Future planning: Creating a Mehlville School District strategic plan for 2026-2031
The Mehlville School District is nearing the end of the lifecycle of its current strategic plan and is looking forward to 2026-2031. As the district prepares to embark on a year-long journey to draft its Strategic Plan: 2026-2031, we will be asking questions and analyzing what we can do to best meet the goals and priorities identified by YOU – our staff, our parents, our students and our community members.
A strategic plan is critical for a school district because it provides a clear vision and roadmap for achieving long-term goals. It aligns stakeholders — students, staff, families, and the community — around shared priorities, ensuring resources are effectively allocated to enhance student outcomes.
By setting measurable objectives and regularly reviewing progress, a strategic plan fosters accountability and adaptability, enabling the district to respond proactively to changes in education, funding, and community needs.
Strategic Plan Steering Committee identifies five potential themes
At their first meeting on April 3, 2025, more than 100 members of the Strategic Plan Steering Committee identified five potential themes, or areas of focus, for the 2026-2031 Strategic Plan.
The common themes identified by the committee are:
The committee arrived at these themes after reviewing survey data and discussing what’s important to them. The survey asked: As we plan for the future, what key opportunities, resources and experiences should Mehlville School District offer to support student success? Survey results can be seen here.
The committee also started brainstorming strategies – actions or initiatives implemented to achieve a desired outcome – by theme.
At the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year, the committee will reconvene to meet on each of these five themes. They’ll take a deeper look at these areas of focus to determine current strengths and areas where the district can improve, with the goal of creating strategies and outcomes for the next strategic plan.
Save the dates!
The Strategic Plan Steering Committee will meet at Bernard Middle School (1054 Forder Road) on the following dates:
6:30 p.m., Wednesday, September 3, 2025
Theme: Academics
6:30 p.m., Wednesday, September 17, 2025
Theme: Student Support
6:30 p.m., Wednesday, September 24, 2025
Theme: Teacher Quality and Staffing
6:30 p.m., Wednesday, October 8, 2025
Theme: Facilities, Operations and Finance
6:30 p.m., Wednesday, October 22, 2025
Theme: Community Involvement
Tell us what's important to you!
The district is seeking the community’s feedback through a ThoughtExchange to guide the creation of the new plan. This is your opportunity to share your insights, and help us build a future that reflects the needs of everyone: students, families, educators and the broader community.
The question we are asking is simple, but it cuts right to the core of our mission to educate the community’s children. As we plan for the future, what key opportunities, resources, and experiences should Mehlville School District offer to support student success?
Share your answer now.
You can provide more than one answer or thought. Please look at the other thoughts community members have shared and use the star rating system to indicate how much you agree with other thoughts.
Every voice in our community matters. Your feedback will guide the work of the Strategic Planning Steering Committee as they provide guidance and feedback in the drafting of the Strategic Plan: 2026-2031. Together, we will shape a bright future for our district.
Forming now: Strategic Plan Steering Committee
The district is seeking community members to serve on the Strategic Plan Steering Committee. These individuals will help lead the charge of gathering community feedback and drafting a new strategic plan.
These volunteers will commit to attending at least five evening meetings to gain an in-depth understanding of current strengths and opportunities of Mehlville School District, review survey data and provide feedback to those drafting the strategic plan.
Please use this form to express your interest in serving on this committee. The district is working to ensure the committee is inclusive and representative of the community we serve.
Strategic plan meetings
The first meeting of the Strategic Plan Steering Committee was on Thursday, April 3, at the Bernard Middle School Cafe (1054 Forder Road).
Additional meetings will be scheduled in the fall of 2025 and posted here.
How you can get involved
Your voice is important as we work together to shape the future of Mehlville School District. There will be various ways to get involved in the strategic planning process.
If you have questions or comments about the strategic planning process, please email [email protected] or call 314-467-5000.
About school district strategic plans
The Mehlville School District strategic plan will be developed in meaningful collaboration with internal and external stakeholders and will be based upon a data-based needs assessment. The development of the district strategic plan (also known as the Continuous School Improvement Plan or CSIP) is required by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Upon its completion, the strategic plan will include items like clear standards of mission and vision, a limited number of focused goals and objectives, evidenced-based action steps and strategies, timelines for implementation and monitoring, persons responsible for implementation and monitoring, and funding sources.
