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STRATEGIC PLAN 2018
WELCOME
FOR T WOR TH COUNTR Y DAY
Dear Falcon Community, The creation of our 2018 strategic plan detailed within this statement continues Fort Worth Country Day’s healthy habit of both reflecting on where we are and committing to where we want to be going forward. We became the cherished and respected institution and community that we are by constantly and systematically looking ahead toward what is next. This document summarizes our recent work reflecting back and reaching forward. We are proud to share. Fort Worth Country Day is an important institution, important not only in the lives of our students, but also in the fabric of our city and of every city around the globe where our graduates become productive citizens. Those of us involved in the School today are charged with building on Country Day’s countless welldocumented successes and taking our students and our community to still loftier heights. In pursuing the 2018 strategic plan, we seek to sustain and to enhance our status as what we call a School of Significance. For our “new” Head of School, the process that led to this plan has been a series of gifts. Starting back in the spring of his first year, the gifts included reading FWCD’s previous plans, vetting strategic planning consultants, and narrowing a wonderfully long list of community members to represent various constituencies on our planning committee. In that early stage, further gifts to an acclimating Head of School included both reading the input of nearly 1,000 community members’ Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) surveys and studying the scripts of the 27 more in-depth phone interviews our consultants recorded. Getting wise observations of our nationally renowned strategic planning advisor, Ian Symmonds, about the data from our entire research and reflection process maximized the opportunity this formal strategic planning exercise represented. Of all the learning that has occurred through these months, we would say the highlight was regularly sitting around the table or at the Skype screen with dedicated members of the community, sharing impressions and presenting perspectives until ultimately agreeing on aspirations for our school. We are grateful to each of those Strategic Planning Steering Committee members: including the faculty and administration representatives, Hester Burdman, Dorrine DeChant, Heather Goldman, Bill Arnold ’86 and Joe Breedlove ’78; parent
community representative, Peter Philpott; and Board members, Past Presidents David Ekstrom ’75 and Shannon Young Ray ’80, current Board members Ken Huffman and Gantt Bumstead and past Board member Dorris Morrissette. Our thanks to these crucial ten, and also to the 1,000 community members who took the time to provide their input, all with the shared ultimate goal of taking Fort Worth Country Day forward to our 60th anniversary as a school and as a community in which our already immense pride grows still bigger. With the rest of this document, then, it gives us great pleasure to formally present the Fort Worth Country Day “School of Significance” 2018 Strategic Plan. Go Falcons! Fly Higher! Sincerely,
Stuart D. McDonald, M.D., Strategic Planning Steering Committee Chair
Laura Bonnell Alexander ’88, President, Board of Trustees
Eric V. Lombardi, Head of School … 1 …
INSPIRING a SCHOOL of SIGNIFICANCE
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FOR T WOR TH COUNTR Y DAY
In the landscape of American education, there are a multitude of schools and colleges that churn out solid graduates through good programs. They provide important services, deliver an excellent education, and produce reliable student outcomes. These schools do an effective job fulfilling their mission and educating students in their image. Beyond the multitudes, there are schools that not only provide all of the above, but also have a transformational impact on their larger community and that community’s culture. In short, they are schools of significance. We at Fort Worth Country Day set our standard to be such a school. We aim to have a transformational impact on the context of our environment. We seek to shape, mold and transform the culture around us. Along with other schools of significance, we strive to be accessible, deeply connected to our community, and an integral player in the local environment. We aspire to a higher purpose, and, in so doing, we challenge
our students to do the same. We aim, along with only a small segment of the nation’s independent schools and colleges, to make a large impact on the educational conversation at a national level. Ultimately, Fort Worth Country Day is a distinct school in an unparalleled setting. On one hand, we are safe, secluded and serene. On another, we are deeply connected to our vibrant city landscape. Our founders’ decision to put “Fort Worth” in our name sent an important signal that our very existence would involve building our learning environment around our local context.
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In this strategic plan, we commit to capitalizing upon and leveraging our distinct environment, building a program that is not only connected to the local community, but that also builds community in Fort Worth. We are a school that does more than provide an excellent education; we prepare our students to be “World Ready.”
BACKGROUND and CONTEXT
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FOR T WOR TH COUNTR Y DAY
In 2016, Fort Worth Country Day launched a comprehensive strategic planning process. The strategic plan was developed to provide a long-range view of future School priorities created through a highly inclusive and participatory process. A steering committee was formed and focused on research, environment scans, SWOT analysis, committee exercises, and trends in both the independent school and the broader education sectors. In order to build a base of sound information and to guide the planning process, the School enlisted the assistance of a research and planning firm, Ian Symmonds & Associates. A comprehensive research effort was completed, including stakeholder surveys, competitive and educational landscape analysis, market segmentation, and demographic trends. In the spring, summer and fall of 2016, the Strategic Planning Steering Committee worked collaboratively through a series of exercises designed to establish priorities based upon the findings of the research.
This process culminated in the spring of 2017, with the steering committee developing a set of priorities for future focus and the full Board of Trustees voting their approval. With the plan approved, strategic priorities were developed, and the steering committee outlined specific initiatives, action plans and immediate priorities. In the fall of 2017, more community members reviewed the proposed plan and provided input. Prior to final completion of the plan, the School faculty and staff were invited to review the strategic plan and provide their perspective and feedback.
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Each strategic goal you will read contains several strategic initiatives and numerous action plans. The strategic initiatives and action plans benefit from having additional implementation details recorded in the planning process, to be utilized as the School moves forward on the execution of the strategic plan. Ultimately, the steering committee recommended the following strategic plan to the Board of Trustees, and the Board of Trustees gave its unanimous endorsement.
STRATEGIC GOAL ONE
Inspire Innovation and Excellence throughout the FWCD Experience Review and enhance our educational philosophy through an analysis of current best practices. Implement innovations in education that strengthen the student experience. Continue and reinforce our commitment to excellence in the arts and athletics. Nurture a culture of innovation among faculty and staff. Attract and retain the strongest administrators, faculty and staff through recruitment, retention and professional development.
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STRATEGIC GOAL TWO
Play a More Integral Role in Fort Worth and the Greater Community Commit to graduating “World Ready” students, knowledgeable about and prepared to make important contributions to society, using Fort Worth as a living laboratory. Create ongoing opportunities in our local community that expand our learning experiences beyond the classroom walls. Expand existing and establish new opportunities through formalized interactions of our students with community leaders both on campus and throughout the Fort Worth area. Commit to a substantive servicelearning model based on long-term relationships in the greater community and beyond the berms of FWCD, combining classroom learning goals with community service in ways that can enhance both student growth and the common good.
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STRATEGIC GOAL THREE
Expand Our Access and Diversity Commit to sustaining and growing an intentionally inclusive community. Leverage FWCD’s human, physical and financial resources to expand access to our school throughout the Fort Worth area. Communicate with excellence, both internally and externally, defining and refining our identity and enhancing our strategic communication. Improve accessibility and affordability by growing financial aid and reducing tuition dependence.
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STRATEGIC GOAL FOUR
Assure Sustainability Advance our master planning and facilities enhancements, taking into account our existing needs as well as needs created by an expanded portfolio of curricular, co-curricular and extracurricular programs. Develop and maintain a strategic enrollment management plan and a multiyear financial model that emphasizes strength, fiscal responsibility and multiple revenue sources. Increase our endowment significantly during the next decade. When creating new learning programs, develop an ongoing strategic posture that will simultaneously increase our accessibility, provide for new revenue, and enhance our connection to the local community. Integrate environmental sustainability into the School’s operations.
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