Strategic Thinking

Portrait Project

From the onset of her tenure, Melinda had a particular interest in building community and school culture. As a trained social anthropologist and literary scholar she relished the human element and recognized the critical importance of language. Getting the messaging right would unite and edify. Attention to language would also serve to give clarity to strategic vision and its execution.

An early example of harnessing language in service of nurturing a shared culture is the Leadership Team Code. The Code is a model of simplicity, utility, and collegiality. It was crafted by the team under Melinda’s auspices at an early Leadership Team retreat. The five bullet points are: Be better together; Assume good intent; Expect excellence; Say it here; and Cultivate delight. The Code has provided valuable guidance at a number of challenging moments, as well as in the daily work of school.

Imagining the entire school community as a moving cast of colorful characters, was reified in the fall of 2016. The Portrait Project was an esthetically delightful and immersive exhibit that celebrated the diversity of the French American and International community. Fully 150 students, parents, administrators, teachers, staff, and members of the NCIS support team participated. The installation in the Arts Pavilion consisted of photos, written text, and intimate interviews in English and in French on video. The project was conceived by Arts Director Michelle Haner in collaboration with Moïse Touré and Les Inachevés theater company.

Hamlet Mashup

The years leading up to 2016 were high points for the high school Back à Dos ensemble. An ongoing critical mass of acting and tech talent had been secured, not least, by synchronizing the performance calendar with the three seasons of sport in the athletics program. In the black box theater, edgy and often hilarious student-directed one-act plays were guaranteed to provoke and delight audiences. There was a magical quality about the musicals that were staged during that era. Cabaret, Spamalot and Ghost Quartet musicals all had spectacular staging and earthy virtuoso vocal performances. The oft repeated Back à Dos mantra was, and still is, ”we don’t do high school theater, we are doing real theater with high school students!”

The 2016 Hamlet Mashup was a Melinda favorite and deserves special mention. It is hard to imagine a Shakespeare production quite like it at any other high school. It embodied the angst and the uncertainty of the times and

"Cabaret", November 2013 served a pressing need for discourse around diversity and inclusivity. The intergenerational company, cross-gender casting, and a multilingual production blended renaissance with postmodern elements. With its professionally rendered, vivid scarlet and cobalt blue lighting, explosive sword fights, and ghostly shadow projections, the staging alone did justice to Shakespeare’s seminal masterpiece.

A climactic moment was the “To Be or Not to Be'' soliloquy performed by a surprise, overlapping, pop-up chorus of students, parents, staff and faculty, declaiming in multiple languages.

Sfjazz

Between 2015 and 2018, the marketing and communication team produced a series of showcase presentations of the school live on stage in the Miner auditorium at SFJAZZ. In this charismatic setting with its perfect acoustics, students of all ages, educators and alumni collaborated in three contrasting multifaceted, TED-style talks to appreciative audiences of both current and appli- cant families.

In the 2015 SFJAZZ presentation, the IB Diploma program was examined both as “a marvel for the teenage brain” and as “unrivaled preparation for the college endgame.” In 2016, the focus was on the myriad cognitive advantages of bilingual immersion, and in 2018, the transformative power of international-mindedness.

The purpose of the IB showcase and the other events at SFJAZZ was to make the extraordinary learning that happens at French American + International visible to the city. This innovative musical venue proved ideal. The presentations embodied, and were utterly true to, the school's identity. Each one was deeply researched, student and learning-focused, and powerfully and professionally presented. These events—especially the IB Diploma showcase—had a strong impact. They fundamentally shifted the view of the school in the eyes of its own parents and of peer schools. We claimed the stage, and claimed the IB and bilingual education in the process!

Taking international-mindedness to NAIS

The school has “International” in its name for a reason. Renewed conversations around international-mindedness and what it means to be a global citizen emerged from the SFJAZZ presentations. Melinda and a team of teacher presenters positioned the school as a thought leader in internationalism at the 2016 NAIS Conference, conveniently hosted in San Francisco that year. "Third-Culture Stories," just one of the school’s presentations at this national conference, addressed how educators can support international students at independent schools. The talk took an intersectional approach to identity arising from Melinda’s doctoral research on this topic and highlighting our international school culture. An audience-pleasing moment was a slide portraying a youthful Barack Obama as “the world’s most famous third culture kid.” In another presentation, teachers “wowed the participants with firsthand accounts” of the school’s Global Travel program.

The project had several offshoots. Melinda was invited to join the inaugural NAIS Global Ambassadors Advisory Working Group and to present an interactive webinar on global citizenship. The key findings later appeared in our "Cultivating Global Citizens" article in the 2017 NAIS publication Fresh Insights on Issues of Importance to International School Leadership. In the webinar, we began with the assertion that we are all citizens of the world— and we all come from somewhere. The foundation of global citizenship is rooted in one’s heritage and identity.

At French American + International, we address the complexity of identity–age-appropriately–at all grade levels. In the article we stated that we want students “to understand and appreciate identity as a rich mix of na- tional, regional, cultural, ethnic, religious, gender, orientation, socioeconomic, and other aspects. This keeps the focus on what we have in common so we do not become ensnared by differences, stereotypes, and simplifications that incite conflict.”

Such conversations are yet another reminder of the importance of the human element in the school. The mere presence of an international or global curriculum is only a beginning. What actually counts is how the curriculum is enacted. Seen this way, “international-mindedness” is fostered—and a global education is realized—only when the curriculum comes alive in the daily learning interactions between faculty and students, school and families. International-mindedness and global citizenship are as much about community and values as they are about curriculum.

BEYOND THE CLASSROOM: Middle School Grade 6 students on a team-building weekend in the Marin Headlands learning about nature and the environment, September 2010

Reflecting on what this means for our school culture and the individual human beings involved, we need to ask questions like “what are the dispositions and competencies that will make students true citizens of the world?” and “what qualities do we need to possess as educators in order to cultivate these in our students?

Marketing our Mission

Conversations around identity at the Board of Trustees level were continuing to gather momentum. The Marketing and Communications department in partnership with the Admission team were also in the mix. Key players were taking a pragmatic, data-based, strategic enrollment management approach in service of the school’s long term sustainability.

Throughout the school’s history there was often a dissonance between external perceptions and the school’s internal vision. A non-nuanced example was an oft repeated reflex assumption that speaking French was a requirement to join the high school because the word “French” appears in the school’s name.

In the fall of 2016, the school engaged Neustadt Creative Marketing, a nationally recognized identity and branding firm, to undertake the research in this area. Mark Neustadt was chosen from the pool of consultants because the Board felt that his track record with marketing East Coast colleges (and previous life as a Francis Bacon scholar) positioned him to understand the academic rigor elements of our mission. The Neustadt work set the stage for the upcoming Strategic Plan and catalyzed–with Board Chair Tex Schenkkan and Melinda’s guidance–a collaborative process that culminated in adding a set of Values to the school’s Mission.

The Neustadt research solicited input from students, faculty, staff, parents, and alumni through small focus groups and surveys. Strategic Enrollment Management data gathering included interviews with applicant and prospective families.

In the end, Neustadt did not advise radical change. Indeed, he validated the legacy of the school’s original founders. He stated firmly that the school’s goal should be “to give greater articulation to its values, so that audiences can understand the difference and weigh whether such values are something they can share.” He proposed “cross-cultural cognition” as the school’s “primary promise.” Cross-cultural cognition was not jargon. Its full articulation encompassed “grappling with challenging and abstract concepts” across the full range of liberal arts subjects, “in more than one culture,” that would culminate in “the ability to navigate the world with confidence, command, and joy.”

Values

A collaborative process lasting several months, involving students, families, faculty, staff, and Board members, resulted in a set of Values to complement the school’s long standing Mission. The integrated Mission and Values were framed and displayed prominently in every classroom and office. The newly formulated Values were grounded in the school’s history and culture, and were also aspirational. They reflected the school’s multilingual, international culture–the human element. The Values were launched with aplomb, were invoked often, and soon became second nature. They were to form the basis for the Strategic Plan.

The final iteration of the set of school Values established a shared language about how we were to go about the what of our Mission. This was something that every stakeholder group had identified as a need during Melinda’s extensive entry conversations. The Values have contributed to school culture and shaped our response to recent opportunities and crises alike.

Strategic Plan

In 2017, the role of Board chair transitioned from Tex Schenkkan to Josh Nossiter. Tex had been busy. On his watch the school built and opened the 1155 Page Early Childhood Center, purchased land parcels at 98 Franklin and 84 Page, and secured Melinda as our Head of School. As Tex oversaw the Values initiative, Josh and Melinda were readying themselves to lead an ambitious Strategic Plan.

The Strategic Planning process involved stakeholders from the entire school community throughout the 20162017 academic year. The early phases overlapped with the Neustadt consultation and Values wordsmithing. Tex had provided oversight, and Josh built on this bedrock, leading a Strategic Plan framed as “an affirmation of our strengths, a vision of our promise, and a commitment to realizing it through the strategic work of the next five years.”

Andrea Kennedy, Chair of the Strategic Planning Committee, noted that community participation was so “infectious and inspirational, yet made the trustees’ role even more difficult: we had the unenviable job of having to focus the strategy on a few big ideas.”

The Strategic Plan had five Strategic Goals. The first was named International Program Promise. It fused “preparing students to be adept users of evolving technologies in a global workplace” with Neustadt’s “grappling with challenging concepts in the sciences, mathematics, humanities, social sciences, and arts in more than one culture.”

Cross Cultural Cognition came next. It was defined as “the ability to think, feel, and act in more than one culture.” This augmented Neustadt’s “navigating the world with confidence, command, empathy, and joy.”

The Cross Cultural Cognition goal stressed the implementation of the school values in classroom interactions

Values

Our international community brings together people from many backgrounds. Together we strive to create a shared culture that develops compassionate, confident and principled people who will make the world better. We base our community on these values.

Respect Integrity Inclusion Collaboration

Curiosity

Notre communauté internationale rassemble des personnes de toutes origines. Ensemble, nous contribuons à créer une culture qui forme des êtres altruistes et déterminés. Dotés d’un sens moral, ils œuvrent à un monde meilleur. Notre communauté repose sur les valeurs suivantes.

Respect

emphasizing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and social and emotional wellbeing.

Vibrant Urban Campus was the third initiative. This strategic goal introduced the Urban Engagement Program. Feedback from stakeholders indicated that the school had privileged “thinking globally” over “acting locally.” Urban Engagement would complement the Global Travel Program and connect to our city with initiatives like Grade 10 internships, schoolwide Days of Service, and a Community Salon series with expert talks from members of the parent community.

Proud, Engaged Community followed. It framed school culture as a long game; with special emphasis on cultivating families throughout the whole school journey. A subgoal was the transformation of the Parent Association and parent volunteer experience. The Parent Association is now a singular, harmonized, schoolwide structure with two co-presidents and section vice presidents.

Culture of Giving was the final strategic goal. It highlighted the essential role of the Board of Trustees in leading the charge in “giving and advocacy," as well as “participation and absolute giving levels for all constituents," and alumni outreach.

In recent years the school has made remarkable prog- ress in building the community's understanding of its financial model and of the power of giving to realize our mission, values, and commitment to equity. Parent engagement has grown significantly–annual giving was doubled in five years! By harnessing our community's belief in a culture of giving, we are able to do extraordinary things for our students and families–from providing aid to a third of our families, to ensuring every student has access to every part of our program, to supporting families during Covid, to funding the capital campaign for 98 Franklin.

Alternative facts

The day after the January 2017 inauguration of President Donald Trump a huge crowd gathered in San Francisco for the Women's March. Many were wearing knitted pink “pussy hats.” This was also the year of the Rohingya refugee crisis, the grisly Las Vegas shooting, and the United States withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accords. The women of the #MeToo movement collectively would be named Time magazine’s Person of the Year.

Reports showing photographic evidence of a smallish crowd at Trump’s inauguration prompted the addition of “alternative facts” and “fake news” to the Twitter and cross-cultural cognition international program promise vibrant urban campus proud, engaged community culture of giving

Facebook repertoire. These two enemies of critical thinking joined the ranks of bot-driven, personalized internet feeds, modified user behavior, seductive and time-sucking kitschy memes, cultish conspiracies, banal scams, cruel anonymous trolling, hard sell porn, deep-fake videos, enticing clickbait with ads, ads and yet more ads, and the downward gravitational pull of junk-infested rabbit holes… but I digress.

The Mission and Values of French American + International School stand out from this buzzing confusion as oases of sanity. Respect, integrity, inclusion, collaboration, and curiosity have never been more urgent.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

In the fall of 2017 the school hired its first Director of Diversity and Inclusion. The hiring of a director was the culmination of an intentional strategy that evolved over an extended period of time. The decision to move in this direction echoed best practice in peer schools at home and abroad but also focused on the particular characteristics of French American + International. The process involved surfacing the importance of our U.S. context, acknowledging the power of our French and international school culture to inform and strengthen this work, and building commitment among school constituencies for the effort.

A pivotal moment occurred in 2014 during the first weeks of Melinda’s tenure. Unarmed Black teenager Michael Brown had been killed by a policeman in Ferguson, Missouri. A group of International High School educators sat around the table in Melinda’s office to frame a response to students’ distress and outrage at the event. Melinda emphasizes that she will never forget that moment. There was little formal infrastructure in place in the school at the time beyond a hardworking High School DEI coordinator, but we nonetheless harnessed our long- standing commitment to justice and the resources of our talented faculty and held a town hall meeting. The work grew from there.

Melinda took great care in spearheading and fully socializing this work. Earlier in this narrative we had touched upon the complicated and nuanced history around DEI during the school’s earlier years. Discussions around the principles of diversity emphasized in the Mission tended to emphasize a French and international identity rather than a homegrown, U.S.-centric ethnicity and civil rights approach. Tensions between the principles of laïcité and the social reality of the U.S. context persisted. What is certain is that DEI work was, is, and always will be, part of the school’s DNA.

Later in 2014 high school students were asked to complete a DEI survey. Faculty analyzed the responses. Hiring a Director of DEI, building stronger affinity group culture, and developing greater representation of persons of color in the faculty and staff were seen as the most pressing needs emerging from the qualitative data.

The Head and principals looked for institutional allies and partners who would appreciate the rich international culture of our school, to support our DEI learning and initiatives. In response to student feedback, we partnered with Stanford's Center for Support of Education and Teaching (CSET) to dig deeper into the student experience and bring Culturally Responsive Teaching to the High School. We also partnered with Responsive Classroom to bring Social Emotional Learning (SEL) skills (which are inextricable from DEI skills) to the Lower and Middle Schools.

In response to the urgency for hiring more faculty and staff of color, Melinda worked with longtime board member Orpheus Crutchfield and other professional recruiters on strategies to build practices that would support more diversity on our faculty.

The DEI work had also fed the strategic planning process. It was surfaced formally and overtly in the published Strategic Plan. The new Director of Diversity and Inclusion was a full member of the Leadership Team. This high profile position would enable the school to more fully realize its Values and implement its strategic goal of Cross Cultural Cognition. For DEI at French American and International, this represented a new era. Small pockets of resistance at diversity training workshops were a thing of the past. Laïcité was still a cultural facet to be grappled with, but it was now tempered by Black Lives Matter and other civil rights epiphanies that made it performatively impossible not to address DEI and identity work in a U.S. frame.

The new Director of DEI set to work, consolidating previous good practices and leading change with an all-ages, whole-school mindset. The school had already been sending faculty and staff teams to the People of Students of Color Conference (POSOC) with groups of students simultaneously attending the Student Diversity Leader- ship Conference. Building on these initiatives and more, a Parents of Children of Color (POCIS) group was soon launched to further enhance the school’s affinity group culture.

The Director of DEI characterized affinity groups as “spaces where people could feel at home, where they could learn to summon their bravest voice, feel kinship and comfort, share their personal stories, inquire into others’, and collectively reflect out loud about their shared experiences. For many of our students, their affinity space is where they learn to embrace their stories before opening up to others who may not share a similar lived experience. It is where many of our students learn to tell their truths.”

During this era, the school's SUCCEED program was formalized and made more transparent to ensure that all students thrive and have access to the full school experience once they are enrolled. SUCCEED provides systematic financial assistance with computing devices, commute and lunch costs, as well as ensuring universal participation in our flagship Global Travel program.

In March 2017—on International Women's Day—the International High School Student Diversity Council organized a Day of Action for Diversity and Inclusion. The entire student body engaged in multiple workshop activities and discussion groups. District 5 Supervisor, London Breed (soon to become Mayor of San Francisco) was our inspirational plenary session speaker. The Director of DEI also championed the full gamut of LGBTIQA+ issues. In an early gesture of solidarity, the Leadership Team placed their pronouns in their email signature settings.