District 97 is preparing to bring the community together to dream, design and define our Portrait of an Oak Park 8th Grade Graduate.
The Portrait, which will serve as the district’s new strategic plan, will articulate a collective vision that our community has for all District 97 graduates. This vision will be rooted in core competencies tied to learning standards and experiences that are critical to student success in college, career and beyond.
To get there, we envision a radically inclusive design process that will tap into the expertise of our staff, the experiences of our students, and the hopes of our families and community members. This means not only ensuring multiple pathways for feedback, but also prioritizing and centering groups who have been most impacted historically by systemic inequities.
The current goal is to begin engagement sessions with staff and affinity-based groups in November, followed by the students and families this winter. We will be keeping the community updated throughout the process, both through board business meetings and our district newsletter. Our updates from September and October are linked below.
We look forward to embarking on this journey together. If you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to reach out to us via Let’s Talk.
2023-24 Portrait Updates