Cultivating Community and Collaboration
“Des Moines Public Schools is at the heart of a vibrant community. By forging deeper partnerships with the neighborhoods around our schools, we can create a lasting impact, not only driving the success of our students but also strengthening and uplifting the entire community.”
– Dr. Rose Dino, Vocal Music Teacher, Roosevelt High School
Families and communities are essential partners in preparing our students for the world beyond our PK-12 system.
We believe in the wealth of experiences our families and communities bring and commit to deepening our connections with them. These connections will create opportunities for our students that prepare them for employment, enrollment, or enlistment. As models of collaboration, communication, and respect, we must create transparent, consistent, and timely systems of internal and external communication to build trust within and outside of DMPS.
Strategic Objective #1
Strategic Actions
Build relationships with community organizations, nonprofits, and local businesses to create mentorships, internships, and job shadowing programs that connect families and students to real-world opportunities.
Key Results
Establish baseline and connect community partners to the School Links platform.
Strategic Actions
Partner with community organizations to bring services like job fairs, parenting workshops, and financial literacy training.
Key Results
- Participation from at least 20 different professions each year.
- 85% of participating students and parents expressing a greater understanding of career options in a follow-up survey.
Strategic Actions
Create mentorship programs for middle school to pair community mentors with students to guide them through projects/career explorations.
Key Results
80% of middle school students reporting improved confidence and career awareness in surveys.
Strategic Actions
Establish an ongoing monitoring system to track engagement and value.
Key Results
All 9th grade students will experience a minimum of one community-based experience each school year.
Strategic Objective #2
Strategic Actions
Develop a centralized community partner digital platform or app for real-time updates, announcements, and engagement opportunities, ensuring accessibility for all families.
Key Results
Public facing website that links staff and families immediately to the community partner resources on the public facing site.
Strategic Actions
Establish clarity around who are the responsible individual(s), what their roles are, and identify method for accountability/oversight/region alignment.
Key Results
Steering committee establishes guidelines, protocols, monitoring, and role clarity will be defined and communicated with staff and responsible individual(s).
Strategic Actions
Establish an ongoing monitoring system for the effectiveness of the community partners’ work with students/families and alignment with needs being met.
Key Results
100% of families/caregivers have been aligned to resources to support them based on the support from community partnerships.
Strategic Actions
Establish guidelines and protocols for schools bringing in community partners.
Key Results
- 100% of community partners have been trained on guidelines and protocols to support families/caregivers.
- 100% of families/caregivers have been aligned to resources to support them based on the support from community partners.
Strategic Actions
- Ensure communications are culturally responsive and available in multiple languages to meet the diverse needs of DMPS families.
- Conduct annual communication audits to assess the clarity, accessibility, and impact of outreach efforts.
Key Results
Increase in family favorability on “Barriers to Engagement” by 1 point per year on the Panorama Family Survey.
Strategic Actions
Establish a Family University in each region to equip families with the skills, information, and networking to support students’ academic and TSEL success.
Key Results
Monthly Family University based on district/region needs.
Strategic Actions
Collaborate with families and community organizations to align practices of TSEL and Profile of a Graduate initiatives.
Key Results
Climate and culture data from the Panorama Family Survey will show an increase in sense of belonging.
Strategic Objective #3
Strategic Actions
- Create a unified communication plan to be used across all departments, schools, and platforms.
- Establish a portal to collect/house significant accomplishments, events, and recognitions by site.
- Use the portal to bring awareness of positive work happening in order to help families make good decisions about DMPS.
Key Results
100% of building level communication to families/communities/staff utilizes the style guide and expectations.
Strategic Actions
Establish and organize training sessions for staff on communication protocols, responsibilities, and expectations.
Key Results
100% of staff are trained on communication protocol, responsibilities, and expectations.
Strategic Actions
Regularly share student and district success stories to highlight progress and build a sense of pride and connection.
Key Results
Weekly updates are shared via district approved platforms.
Strategic Actions
Invest in an analytic platform to collect targeted feedback on effectiveness and engagement.
Key Results
100% of the feedback will be reviewed from the analytic platform to ensure that there is continuous improvement.
Strategic Actions
Enhance intranet site for staff with resources/announcements/information.
Key Results
- 100% of staff use the intranet on a continuous basis.
- 100% of staff express a clear understanding of intranet communication on a consistent basis.