Strategic plan 2016-2021

Background

Steering Committee

A comprehensive strategic planning project kicked off with a conference in the fall of 2014 that included nearly 100 parents, faculty, staff, alumni, trustees and students. This vision statement informed their efforts:

Julia Cho (Trustee, Chair) Christian Sullivan (Head of Schools, Vice-Chair) Susan Bauska (Asst. Head of Schools, Vice-Chair) John Long (Chair of the Board, Ex-Officio)

Annie Wright Schools will be internationally recognized as educational leaders where tradition meets innovation and every student is inspired to make a profound contribution in the world.

Findings from this conference led to six task forces that honed initiatives identified from the conference. The Board of Trustees approved the plan in December 2015.

Jagmit Dhami ’16 (Student) Kate Dorr ’96 (Alumna) Jessa Jeter ’16 (Student) Rebecca Kirkpatrick ’97 (Trustee, Alumna) Bridgette McGoldrick (Faculty) Divya McMillin (Parent) Jamie Murray (Trustee) Allison Parks (Past Parent, Former Teacher) Joe Romano (Faculty)

Annie Wright Schools’ Mission: Annie Wright’s strong community cultivates individual learners to become well-educated, creative and responsible citizens for a global society.

ANNIE WRIGHT SCHOOLS IN TACOMA, THE REGION AND THE WORLD Annie W right Schools will prioritize a globalized curriculum and experiences that take us off cam pus and connect us to Tacom a, the region and the world.

Globalization propelled by technology and the marketplace creates growing integration and interdependence. A globalized curriculum will provide a means of understanding the world in the midst of these changes to foster visionary leaders.

For the period of this Strategic Plan, Annie Wright Schools will: 1. become a premiere IB Continuum School, working with the IB organization to become leaders in IB programming, including the possibility of becoming an IB Teacher Training site.

2. be on the cutting edge of using and teaching social media and technology tools to maximize avenues of global communication 3. identify and intensify local partnerships (such as with local universities and service organizations) that will enhance academic and extra-curricular offerings and increase Annie Wright’s stature as a Tacoma institution 4. expand opportunities for direct international experiences for all students and faculty through virtual and actual exchange and travel, and create protocols with partner institutions to maximize benefits of exchange interactions.

5. expect, enhance and benchmark progress toward student proficiency in a second language by the end of Upper School.

6. research and implement best practices in global pedagogy and content specific to each discipline

EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING Annie W right Schools will hire, develop, nurture and retain its excellent teaching force, and will share our expertise through the establishm ent of at least one center for excellence in teaching on cam pus.

Excellent teachers represent Annie Wright’s single most valuable resource. This strategic goal is to raise the bar of expectations and define what constitutes excellence in any classroom and in any division. Our

teachers and their practices must be highlighted publicly and widely while maintaining a focus on their primary responsibility to the individual students they teach.

For the period of this Strategic Plan, Annie Wright Schools will: 1. build an innovative and even more robust professional development program, blending institutional need with teacher choice and empowerment—particularly honoring those opportunities that bring innovative excellence into the community.

2. encourage, support and expect our faculty to share their professional expertise at local, national and international conferences, workshops and publications.

3. develop and implement a consistent evaluative system for each employee with an eye toward determining and recognizing true excellence as that occurs.

4. formalize a teacher-leader training program.

5. continue to make appropriate compensation a priority in each budget year, including salary, benefits and professional development.

6. in partnership with a local university, plan and eventually establish a pre-eminent teacher training center at Annie Wright Schools.

SIGNATURE PROGRAMS Annie W right Schools will create, m arket and implement selective and highly competitive signature program s within the Upper School.

This strategic goal builds upon our commitment to students discovering and acting upon authentic passions. An added benefit is tremendous marketing and recruitment potential in these centers of excellence that can lead to further international recognition.

For the period of the Strategic Plan: 1. the Board and Administration will commit to appropriate resources (funding and personnel) to ensure programmatic success at a level that can support true and lasting excellence.

2. the Upper School will prototype two initial programs: Girls' Business & Entrepreneurship and Tennis, beginning in the spring 2016 admissions season and throughout the 201617 academic year.

3. the Upper School will work expeditiously, based upon lessons learned from the prototype, toward additional signature programs. These are initially likely to be holistic programs in 1) global politics and 2) coding / computer technology.

4. the admissions and communications department will work with the Upper School to develop and disseminate appropriate marketing plans aimed at maximizing candidate interest in the signature programs and Annie Wright Schools.

DIVERSITY Annie W right Schools will diversify and enhance access to all program s and will build a com m unity that appropriately represents our region and the world.

Annie Wright will prepare innovative leaders who can actively contribute to a diverse world. We therefore need to take steps to ensure that our community appropriately reflects the kinds of diversity found in our region and the world and prepares our students to move and work effectively within that diversity.

For the period of this Strategic Plan, Annie Wright Schools will: 1. establish a committee for diversity, chaired initially by the Assistant Head of Schools.

2. formally assess where Annie Wright stands against the strategic goal, NWAIS and NAIS standards.

3. research and visit other NWAIS schools farther along in the process of developing a plan for diversity, use their successes and failures to inform our process, and engage them as colleagues in this important work 4. develop and follow a statement of diversity, as approved by the Board of Trustees 5. develop a five-year strategic plan for diversity, including goals, strategies and actions, and performance measures in the areas of: • • • • • •

teaching and curriculum faculty / staff support, retention and recruitment student support, retention and recruitment outreach and community partnerships communication school climate

EDUCATING OUR BOYS Annie W right Schools will create a phased plan for curriculum , finance and footprint (infrastructural needs) to support a boys’ upper school program—equivalent to but separate and distinct from the existing girls’ upper school.

The Board of Trustees is committed to educating highschool aged boys, believing that Annie Wright Schools have a duty to offer to boys the world-class education that our Upper School girls already receive. This additional educational option will support families and honor our founders’ intent to facilitate the development of Tacoma and the South Sound by offering high-quality independent school education that is attractive to many local families.

Annie Wright has not been an all-girls’ school since the early 1970s. The decision to educate boys has happened iteratively, first in the Lower School and then in the Middle School. The natural step is now to educate high-school aged boys. The enormity of this decision and the knowledge that we must honor tradition and not diminish our Upper School girls’ profoundly positive experience, however, demand more foundational work. We must ensure the eventual success of a boys’ high school program, but not at the expense of any other critical component of AWS, our community and, especially, our students.

For the period of this Strategic Plan, Annie Wright Schools will: 1. immediately and for the duration engage in staff research and training regarding best practices of gender-based learning and the brain. This research and training will be relevant to boys and girls of all ages.

2. create and publish clear and compelling statements about the strengths of genderbased education.

3. research and visit existing models of schools where boys and girls learn separately on the same campus.

4. incorporate as a major piece of the Campus Master plan (see Institutional Sustainability) the location of a separate boys’ program, including potential off-campus venues.

5. plan for funding, design, staffing and phasing in of the boys’ Upper School program and implement, if feasible, by 2021.

ATHLETICS

INSTITUTIONAL SUSTAINABILITY

Annie W right Schools will deliver a top quality, developm entally appropriate athletic and physical education experience for every student.

Annie W right Schools will com plete the current capital cam paign and sim ultaneously explore and develop financial support for future projects and growth beyond tuition dependence.

This strategic goal is a renewed commitment to achieve success in our athletics program. During the period of the strategic plan, Annie Wright Schools will: 1. elevate the position of Director of Athletics to the senior leadership level.

2. charge the Director of Athletics with developing and carrying out a comprehensive, developmental plan for athletic development and PHE (Physical and Health Education), including the creation of targeted signature sports in the Upper School.

3. incorporate the new gymnasium and playing field as foundations for the next phase of development of our athletics program, including in the vision the possibility of a thriving high school boy’s program.

4. Develop at least two sports in which students perform at consistently high levels.

Strategic Planning Task Forces Thank you to the following community members who served on task forces and spent many hours helping to develop the plan. The Board of Trustees deeply appreciates their efforts.

Annie Wright in Tacoma John Lantz (Chair) Kirsten Carlson Ryan Dicks Annie Green Helen McGovern-Pilant Kyle Price Tiffany Shaw Pamela Transue Susan Warner Annie Wright in the World Amy Paulose ’95 (Chair) Keliko Adams Diane Bai Rex Bates Meg Billings Alyssa Harvey ’06 Jessa Jeter ’16 Divya McMillin Pamela Hyde Smith ’63

Stephanie So Maggie Wang ’16 Diversity Mo Copeland (Co-Chair) Rebecca Kirkpatrick ’97 (Co-Chair) Vicki Ball Jan Buennagel Janna Bushaw Crist Sedia Dennis Bayard Jagmit Dhami ’16 Monett (Jenkins) Gibson ’96 Zach Hansen Emily Lynn Tessa Taylor ’03 Educating Boys Jim Defebaugh (Chair) Bobbie Bailey

To a great extent, the success of the other goals in the plan will be dependent on the work that must be achieved within this goal.

For the period of this Strategic Plan, Annie Wright Schools will: 1. redistribute human resources to maximize efficiency for enrollment, development and communications by adopting an institutional advancement model led by a single senior administrator.

2. create a position to leverage opportunities, space, and other current and future resources—especially in innovative curriculum and pedagogy—beyond existing programs and tuition to assure additional revenue.

3. create a multi-year development plan for a culture of philanthropy.

4. finalize a five-year Campus Master Plan, including any possible future building on the existing campus and / or purchases of properties elsewhere.

5. explore and, if feasible, develop international programs or campuses.

Gayle Gray Jake Guadnola ’90MS Lisa Hoffman John Long David Overton Allison Parks Carl Peterson Faculty Cathy Schneider (Chair) Barry Bauska Angelica Calcote James Cardo Amy Eveskcige Bill Hulseman Bridgette McGoldrick Bill Schuver Katherine Steuart

Innovative Programming/Additional Revenue Streams Michelle Cannon Bessler (Chair) Bob Crist Jake Guadnola ’90MS Jennifer Haley ’89 Kristina Maritzcak Scott Moody Steve Parrott Joe Romano Dana Wasyluka

On the Web Visit aw.org/strategic_plan for the most up-to-date version of this plan.