Strategic planning, when done right, does not have to be frustrating, unproductive, costly, or divert the energies of your school's leadership. If done properly, the process will stimulate support in your community and focus direction for your school's continued development. The purpose of your strategic plan is to lay out a road map to achieve your mission and vision; moving away from being "reactive" - solving today's problems - towards being "proactive" - eliminating problems in the future and taking advantage of opportunities. Your plan should provide a framework that enables your school to focus and coordinate your resources, work towards common goals, assess and adjust as you move forward, and focus your board's priorities and inspire your staff and community. The planning process addresses a series of questions that examine assumptions, incorporates information about the present, and anticipates the world in which the school will be working and determines how you will get there. It asks:

1.  Where is your school now?
2.  Where do you want your school to be?
3.  How does your school get there? 
4. How does your school measure progress and know you've gotten to your destination?  

Value To Your Board

 

A school is most effective when diverse resources of your organization are aligned by a common vision, mission, strategies, goals, and action plans. Simply operating your school by the calendar or crisis is not acceptable. You want your organization to move from being reactive to being proactive; rather than responding to unexpected changes, you want to anticipate and plan for them. HEG's planning approach provides a practical model for mission-based management. Our step-by-step process provides concrete objectives and deliverables that can be implemented and measured to dramatically improve the performance of your school. It allows you to accurately gauge the progress of your plan and school performance. Very simply, it is the process by which your board can envision your future, identify a picture of the future based on current data, and control forces that affect you to reach that vision, making adjustments as you move forward. This will allow your school to:  

• Identify areas of operation needing consideration using it as a springboard to strengthen performance;
• Identify and reach consensus on issues before they become a crisis (e.g., finance, funding, enrollment, marketing, HR, academic programs, student performance, facilities, educational program, governance);
• Articulate a uniform, shared vision, providing a clearer focus, producing efficiency, participation, and ownership by your stakeholders;
• Allocate resources to opportunities and improve finances and projections;
• Build trust, respect, team-work, and communication amongst all stakeholders;
• Create a framework to guide decision making and ensure that members are working towards the same goals, even if the environment around the school changes;
• Gain credibility and identify critical projects to focus your resources;
• Inspire your community to invest in your strategic goals through focused fundraising campaigns;
• Ensure that board members understand their roles, responsibilities, and board-wide priorities; and
• Monitor performance and provide benchmarks from which progress can be measured.

Your planning approach should focus on the following stages:

The result is the development of a plan that will guide your Board and Senior Administration to lead your school over the next three to five years with a measurable plan for improvement. The approach as a rule should encompasses a series of on-site sessions over a four to six month period to determine where you are now, where you want to be, how to get there, and how you know you've gotten there. Your plan will maximize your school's strengths, foresee threats, reduce weaknesses, and take advantage of future opportunities.

You'll finish the process with the development of the following planning document's:

• Strategic Plan:
• Mission and Vision Statements
• Core Values
• Educational Philosophy
• Goals and Objectives
• Action Plan:
• Tasks
• Timing
• Personnel
• Costing
• Indicators of Success  
• Annual School Agenda
• Board Committee Agenda
• Administration's Annual Operational Plan

These documents will put all your team on the same page, which can be used to guide and adjust your progress through:

• Trustee Evaluation
• Committee Evaluation
• Head of School Evaluation 

  

Not every school is ready for a strategic plan though. If you're going through a leadership change or facing a major crisis, you should wait until the dust settles before you begin. To better understand if you're school is ready, you should download our free documents, "Strategic Planning Readiness Assessment Checklist" to determine if you're school is ready to begin the process. Once you're ready, you can begin the process to develop a strategic plan to determine your short- and long-term priorities and an action plan to guide your board and administration to become a blue ribbon school.  

Next Step

 

If you would find out more about how we can help you to develop your school's strategic plan, please contact Doug Halladay directly to find out more about our services. Send an email to info@halladayeducationgroup.com or call directly at 1-604-868-0002.