Simcoe used ThoughtExchange to engage their community on each of their strategic plan’s four pillars:

• Excellence in Teaching and Learning
• Community 
• Mental Health and Wellbeing
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion 

Launching an Exchange for each pillar allowed community members to express their thoughts on the topic they were most interested in. “We wanted to show the flow between each of those four categories and get out of that siloed approach where they were separate,” Newton shares.

Through the Exchange process, Simcoe discovered that participants’ thoughts about one pillar often had implications for others. And using the platform to analyze the data across the four Exchanges allowed them to identify meaningful connections, emphasizing their strategic goals’ interconnectedness.

To illustrate, Newton says, “In Excellence in Teaching and Learning, they talked about increased diversity and better representation in the curriculum for all racial or equity groups—which was Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, a strategic priority for that area."

She maintains that these connections would have been more challenging to uncover and act on if they’d only used a traditional survey for community feedback. 

"We wanted to keep the ThoughtExchange actionable. We wanted parents and guardians, staff, or students to specifically share more than just ideas.” Newton found that asking which actions participants could take to be more successful garnered powerful results.

The Exchange process helped Simcoe understand what was most important to their community and gave the district ten new strategic priorities—in their community’s own words.

Simcoe will weave these ten priorities throughout their operational plans and provide guidance and intentionality to the learning and work they do as a system: Accountability, Identity, Safety, Collaboration, Innovation, Respect, Support, Trust, Transparency, and Celebration.

ThoughtExchange allowed Simcoe to use survey technology with sophisticated analytics and OpenAI integration to get broader participation and deeper, more actionable insights in less time.  

While communicating effectively is essential for strategic planning, so is building community trust. To ensure both, the Simcoe board worked closely with the communications department throughout the strategic planning process. 

This resulted in effective communication and alignment between results and initiatives. By incorporating parents’ and guardians’ voices in their branding and communication efforts, the board could demonstrate their commitment to listening and taking action while aligning on priorities and building trust, empathy, and belonging. “We're saying, we heard you, we listened,” Newton explains. 

“The ten key themes from our Exchange are direct quotes or words that our participants used, instead of the senior team thinking of the themes we want to discuss and follow. It’s much different when you pull your ten key themes directly from the voice of students, families, or staff.”

Using the community’s language and ideas builds trust and buy-in in strategic planning, contributing to successful initiatives.

The Exchange process also influenced the board's decision-making and professional development initiatives. For example, their dedicated Exchange on equity in schools led to a broader understanding of diversity, equity, and inclusion and contributed to enhanced professional development opportunities. 

The board also plans to leverage the power of Exchanges in live meetings to further strengthen connections between strategic planning, specific initiatives, and excellence in teaching and learning.