North Monterey County Unified School District
REOPENING PLANNING AND ADVISORY SERVICES
Ensuring equitable access to learning and vital services for a high-needs student community during crisis
Days after MKThink presented the facilities master plan to North Monterey County Unified School District's (NMCUSD) Board of Trustees, schools throughout California were forced to close their doors to students. NMCUSD turned to MKThink to help ensure that its student community, the kids of immigrant farm workers, many of them homeless, had continuous access to learning and vital resources like food, technology, and wellness services. Working hand in hand with the Superintendent and her Cabinet, MKThink designed a framework for developing, prioritizing, and operationalizing equitable procedures for distance, hybrid, and on-campus learning. Leveraging its data-driven Facilities Master Plan, MKThink used a scenario modeling tool to test the capacity of its facilities against differing cohort restrictions. MKThink then facilitated stakeholder engagements, surveys, and communication tools to inform, create, and communicate with the NMCUSD community.
BREAKDOWN:
DATE: 2020-2021
CITY: Monterey County
STATE: California
SIZE/SCALE: 142 Acres
MARKET: K-12
SERVICES: Community Engagement, Framework and Communications Planning, Implementation Planning, Change Management, Facilities Assessment, Strategic Guidance, Communications Strategy, and Facility Planning.
PROJECT:
CHALLENGE: As California schools were forced to close their doors, ensure that NMCUSD’s student community had continuous access to learning and the vital resources like food, technology, and wellness services they depended on.
APPROACH: MKThink worked hand in hand with the Superintendent and her Cabinet to design a framework for developing, prioritizing, and operationalizing equitable procedures for distance, hybrid, and on-campus learning. Leveraging its data-driven Facilities Master Plan, MKThink used a scenario modeling tool to test the capacity of its facilities against differing cohort restrictions. MKThink then facilitated stakeholder engagements, surveys, and communication tools to inform, create, and communicate with the NMCUSD community.
RESULT: MKThink helped the district get ahead of its community's unique issues and fears and implement a gradual return to campus that focused equally on educational equity, operations, facilities, wellness, and community health.
