Strategic Plan

Building Our Foundations

When our Superintendent began in Fall 2022, the Board of Education knew it was important to be aligned with district staff. We started by defining the Core Beliefs and Commitments that guide everything we do:

• All students can achieve at high levels and demonstrate continuous growth
• Family and community engagement is key to student success
• Learning environments should be safe, supportive, and innovative

These beliefs focus our decisions and bring the Board and staff together to ensure everyone is working toward the same goal: helping our students succeed.

Next, the Board developed a Theory of Action—a plan showing how specific actions lead to desired outcomes. Our Commitment for Student Learning guides our work: high-quality instruction, empowered teachers, data-driven decisions, and schools that are welcoming and connected to families. Every choice supports one goal: helping every student thrive.

Finally, the Board established our mission and vision:

• Mission: Every student learning every day
• Vision: Every student empowered to achieve future success

These foundational pieces, unanimously approved by the Board, provide stability and a clear roadmap for how we support our students every day.

What is a Strategic Plan?

A strategic plan is a roadmap for a school district. It sets clear goals, outlines the actions needed to reach those goals, and identifies the resources required to make them happen. In short, it answers the question: How will we achieve our priorities with the resources we have?

For K–12 school districts, strategic planning is more than internal decision-making—it is a community effort. Effective plans are built with input from students, families, staff, and community members, ensuring that everyone has a voice in shaping the district’s future. Strategic planning also helps districts respond to changing student needs, demographic shifts, and funding realities, all while staying focused on improving student outcomes.

By creating a clear plan, school districts can make thoughtful decisions, align resources, and work together toward the shared goal of student success.

Our Journey

Our strategic plan journey began in Spring 2023, when the Board approved the hiring of our consultant firm, Thru. Together, we formed a working group made up of teachers, principals, district staff, parents, and community members.

This group met monthly to design our community listening sessions and create questions to gather feedback from families, students, staff, and local partners. In Spring and Summer 2023, we held 11 community sessions, met with teachers at all 42 school sites, heard from students through our Superintendent Student Advisories, and surveyed our classified staff. By early August, we had received more than 27,000 responses!

Using this feedback, Thru analyzed the data and identified three key themes:

• High Expectations, High Achievement
• Empowering Students, Engaging Families and the Community
• Organizational Efficiency and Effectiveness

Over the next year, these themes evolved into 11 focus areas, 24 initiatives, and 65 actions, developed collaboratively by our Cabinet and Board of Education.

The final Strategic Plan was approved by the Board in August 2024, marking a major milestone in shaping the future of Visalia Unified.

How We Bring Our Strategic Plan to Life

Each of our 65 actions in our strategic plan will move through four key phases over the next five years—Research, Design, Implement, and Monitor. These phases help ensure that every action is intentional, effective, and aligned with our mission.

• Research – We begin by learning. Teams gather data, study best practices, and listen to feedback from students, staff, and families to fully understand the needs and opportunities before moving forward.
• Design – Using what we’ve learned, we build a plan. This includes creating strategies, identifying resources, and developing tools or systems to support the goal.
• Implement – This is where the work comes to life. Teams put the plan into action across schools and departments, ensuring consistent and effective practices.
• Monitor – We continually review progress to see what’s working and where adjustments are needed. Regular reflection and data help us stay accountable and focused on improving student outcomes.

Together, these four phases create a continuous improvement cycle—helping us move from ideas to action, and from action to lasting results for our students. You can view what each phase entails below.

If you want to view all of our 65 actions and which phase they will be in over the next five years, please see this document.

Reports

The Visalia Unified Strategic Plan will be available as a public document right here on our Visalia Unified Forward 2030 webpage. We are committed to keeping our community informed by sharing regular progress updates—quarterly reports with our Cabinet team, biannual reports to the Board of Education in January and June, and an annual report each August.

You can view our full reporting timeline below.

Strategic Plan Reports

Strategic Plan Reports

YEAR 1
Year 1-Quarter 1    Year 1-Quarter 2    Biannual Report #1    Year 1-Quarter 3    
Year 1-Quarter 4    Biannual Report #2    Annual Report 2025-2026

YEAR 2
Year 2-Quarter 1    Year 2-Quarter 2    Biannual Report #1    Year 2-Quarter 3    
Year 2-Quarter 4    Biannual Report #2    Annual Report 2026-2027

YEAR 3
Year 3-Quarter 1    Year 3-Quarter 2    Biannual Report #1    Year 3-Quarter 3    
Year 3-Quarter 4    Biannual Report #2    Annual Report 2027-2028

YEAR 4
Year 4-Quarter 1    Year 4-Quarter 2    Biannual Report #1    Year 4-Quarter 3    
Year 4-Quarter 4    Biannual Report #2    Annual Report 2028-2029

YEAR 5
Year 5-Quarter 1    Year 5-Quarter 2    Biannual Report #1    Year 5-Quarter 3    
Year 5-Quarter 4    Biannual Report #2    Annual Report 2029-2030

Student Performance Outcomes

In addition, our Student Performance Outcomes will be included in the annual report each August. These updates will highlight progress on the metrics established by the Board as we work toward meeting—and exceeding—our goals. You can view the Priority Student Outcome goals below.

YEAR 0
YEAR 1
YEAR 2
YEAR 3
YEAR 4
YEAR 5