EVSC

Why do we need a shared vision, mission and core values?

As our theme of “Better Together” describes, we can better educate the future of our community by working as a team to empower student success at high levels. Whether you are a valued student, employee, family member or legal guardian, or community member or partner-- it takes all of us working together across the community to prepare our students for success beyond the high school diploma. When every student receives their diploma, we want that to signal an accomplishment and a promise. It should demonstrate the student has achieved an important milestone in their educational career--and that EVSC has promised to prepare each and every student for what is next. The diploma should represent readiness for success in postsecondary education, gainful employment, citizenship and that graduating students are empowered with the skills to be lifelong learners and thrive as adults.

Like any successful team or community, working together with a shared set of values and a shared vision guides us to all be on the same page and serves as a compass for shared decision making, guides our behaviors and serves as a basis for strengthening our collective impact to ensure all students graduate with this level of preparation and readiness to thrive.

How did we form our shared vision, mission and core values?

As one team and one community, it was important to start by understanding our core values that drive us and can give clarity and purpose to our collective action. In November of 2021, the EVSC launched “Better Together” as a shared visioning and values engagement process to understand what inspires us and what it looks like when we are at our best.

Resulting from the launch of “Better Together” we had nearly 2,000 engagements from students, employees, parents, community partners, and business leaders that provided input representing four primary languages spoken in the EVSC. There were values that emerged as critical to our various stakeholders and we saw them as repeated themes and patterns elevating most often. We followed up on these elevated values and visioning with empathy interviews and talked to representatives from all groups to further contextualize what we were hearing. We also collected videos of individuals sharing about their values and vision for a better future. After drafting from the community’s shared responses, we continued to pressure test with various stakeholders until we had language that most accurately represented the voice of the collective team.

While we have more work to do together to define what this looks like in practice and in day-to-day decision making, this is work that will continue and will help us continue to form as a strong team and service students and our community “Better Together.” 

Why are these values important to our community?
(Actual responses from community participation in “Better Together” with permission to share.)

“I want my children to be proud of who they are. I want them to make purposeful decisions and stand behind their convictions while maintaining respect and openmindeness for others.”
- EVSC Parent/Guardian

“I feel that the values listed are the core of a healthy and thriving community. Responsibility and respect for yourself and others. Service to our community. Accountability to yourself. And persistence to strive each day to accomplish these goals.”
- EVSC Family Member

“These values ensure individuals develop the necessary ability to succeed in the real world.” -
- Community Member

“I feel like these values focus on the ‘heart’ and are key to building a positive and successful community.”
- EVSC Employee

“It just feels more like a community that way.”
- EVSC Student