Castilleja Strategic Plan

CASTILLEJA SCHOOL DEFINING EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE FOR GIRLS IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

STRATEGIC PLAN 2008

CASTILLEJA’S STRATEGIC PLAN Dear members of the Castilleja community, In Castilleja: Celebrating a Century, we are reminded of Castilleja’s distinguished history as a premiere girls school steeped in tradition yet embracing innovations that have paved the way for educational excellence for the 21st century. Castilleja enters the second century poised to set the course for even greater strides in the future. The year 2008 marks the culmination of our Centennial Celebration, the opening of the Joan Z. Lonergan Center, the completion of the Centennial Capital Campaign, and the start of our accreditation self-study—catalysts for Castilleja’s newest Strategic Plan: Defining Educational Excellence for Girls in the 21st Century.

In this document, we articulate the steps we will take to ensure Castilleja’s place at the forefront of girls’ education. First, the faculty and academic administration must redefine educational excellence for girls and redesign the curricular and co-curricular programs to meet the demands of 21st century learning. Second, we must continue to attract the best faculty, students and families who are poised to partner with us in this endeavor. Third, we must secure the resources necessary to make this Strategic Plan a reality.

Work on this plan began in the fall of 2006, with every school constituency playing a key role.

The Long Range Planning Committee worked throughout the 2006-2007 academic year to prepare a comprehensive document for the Board of Trustees. Based on the extensive work of this committee, the Board then created and approved this Strategic Plan.

Implementation planning was underway throughout the 2007-2008 academic year and continues this fall. As each department prepares for our upcoming accreditation, faculty members are devising departmental strategic plans, complete with timelines, action plans, resource requirements and metrics. Highlights from these plans will soon be made available on our website.

We are grateful to the Long Range Planning Committee, the board, and the entire school community for the many hours of reflection, brainstorming, deliberation, and fine-tuning required to produce such a challenging and ambitious plan. We count on each and every one of you to work with us to make this Strategic Plan a reality.

Joan Lonergan Head of School

Karen Fisher Board of Trustees Chair

Bitsie Root LRP Committee Chair

Ken Kornberg LRP Committee Chair

LONG RANGE PLANNING COMMITTEE GRACE CHEN ’11 Middle School Government President

PEGGY MCKEE Faculty member

ANGELIKA DEOGIRIKAR ’00 President of the Alumnae Board

MAGGIE PRINGLE ’71 Director of Alumnae Relations and alumnae parent

MICHELE ELAM Current parent NANCI KAUFFMAN Assistant Head of School and Dean of Faculty KEN KORNBERG Trustee, Co-chair of the LRP Committee, and alumnae parent

ELIZABETH ROOT Trustee and Co-chair of the LRP Committee BARB ROSSTON Current parent KELLY SCHRYVER ’07 Upper School Government President

CAMILLA LAU Faculty member

HELEN SHANKS Faculty member

JILL LEE Director of Admission and current parent

CHRISTY STORY Faculty member

JOAN LONERGAN Head of School

BRYDIE SULLIVAN Faculty member

JOE MARTIGNETTI Trustee and current parent

BOARD

OF

TRUSTEES 2007-2008

DON BOGUE

JOHN GUNN

BRUCE MOSBACHER

KIRK BOSTROM

BARBARA HAZLETT

JOHN NELSON

LOREN BROWN

WILLIAM KIND

FRANK QUATTRONE

ANJELIKA DEOGIRIKAR ’00

DAVID KELLEY

KAVITA RAMDAS

JOHN DOERR

KENNETH KORNBERG

BITSIE ROOT

KAREN FISHER, CHAIR

MARTA KOSARCHYN

MARTIN SHELL

STEVE FRANKLIN

JOAN Z. LONERGAN

HANNAH VALANTINE

BILL FRIEDMAN, VICE CHAIR

JOSEPH MARTIGNETTI

MARK VANDER PLOEG

DIANNE GIANCARLO

ANITA MEHTA

LINDA YATES ’80

DEFINING EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE FOR GIRLS IN THE 21st CENTURY

The 5 Cs—conscience, courtesy, character, courage, and charity—date back to Castilleja School’s founding and are essential to our mission:

WOMEN LEARNING • WOMEN LEADING Castilleja School inspires a quest for knowledge and learning that lasts a lifetime.

To prepare our students for the wider world, we infuse our challenging college preparatory curriculum with a global program that fosters awareness, compassion, and engagement with issues beyond Castilleja. Our comprehensive academic program and extensive cocurricular offerings develop in each student the self-confidence to reach her full potential.

Above all, our faculty and staff dedicate themselves to excellence in educating young women and in cultivating young leaders.

It is in the 5 Cs and the mission of the school that this Strategic Plan has its strength and its foundation.

GOAL: BUILD ACADEMIC 21ST CENTURY

AND

CO-CURRICULAR PROGRAM

FOR THE

Castilleja’s academic and co-curricular programs reflect the School’s mission and its core values. The program for the 21st century will retain the academic excellence fundamental to a college preparatory school while maintaining in its curricular and co-curricular offerings the essence of a liberal arts education. Castilleja will enhance this program and prepare young women for the 21st century by expanding opportunities for interdisciplinary teaching and learning.

Establish objectives of a Castilleja education in the 21st century •

Create appropriate interdisciplinary scope and sequence for general and specialized areas of study, including: English Fitness and Wellness History Mathematics Modern and Classical Languages Science Visual and Performing Arts Environmental Sustainability Equity and Social Justice Global Education Leadership and Communication Research and Technology Skills

•

Expand scope and sequence beyond classroom by identifying connections between academic program and co-curricular program in such areas as Journalism, Robotics, Technology, Arts, and Athletics

Design and implement program for meeting established educational objectives • Determine, develop, and employ best pedagogical practices for 21st century teaching and learning in all disciplines and across disciplines, in order to prepare students to: Gather and Assess Create Information Communicate Think Critically Collaborate Solve Problems Innovate • Create more effective opportunities for student-initiated learning and real-world experiences, such as internships, school exchanges, global travel, community service, and collaborative projects with other organizations • Provide every student with academic and co-curricular resources to reach her intellectual, emotional, and physical potential Collaborate with other knowledge leaders in girls education • Identify leaders and form collaborative relationships • Engage in research initiatives with potential to inform Castilleja’s program development • Develop a strong voice in dialogue about girls education and 21st century education

GOAL: ATTRACT, RETAIN, AND STAFF

AND INSPIRE

EXCELLENT FACULTY

The faculty and staff at Castilleja form the core strength of the school community, built on the 5 Cs. To ensure our future success, we will continue to cultivate exceptional teachers with pedagogical expertise and mastery of content, and foster a faculty and staff committed to supporting the educational mission of the school.

Align compensation philosophy and structure with 21st century program •

Assess and, where appropriate, restructure teaching at Castilleja to meet the needs of a 21st century program

•

Implement multi-level compensation package for faculty and staff that rewards excellence and contributions to accomplishing Strategic Goals and Key Initiatives

•

Evaluate periodically competitiveness and suitability of all aspects of compensation

Create, redesign, and strengthen key human resource processes •

Establish recruiting, hiring, and professional development protocols for all departments and positions to attract best candidates

•

Revise performance appraisal objectives and processes to reflect Strategic Goals and Key Initiatives

Increase faculty and staff engagement in leadership and innovation •

Provide significant opportunities and clear expectations for engagement, leadership, and innovation

•

Strengthen leadership skills and practices of administrative team and department heads

•

Support professional development to meet Strategic Goals and Key Initiatives

GOAL: ENROLL AND EMPOWER A STUDENT COMMUNITY THAT EMBODIES CASTILLEJA’S MISSION AND VALUES Castilleja strives to be an inclusive community of students, families, alumnae, faculty, and staff who share a commitment to an education that fosters engaged citizenship. In the 21st century, the girls and young women who enter Castilleja to pursue our motto, Women Learning, Women Leading, will gain the foundation to engage in, direct and act on their own learning.

Attract students and families who will partner with School to both benefit from and contribute to the Castilleja experience •

Articulate to broader community value of Castilleja education

•

Forge partnerships with families to support Mission and Values and to work with students to balance school and home life

•

Provide students more varied co-curricular opportunities to interact with boys

•

Increase size, quality, and diversity of applicant pool in face of changing Bay Area demographics

Support a culturally, ethnically, and economically diverse community • Increase outreach to underrepresented communities • Hire and retain a diverse faculty and staff • Commit resources and expertise to ensure each student has opportunity to thrive at Castilleja Address affordability issues created by cost of Castilleja education •

Generate alternatives to present tuition and tuition payment plans

•

Optimize tuition assistance across broader range of economic circumstances

•

Search for opportunities to reduce expenses without jeopardizing Mission

•

Evaluate impact on affordability of each proposed new program element

GOAL: DEVELOP INSTITUTIONAL RESOURCES REQUIRED REACH STRATEGIC GOALS

TO

The trustees, parents, alumnae, faculty and staff are dedicated to ensuring that Castilleja acquires the resources needed to pursue the goals of the Strategic Plan and to provide a program that exceeds the needs of the 21st century.

Secure outstanding leadership • Recruit and develop trustees with vision, commitment, and capabilities required to guide implementation of this Plan • Develop succession plans that ensure strong administrative, academic, and co-curricular leadership Align operations and support functions with School’s future needs •

Implement best practices for each function

•

Identify and address opportunities to improve staffing, processes, and systems

Ensure ongoing suitability of Castilleja’s infrastructure •

Develop plan for physical plant to address changing space, facilities and equipment needs over time

•

Provide information technology systems and equipment to meet program and operations requirements

Increase engagement of alumnae and alumnae parent communities •

Broaden and deepen alumnae connections revitalized by Centennial

•

Launch, grow, and support new organization focused on alumnae parents

Enlist broader community in support of Castilleja’s financing needs •

Motivate higher-capacity supporters to become “asset donors”

•

Create opportunities for long-term support from foundations

•

Launch endowment campaign by 2012

Conscience Courtesy Character Courage Charity The 5 Cs set the standard for a community of civility and inclusion, where diversity is honored and differences are respected.

We believe that a Castilleja education is a privilege, carrying with it the obligation for student to act responsily and in the best interests of others. The 5 Cs remind us that the best education is of the whole child—and that educational excellence, grounded in the academic realms of the school, extends to the creative, emotional, and physical growth of our students.