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Approach and Guiding Principles

To meet the goals of our Strategic Plan, our Project Managers, Dr. Amieris Lavender, Founder and Managing Partner of the Love Joy Liberation Community Relations Firm, and Julie Koenke, Director of District and Regional Support with ConnectED: National Center for College and Career (ConnectED), will utilize the following approach in all planning and facilitation:

  •  Collective learning and knowledge sharing:
    • We consciously sit ourselves within the framework of what is already known or has been learned within the Asheville community. 
       
  • Focus group & listening sessions for meaning-making within the ACS context:
    • This will identify both pain points and areas for growth, as well as reflection, space holding, and areas where there are already successes.
       
  • Working Sessions with those closest to the issue: 
    • With the goal to identifying any process or system-based issues that will impact the vision and are already impacting operations 

       

 An effective strategic planning process will:

  • Build a unifying and inspirational vision for ACS while providing clear steps for action for ACS staff.
  • Focused on what can be done by inspiring new thinking and creating innovative solutions to historical and current problems.
  • Acknowledge past harms and challenge current realities with clear actions for doing things differently to yield new and better results for young people.
  • Be done in the spirit of continuous improvement and community
  • Emphasize systems for sustainability
  • Provide a set of concrete, pragmatic, helpful action steps, tools, and processes the district will utilize.
  • Be fun and engaging and build community while designing for a better community.
  • Set a vision for ALL ACS students while acknowledging the unique needs, supports, and historical harms some students have faced. Our solutions will provide scaffolded and differentiated responses to meet the needs of every child.

Meet our Project Managers

Dr. Amieris Lavender

Founder and Managing Partner
Love Joy Liberation Community Relations Firm

Julie Koenke

Director of District & Regional Support ConnectED: National Center for College and Career

Questions?

Dr. Maggie Fehrman
Superintendent 
Phone: (828) 350-6145
Email: maggie.fehrman@acsgmail.net

Tanya Presha
Special Assistant to the Superintendent 
Phone: (828) 350-6168
Email: tanya.presha@acsgmail.net