Strategic planning is a part of your board's and senior administration's management activity that allows you to set priorities, focus resources, improve operations, ensure that staff and stakeholders are working toward common goals, formalizes agreement on intended outcomes and results, and monitors and adjusts the school''s direction in response to your changing environment. It is a focused effort that produces key decisions and actions that shapes and guides what your school is, who it serves, what it does, and why it does it, with a focus on the future.

An effective strategic plan will articulate not only where your school is going and the actions needed to improve, but also whether it is successful.

Your strategic plan is a document used to communicate within your school community the school's goals, actions needed to achieve those goals, and all of the other critical elements developed during the planning exercise such as your vision and mission statement, core values, educational philosophy, goal, objectives, and action plan to guide implementation. 

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 the 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.

 

A school is most effective when its resources are aligned by a common vision, mission, strategies, goals, and action plans. Simply operating your school by 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. The best way to predict the future is to create it!! 

 

Our planning approach provides a practical and proven 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, as well as linking it to your governance model and CEO's annual operational plan. 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 the 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.

We have considerable experience developing strategic plans for K-12 private and public schools and districts internationally and can bring that same expertise and results to your school. Our approach as a rule encompasses a series of steps, including our proprietary surveys and on-site retreats over a five to seven month period to develop a comprehensive strategic plan and action plan. The resulting plan will maximize your school's strengths, foresee threats, reduce weaknesses, and take advantage of future opportunities. This is achieved through the following steps, tailored to your needs:

 

 

Provided below is an overview of the methodology and steps we would use to develop your school's strategic plan.

 

Provided below are links to strategic plans that Doug Halladay has engaged in the development of. Click on the school to open a downloadable copy of their strategic plan.

•  Sacred Heart School 
• Queen Margaret's School 
•  Harbert Hills Academy 
•  International School of Ulaanbaatar
• Mascenic Independent School District
• FLEC Strategic Plan 

Next Step

 

, if you would like to find out more about how we can help your board to develop your school's strategic plan or advise on the implementation of your current plan, please contact HEG directly to find out more by sending an email to info@halladayeducationgroup.com or call directly at 1-604-868-0002.