Springfield Technical Community College helped Springfield Public Schools advance their strategic plan by hosting an educational summit on Wednesday, Sept. 21.

The summit included opening remarks from Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno, who applauded Schools Superintendent Daniel J. Warwick and his team for their work on the strategic plan.  Lawmakers also spoke at the summit, including state Rep. Carlos González and state Sen. Adam Gomez.

The Portrait of a Graduate initiative focuses on both students and the community. The school district aims to provide resources and support to help them enter the workforce or enroll in college after graduation.

The “Portrait of a Graduate” (POG) work began three years ago, and the resulting vision has become the north star for the school’s ongoing transformation, according to SPS.

“This plan was designed in collaboration alongside the community with a vision of what every student in the Springfield Public Schools should know and be able to do by the time they graduate high school. We are excited to introduce the first public event to launch our strategic plan,” said Jose Escribano, Chief of Family and Community Engagement for SPS.

The session at STCC included a PowerPoint presentation to explain what the Portrait of a Graduate means.

Superintendent Warwick said the development approach for the district’s newest Strategic Plan is unlike anything in the past.

“We are intentionally looking to expand the thought process around what success looks like for our students,” Warwick said in a statement on the SPS website. “We are drilling down past test scores and policies and talking about the attributes that schools need to help foster to set students up for success.” The website includes links to the Portrait of a Graduate podcast which features segments about project-based learning and financial literacy.