the community, seeking feedback about current challenges in the district – and suggestions for moving forward (article continues below).

Now a plan has been crafted using that feedback, which will set the stage for the next five years in Montclair and give administrators some “instrumental” guidelines to support the process, board president Melanie Deysher said.

Interim Superintendent Damen Cooper described the five-year plan as a “living and breathing document.” The next steps include outlining major activities, determining what resources will be needed, and choosing which staff will be responsible, he added.

“I couldn’t be happier than to have this roadmap, which was developed collectively with community stakeholders, to not only hold us accountable for our actions but to provide a way to monitor our progress in a comprehensive way,” Cooper said.

STATE OF MONTCLAIR’S SCHOOLS

The strategic plan also includes a “State of the Montclair Schools” update from the superintendent’s office, which includes statistics on student demographics (see below).

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