The new vision is “Everyone matters, everyone belongs, and everyone thrives in Fort Dodge Community School District.”

The new mission for the district states, “Fort Dodge Community School District strives for excellence daily, by creating a compassionate community built on high expectations, quality instruction, and meaningful relationships so everyone feels they belong and are successful.”

Both the new vision and mission were adopted as of July 1, which is traditionally the start of the new year for the district as the new school year approaches.

Superintendent Josh Porter said the process for the new vision and mission statements began last school year, and coincided with several new people in leadership roles for the district, including Porter as superintendent, Aaron Davidson as executive director of educational services and Teri Boezinger as the new director of curriculum and instruction.

“We had lots of new staff and we had the three of us in new leadership roles and we just thought, ‘What is our North Star?'” Porter said. “We thought about what we are trying to accomplish and how we are going to get there.

“Doug Van Zyl (former Fort Dodge superintendent) created our mission statement 12 years ago and we just thought, ‘Is this what’s driving us and is this what we want for kids?’ It was just the perfect time to do it.”

Porter said a small group began brainstorming ideas and narrowed it down to the final two before deciding on the new vision and mission statements.

“We collaborated with the AEA, which we thought would be a good resource. A lot of times, districts will bring in community leaders and businesses and teachers. We thought we already have people in leadership roles, so we just thought we didn’t need to have a massive group.”

Porter said the goal was to make sure the statements reflected the direction of the district without being too long and wordy. He added that he wanted something kids in school could remember easily.

“We wanted to make it something kids could remember and staff could remember,” he said. “It is really simple and easy. We wanted to instill the fact that no matter where you come from, you belong here and we want you here.”

Porter and Communications Director Lydia Schuur said they have received positive feedback from the community about the change.

The new vision statement and mission statement were unveiled along with a new district website and the launch of a distinct smart phone app, a first for the district.

“Lydia and the communications department started looking at the website and we went to a conference in Arizona where we learned about the company that created the app,” Porter said. “Then we started looking at the mission statement and the vision statement, and thought, we can definitely fold these all into one. July 1 was the perfect time to do that. July 1 is like the start of the new year in our world.”

Porter said the cost of the new website and the ongoing costs for the rebranding in the district were supported by funds already in the district budget. The Fort Dodge Community Schools Foundation awarded a grant to the district to pay for the cost of the app development, which was a one-time cost of $6,500.

The app will include access to manuals and documents, a comprehensive staff directory, a real-time newsfeed and a hub for important information.

Porter said he was looking forward to promoting the changes in the vision statement and mission statement.

“We are thrilled to introduce our new vision and mission, which truly reflect our commitment to each member of our community. Our goal is to ensure that every individual in our district knows they matter, they belong, and they can thrive. The new logo is a visual representation of these values and our ongoing dedication to excellence in education,” he said.