SLIPPERY ROCK TWP — The Slippery Rock School District soon will begin putting in place its 2015-18 comprehensive plan.

The school board voted to forward the plan to the state Department of Education at the end of February. Assistant Superintendent Patricia Kardambikis said the department told the district shortly after submission to begin implementation.

“They basically said to us, ‘Move ahead,’” Kardambikis said.

In November, the district formed a team to put the plan together. This process is done every three years.

The team included high school students, parents, teachers, other staff members, community members, administrators. The team had about 35 members.

“It was a nice size when we met,” Kardambikis said.

Superintendent Alfonso Angelucci said the key part of the planning was coming up with the mission statement, the vision statement and shared values.

“We had no predetermined thought at what those would be,” Angelucci said. “It was very authentic; coming from the team.”

Kardambikis said the team came to a consensus.

“Everyone said that they were pleased with the results,” she said.

The mission statement is “Cultivating knowledge and encouraging independence.”

The values include having students be the first priority, having a safe environment and having school leadership that is inspirational.

There are three major goals in the plan: to work on curriculum, professional development and instructional practice.

“Those are the broad goals,” Kardambikis said. “They’re all needed.”

Angelucci said that a key component is to take the curriculum and put it online to make it more accessible to the staff.

“We want to move beyond the binders on the shelf,” Angelucci said.

Kardambikis said the district wants the curriculum to line up with the Common Core and be comprehensive.

For professional development, Kardambikis said the process included a needs assessment. Administrators came up with the assessment. A professional development committee will be formed to meet twice a year.

Instructional practice improvement will include weekly lesson plan reviews and peer observations.

The plan was available for public display for 28 days before the board voted on it.

Kardambikis said the district is moving ahead.

“These committees already are working toward the goals of the plan,” Kardambikis said.

She said that creating the plan worked out very well.

“It is an exciting process,” Kardambikis said. “We’re proud of what we ended up with.”