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STRATEGIC PLAN

Strategic Planning at Saint Stephens Episcopal School is integral to keeping us focused upon our mission, by establishing realistic goals and objectives consistent with that mission in a defined time frame. The process for developing the most recent Strategic Plan for Saint Stephen's involved the entire school community. Over the past several months, the Long-Range Planning Committee of the Board of Trustees surveyed students, parents, faculty/staff, and members of the Board of Trustees. We reviewed the school’s past Strategic Plan to remind us of all we have accomplished to date, and we held Focus Groups to discuss where the school expects to go in the future. As stated in the NAIS book, Strategic Process, “as each school undertakes the data-gathering, trend-analysis stage, it will develop its own unique assessment of ‘where we are’ and ‘what we’re up against’ and ‘the resources we have to leverage.’” Through this process eight major areas arose from which we developed a plan of action. The new Strategic Plan will build further upon the Saint Stephen’s foundation of purpose, values and diversity of program for its students.

The Board of Trustees, the School’s Administration, Faculty, and Staff will implement the new Strategic Plan at the beginning of the 2009-2010 school year with great enthusiasm, optimism and determination. This rolling Strategic Plan is intentionally designed for periodic review and updates by the Board of Trustees to continue to make it meaningful for each new school year. Specific initiatives, assigned costs, determined time frames, responsibilities and benchmarks for measuring the success of each of the eight major areas will be determined throughout the process.

• Mission Statement - Continue to develop a community which values and honors the school’s Mission Statement
  
  The Mission Statement of Saint Stephen’s Episcopal School is to:
  
  
  • Provide a superior academic program which prepares each student for a college or university compatible with the individual’s academic ability, interests, and needs.
  • Instill in each student a love of learning, an active respect for all members of the school community, and a fundamental sense of integrity.
  • Provide a nurturing environment which values independence and self-worth, physical health, spiritual awareness, and responsible global citizenship.

(The Board of Trustees will review annually whether or not the school is carrying out effectively the school’s Mission.)

• School Program - Develop students to be leaders and active participants in an increasingly global society. The School’s Administration and Department Chairs will monitor annually the following to maintain existing levels and seek improvement based on national and/or international standards and to determine if additional resources are necessary.
  
  
  • Continue to implement and evaluate program and curriculum through our college acceptances, standardized testing scores, departmental course offerings, the school’s Scope and Sequence and Curriculum Guides
  • Begin researching international standards
  • Continue to place 100% of our graduates in college or university as established in the Mission Statement
  • Provide current technology for the 21st century. Provide necessary training for students, faculty/staff and parents
  • Further the School’s global outreach initiatives (continue our established relationships with the Lugalo School in Tanzania and our sister school in Guilin, China) and encourage additional relationships with schools and organizations worldwide; enhance course instruction between sister schools
  • Enhance the global/world offerings and opportunities at all grade levels
  • Continue and enhance student and teacher exchange opportunities
  • Continue to fund and provide an extra-curricular program consistent with the Mission Statement (academics, athletics, arts, community service, leadership)

• Finance, Endowment and Budget - Continue to forecast, monitor, raise and spend financial resources conservatively and responsibly.
  
  
  • The Board of Trustees will implement and monitor a rolling three-five year financial plan
  • Maintain affordable tuition
  • Increase school-wide enrollment to 750 within three-five years
  • Continue to operate a balanced budget
  • Develop a plan to grow and enhance participation and contributions to the annual Saint’s Fund; create a culture of philanthropy
  • Continue to educate parents on the reality of independent school finances and the need to support all school fundraising efforts
  • Execute One Community…One Vision Comprehensive Campaign
    • Complete buildings/field improvements over the next five years when money is raised
    • Secure endowment portion of the campaign, targeted at 43% of the total;
    • Grow endowment to ultimately provide 10% of the annual operating budget with targeted increments in each year’s budget as directed by the Endowment Board
      
      
• Admissions and Enrollment - Focus school-wide resources on growing enrollment, i.e., Board, faculty, parents, etc. and budget
  
  
  • Increase enrollment to 750 for academically qualified students as targeted in the three-five year financial plan (about 3%+ per year)
  • Maintain tuition affordability for families
  • Support initiatives to diversify the school population in terms of ethnicity and socio/economic background which reflect the communities we serve
  • Increase enrollment through additional financial aid provided by the Endowment
  • Continue to enhance partnerships with educational entities outside of Saint Stephen’s, including increased enrollment with IMG Academies where students participate academically at Saint Stephen’s and athletically at IMG
  • Retain our students; keep annual attrition below 10

• Faculty and Staff - Continue to recruit and retain credentialed individuals who embrace and support the mission of Saint Stephen’s by:
  
  
  • offering a competitive salary and benefits package
  • continuing and increasing funding for professional development opportunities
  • providing a state-of-the-art teaching environment

• Campus - Saint Stephen’s has modernized the classrooms and enhanced its buildings and physical plant aggressively over the last decade. We continue that commitment by:
  
  
  • completing all phases of the One Community…One Vision Comprehensive Campaign
  • providing safe and efficient transportation to the campus for students within a 30-mile radius
  • providing a secure and safe school environment
    • Enhance existing campus security with cameras and additional fencing once funding sources are identified
    • Enhance Internet/Web site security
  • enhancing the crisis management plan for School and campus
  • enhancing student and faculty/staff participation in “going green”
  • using new Middle School features, i.e., LEED Wall and Wall of History, as teaching tools for our students and the community at large
    
    
• Marketing and Communications - Continue to “get the word out” about what is happening at Saint Stephen’s through internal and external communication efforts with the goal of achieving our enrollment and retention targets
  
  
  • Review and enhance the annual, comprehensive marketing
  • Maintain strong ties between Saint Stephen’s and all external constituencies through good communications and thoughtfully orchestrated events on and off campus. Forge new relationships where and when appropriate.
  • Further enhance alumni connectedness to the school through an Alumni Council and improved Web-based communication

• Governance - Continue our tradition of an effective and efficient Administration and an active and engaged Board of Trustee leadership to guide Saint Stephen’s through governance responsibilities, fiduciary oversight and resource development
  
  
  • Perpetuate an active Board of Trustees which represents all constituencies and the larger communities it serves
  • Perform annual evaluation of the Board’s work
  • Educate and train Board members to be ambassadors for the school and role models for philanthropy
  • Continue to educate Board members through seminars, consultants, and NAIS Best Practice materials
  • Explore opportunities for cultivation of future Trustees by adding potential members to Board committees and meeting with potential candidates about the role of the Board
  • Continually monitor the progress/implementation of the Strategic Plan
  • Monitor the Board’s operations to maintain procedural compliance with the bylaws, policies and/or other governing instruments
  • Assign measurable goals to the Board and Board committees based on yearly needs
  • Enhance the Board’s role in development both through building community relationships and increasing financial contributions to the School