Caption: Superintendent Dr. Tom Oestreich and Principal Dr. Tim Phares pose for a picture at a Superintendent Principal Advisory Council (SPAC) meeting. Dr. Oestreich said the council was created to give students a voice in school decision making and is part of a greater effort to include student feedback in district policy.

As the 2025-2026 school year begins, Superintendent Tom Oestreich is focused on implementing a new strategic plan for the next three years. Dr. Oestreich said he has gathered feedback from the community and hopes to revise the goals and procedures of the district accordingly.

“This year, I’m taking the final draft of the new strategic plan from 2025-2028 to the school board for approval. So that has been an incredible process. I was the successor Superintendent all of last year while also serving as the assistant Superintendent and in my roles I really engaged the community and gathered all sorts of feedback from many different stakeholders. (I gathered feedback) from students, parents, teachers, administrators, community members without students, and different community groups,” Dr. Oestreich said. “We put out a survey back in December and we had over 4500 responses. Then in second semester, I held 32 in-person strategic planning focus groups and new Superintendent listening sessions with over 500 individuals and took tons of notes. From there, I took those notes and synthesized them and studied them. Then I put down what I was hearing from the community and what they wanted to see from the strategic plan, then I put it in AI to detect any biases. So we’re taking this version to the board and we’re going to reaffirm our focus on academic excellence, student safety, open communication, and community engagement.”

Another factor being discussed in the strategic plan is the school district’s response to changing laws in Indiana and new graduation requirements.

Senior Taylor Zhuang said the changing graduation requirements worry her as they shift attention away from classes relating to performing arts.

“I’ve been involved in performing arts throughout my high school career and have really enjoyed my time playing for the Carmel orchestras,” Zhuang said. “These new diploma requirements shift the focus away from the arts and I’m worried they might diminish opportunities for Carmel students to be involved in music and art.”

In response to this worry, Dr. Oestreich said the district will continue to uphold its commitment to the arts and continue to give students the opportunity to explore alternative career paths.

“The graduation requirements have changed to give students more opportunities to explore their careers. To have internships and work-based learning opportunities and to shadow. From that perspective, I think it’s good,” Dr. Oestreich said. “However, from the opposite perspective, there’s no longer the requirements for performing arts, which Carmel High School is known for. I want to ensure that all of our alternatives such as our performing arts, art classes, visual arts, our polytechnic opportunities and everything else we have to offer here at the high school remains at a very high level and students can pursue those passions as well. We’re also going to continue to offer our AP/IB/ACP courses because those courses save parents tons of money down the road for college fees.” By Mahitha Konjeti