“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” – Cheshire Cat, “Alice in Wonderland.”

Seven years ago RSU 5 began community conversations about their hopes and dreams for the future of the district. These conversations resulted in the development of a strategic plan with articulated goals about climate and culture, teaching and learning, school/community relations, and finance and operations. It was necessary for the trajectory of the plan to shift as the district worked its way through the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this pause, a tremendous amount of work was completed of which the district should be very proud.

The plan that was developed in 2018 has outlived its initial goals and purpose. RSU 5 is set to launch a comprehensive and inclusive process to update and further develop a five-year strategic plan that will chart the course for our district’s work for the next five years. This highly collaborative initiative will shape the vision for our district by taking inventory of our strengths, our challenges, and our hopes and dreams for our students for the future.

There will be multiple opportunities for wide stakeholder engagement from staff, students, families and community members from Durham, Freeport and Pownal. A Strategic Planning Process Advisory Committee composed of representatives from district stakeholder groups from our community has been established to work collaboratively with our process facilitators, Great Schools Partnership, to develop a plan based on the needs and aspirations identified. The engagement and feedback of community members is vital to this inclusive process.

With the arrival of 2025, we are energized as we focus our efforts toward the development of a new strategic plan that will guide our way toward a bright future. Throughout this process, our district will remain committed to ensuring that all students experience a joyful learning climate that is safe, nurturing, and fosters curiosity through student-centered learning. In addition, we are dedicated to further developing school, parent, and community partnerships that are based on strong communication and active involvement to support student success.

We are very excited to begin this collaborative work. Thank you for your continuing support of the children of RSU 5. I wish you and yours a very happy and healthy New Year.