case study

Write Our Story

Client: Vancouver Public Schools (VPS)

Challenge

Vancouver Public Schools serves over 22,000 students across 58 square miles – the District was in need of developing a new District-wide strategic plan, as well as a separate plan for their Career and Technical Education program. The goals of the planning process were to be inclusive of student, staff, community, and family voices, set a visionary path for the District, and guide leadership in their decision-making.

Solutions

Facilitation of this planning process involved developing a brand identity, robust community engagement, including Board and Cabinet interviews, staff workshops, listening sessions, community surveys, community thought leadership events, and active advisory committees resulting in 7,000+ engagements. Following the engagement period, we facilitated workshops with leadership and Board members to develop vision, values, strategic priorities, goals, and measurements of success. This process resulted in a final district-wide strategic plan rooted in the District’s equity policy and procedures, as well as a separate strategic plan for the Career and Technical Education program.

  • Lisa standing in front of a group, presenting to them.
  • A group of people sitting at desks facing the front of the room, listening to a presenter.
  • Cadie presenting to a group of people, there is a slide next to her that reads "Sharing Session"
  • A box of cookies that have the Write Our Story logo on them
  • Monica presenting to a group of people sitting at desks. A person next to her is clapping, and there is a slide next to her that reads "Best Practices".
  • An overhead view of a workshop, with many people sitting at round tables with papers in front of them.
  • A group of people at a workshop, sitting around a table and talking together.
  • A group of people sitting around a table at a workshop, talking together.
  • A group of people sitting around a table at a workshop, talking together.
  • A group of people sitting around a table at a workshop, talking together. There is a slide behind them with the Write Our Story logo and the words "Thought Leadership Event"
  • Someone standing in the middle of the workshop and talking into a microphone.

Services

  • Community Engagement

  • Strategic Planning

  • Facilitation

  • Data Analysis

  • Graphic Design

  • Branding

  • Materials Development

  • Write Our Story logo
  • A graphic asking community members to take the survey via their experiences, insights, perspectives, hopes, and dreams.
  • A graphic inviting people to the Thought Leadership Event.
  • A graphic outlining the Strategic Plan and Engagemtn Goals for the Thought Leadership Event.
  • An event summary graphic for the Thought Leadership Event.
  • A banner graphic for the Write Our Story campaign.

  • PointNorth surpassed our expectations as strategic partners. They demonstrated expertise working alongside us throughout our strategic planning process. Their collaborative approach made it feel like they were an integral part of our team, making the strategic planning process both effective and enjoyable.

    Jeff Snell, Vancouver Public Schools