20 22
Giddens School Strategic Plan
ROADMAP
Building Giddens' Future
For over four decades, Giddens School has graduated students who know, who do, who care. Our graduates possess the knowledge and passion to work for a better, more just future. We strive to plant the seeds of action for social justice and equity while attending to each student’s academic, and social and emotional needs and strengths. At this writing, a global pandemic continues to impact us all, across all dimensions of education, family, health, life, and community - an experience that could easily upend our sense of place in the world. We are not all impacted equally, in this as in all areas, and the call to bravely work yet harder toward racial equity rings loud. We renew our strategic plan mindful of this time and in this place, grateful for the rich history Giddens offers us to face this moment - humbly, yet confidently; justifiably proud of our accomplishments, and fully aware of so much vital work yet to be done. Over the last three years, we have secured our forever home - four words that cannot begin to describe the work of strategic planning, relationship-building, fundraising, constructing, and relocating to our new building. We have invested in the recruitment, development, and retention of excellent teachers and staff members, and we have added skilled, experienced team members to strengthen further our academic, social-emotional development, and justice work. By including Extended Day into our base tuition, we have significantly increased our ability to support families before and after the school day. Like a tapestry, these accomplishments are made possible with strong threads -- enrollment, advancement, and communications -- ceaseless work that continues to solidify our understanding of who we are and what makes Giddens Giddens. As you learn more about the four strategic initiatives of our newly extended plan— Inspired Teaching and Learning, Clear and Compelling Identity, Strong Community Connections, and Financial Strength—we hope you will join the Board of Trustees and the Leadership Team as we continue the work of building the future of Giddens School. Sincerely,
Morva McDonald Head of School
Brenda Cram Associate Head of School
Alex Samano Chair, Board of Trustees
Who We Are Uniquely Giddens Giddens School, founded in 1972 as the Happy Medium School, is a Preschool through 5th Grade independent school located in the heart of Seattle, Washington.
Mission
Vision
Through joy and discovery, Giddens School nurtures and develops academically and emotionally confident children who effectively advocate for themselves and others.
Giddens School, grounded in equity and justice, inspires children to actively engage in bettering their world.
Values Student Centered Giddens students are the center of a dynamic and engaging inquiry and experiential learning environment where their ideas, voice, creativity, sense of wonder, and identities are honored and nurtured. Whole Child At Giddens we celebrate each child’s uniqueness. We attend to the whole child, focusing on intellectual growth as well as on social and emotional development. We create teaching and learning spaces that inspire the joy of discovery and help students to appreciate their individual character and strengths as well as to be open to others’ ideas, perspectives, and unique approaches. Active and Engaged Community Our community is one of our greatest strengths. It is not simply a collection of families; it’s everyone – students, faculty, staff, families, and other community partners – working, playing, and learning together and from each other. Our community is a focal point of cultural and civic engagement and celebration where we also tend to the work of relationship building, dialogue, and understanding. It is the collective work and effort of everyone.
Equity and Access Equity and access are core values, policies, and practices that guide our social justice work at Giddens. We have a strong commitment to creating a more inclusive and socio-economically diverse school community, which is reflected in the admissions and financial aid policies. Working towards a more accepting and just community is also a key part of our school’s mission and identity. This work is reflected in our everyday practices – in our curriculum, in our professional development, in how we treat one another, and in our community engagement – which help our students to care about the world and be the seeds of change. Diversity and Inclusion Our diversity is an integral part of our curriculum and everyday experience at Giddens. We embrace diversity – such as racial, ethnic, gender identification, sexual orientation, religious, and socio-economic diversity – and continue to work towards creating a school that is reflective of the culturally rich and vibrant communities in which our school is located. We believe that the best learning happens in a diverse, inclusive, and caring school environment which provides ample opportunities for students to take risks, build understanding across boundaries, and be more open and caring members of the school, community, and our multicultural society.
Our Approach to Education Integrated Academics Since its inception, Giddens School’s approach to teaching and learning has been steeped in the educational philosophy promoted by John Dewey and commonly referred to as progressive education. Progressive education is grounded by the following tenets: Since its inception, Giddens School’s approach to teaching and learning has been steeped in the educational philosophy promoted by John Dewey and commonly referred to as progressive education. Progressive education is grounded by the following tenets: respect for diversity and a commitment that each individual should be seen for their ideas, interests, needs, and identities, and the development of a critical stance that allows individuals to participate fully and intelligently in a democracy. Schools that adhere to a progressive philosophy prepare children to become citizens who fully participate in democratic institutions and ways of life. They do this by attending to the development of children’s intellect and also to their social and emotional development. Progressive educators understand children as whole beings that need support, care, and challenge to thrive in all the ways they are able. In short, progressive education focuses on the whole child and the development of that child to become a productive citizen in a democracy.
The Three Pillars While grounded in progressive philosophy, over the past 40 years Giddens has adapted the tenets of progressive education to reflect the most up-to-date innovations in curriculum and pedagogy. At Giddens, our academic approach is grounded in three core pillars that support excellence in learning. We prepare students with deep knowledge and understanding of the core content areas of schooling: mathematics, science, social studies, and literacy. Additionally, the process of learning to learn is central at Giddens. We support students to understand who they are as learners so that they can advocate for themselves. We support social and emotional learning by working with students to develop their own understanding of who they are in relation to learning, to their communities, and to the world. We engage students to understand the world through a social justice lens. This lens provides Giddens students with guideposts for understanding and actively participating in a democratic society.
This is an integrated academic approach. None of these three pillars stand alone at Giddens. They are not separate pieces of a pie, but rather the weft and the warp that is woven by teachers and students as they collaborate to learn.
Relationships between teachers and students, and students and students, are at the heart of productive, thriving learning environments at Giddens
Collaboration and Learning Collaboration is key. Learning at Giddens is not a teacher standing up in the front of a classroom and imparting knowledge to students. Nor is it students deciding on their own what or how they should learn. It is a collaboration of a particular kind. Teachers with expertise about content and student development intentionally orchestrate learning tasks for individual students and groups of children. Teacher decisions about instruction in this way are intended to stretch children without overwhelming them. It’s also the collaboration between students and their teacher. It’s a teacher learning about students –who they are, what they want to learn, how they learn—and organizing curriculum in ways that engage students fully –in ways that help students feel seen inside of the everyday learning of classrooms. It is also the collaboration between students and students. All learning takes place in a social context and student-to-student interaction, problem
Since 1972, Giddens has adapted tenets of progressive education to reflect the most up-to-date innovations in curriculum and pedagogy.
solving together, challenging each other, and talking about what they are learning is fundamental to providing the highest quality contexts for learning. Relationships between teachers and students and students and students are at the heart of productive, thriving learning environments at Giddens. Progressive education grounds our work at Giddens. Always at the center of our decisions is the perspective that we are educating the whole child—all of who a child is and can be. Always at the center of our decisions is the perspective of how we support students to be and become citizens who actively engage in advocating for themselves and others. Always at the center of our decisions is the perspective of what do students need to know about the content in order to engage intellectually in school and beyond.
2022 Roadmap The Opportunity Giddens celebrates a long history as a school committed to academics and learning, social and emotional development, and justice. For the past 40 years, Giddens has fostered young people who are secure in themselves, value difference and embrace diversity, think critically about the world around them, and possess both the knowledge and passion to work for progress. In the context of an increasingly global, interconnected, and diverse future, the work of Giddens is as important as ever before. Now is the time to renew and refine Giddens’ commitment to an ambitious education that integrates an academically rich curriculum with justice and caring. As we look to 2022, we stand at a unique juncture in our history, with many exciting opportunities before us including a new home for our community, visionary school leadership and faculty committed to our mission and goals, and
heightened awareness and demand for equity and justice in our world. Along with these opportunities comes the responsibility to take the steps necessary to reach Giddens’ potential. This plan is articulated in our strategic priorities and includes four pillars: renewing and expanding our commitment to inspired teaching and learning; articulating and communicating a clear and compelling school identity; fostering strong community connections; and ensuring a solid financial base and long-term stability for our school.
Strategic Priorities
1
Inspired Teaching and Learning
2
Clear and Compelling Identity
3
Strong Community Connections
4
Financial Strength
Advance and expand our commitment to Giddens School integrated approach to educating children
Articulate and communicate Giddens School unique and authentic brand and identity
Cultivate and support a diverse and inclusive community and provide opportunities for meaningful engagement
Ensure a solid and permanent financial base and achieve long-term financial sustainability consistent with the Giddens School mission, values, and goals
1
Strategic Priorities
Inspired Teaching and Learning Advance and expand our commitment to Giddens School integrated approach to educating children
At Giddens, we educate the whole child. We’re a community of students, families, teachers and staff, and neighbors. As a community, an essential goal of ours is to teach children to become responsible, independent, caring, resilient, and informed citizens. This goal is met with an integrated approach toward teaching fundamental skills through our three pillars of education: 1) content knowledge, 2) social emotional growth, and 3) social justice. We understand that for each child to have a happy and formative experience at Giddens that sets them up for success at the next grade level and beyond the school walls, the team and the tools for educating them need to be the right fit. This begins with a dedicated and diverse faculty, investing in their continued development to stay relevant in the global community, and valuing their contributions. It’s empowering teachers in all aspects of their work as professionals, and supporting them in their continued professional development. Ultimately, it means a fully realized, consistently implemented and clearly communicated integrated education approach.
Objectives and Outcomes 1. Value and invest in the potential of teachers. Recruit diverse faculty representative of the student population and surrounding community. Provide opportunities for teachers to specialize in a topic of social justice (e.g. race relations, gender expression/identity, gender equality, sexual orientation, access to justice, etc.); celebrate this specialized knowledge through presentations in the classroom for students, school events for families, and local and national conferences for colleagues; and recognize this specialized knowledge by title (e.g. K/1 Teacher and Gender Specialist). Establish base compensation for teachers commensurate with peer institutions. Measure additional teacher compensation on the pursuit and utilization of specialized development opportunities.
2. Trust in and empower teachers to personalize their experiences and responsibilities. Provide in-house support and coaching driven by teacher inquiry. Offer teachers opportunities to observe and learn in other classrooms and schools. Create a teaching internship program, which will provide assistance and mentoring opportunities for senior teachers, and establish a pipeline of incoming teachers who understand the Giddens teaching philosophy and style. Designate teachers to organize monthly community building activities with colleagues. Ensure teachers have the resources needed to perform their jobs well (access to curriculum, supplies, comfortable work spaces, appropriate technology, etc.)
3. Work to realize an integrated approach to learning at every level of the program. Create an integration plan for individual subject areas and benchmarks for the three pillars. Offer planning and learning time to help teachers implement integrated curriculum units. Define a means of sharing the content of these grade band units with specialist teachers and extended day teachers to ensure integration throughout the day. Communicate our learning approach to families on a consistent basis to include an understanding of benchmarks for the three pillars.
2
Strategic Priorities
Clear and Compelling Identity Articulate and communicate Giddens’ unique and authentic brand and identity.
Giddens School has historically been and continues to be a community committed to diversity, inclusion, and social justice. To those who know us, we are appreciated for our commitment to teaching practices that nurture and engage children in becoming empathetic, caring individuals who are willing to stand up for themselves and for others, and for our generous financial aid policies that provide access to a quality education for students who might not otherwise be able to afford to attend. We have not, however, consistently and coherently communicated these unique and differentiating aspects of our identity to the community, partially contributing to Giddens remaining a ‘best kept secret’ to many prospective families who might find our educational approach to be a good fit with their values. We must simplify our brand identity and bring it to life by sharing the lived experience of Giddens students, families and educators. We seek to refine and amplify our communication and messaging, and to invest in tools that support consistent delivery and greater intentionality with regard to our outreach and admissions strategies.
Objectives and Outcomes 1. Simplify Giddens’ brand identity and bring it to life through clear and compelling visuals and stories. Ensure that the mission statement articulates our unique approach to education. Identify and highlight Giddens’ truly distinguishing features; seek professional design and messaging help to do this. Develop and share specific stories that demonstrate the short and long term impact of Giddens’ approach, so people can see how the approach, mission and values are played out on a daily basis. Design the school’s new facilities to reflect messages and visuals that bring our identity, mission and values to life.
2. Ensure that the simplified brand messaging is consistent across all printed and electronic mediums and consistently shared with external stakeholders by our community. Update website, promotional materials, and information shared at open houses and tours to reflect Giddens’ unique identity. Maintain impeccable consistency in messaging across constituencies: families, prospective parents, alums, donors, middle schools and the local neighborhood. Provide tools and tips to enable faculty, staff, and parents to authentically and confidently represent Giddens School.
3. Increase applications and enrollment through effective outreach efforts and refining strategic admissions practices to reach more families Use data-based analysis to refine strategic admissions practices to meet enrollment targets. Build out a customer profile and use this to inform strategies for recruitment through tactics such as advertising, tours and open houses.
3
Strategic Priorities
Strong Community Connections Cultivate and support a diverse and inclusive community and provide opportunities for meaningful engagement.
At the heart of Giddens, it is about a community – faculty, students, staff, families, and community partners – intentionally coming together to create and support a deep, enriching, and engaging learning experience for our students as well as to foster an inviting and inclusive space that sparks conversations, ideas, imagination, and possibility for everyone. And in creating and sustaining a community with a common vision of equity and inclusion for our school and the communities around us, we focus our efforts on forming authentic relationships and establishing strong communication. At Giddens, we recognize that each of us comes to this space from different social, economic, and cultural background and location and that each of us sees, hears, experiences, and interprets things differently. We are committed to continuing to find ways to honor and support different ideas and points of view that are aligned with our mission and vision. The work of building a welcoming, inclusive, fun, and engaged school community is tremendous and takes more than faculty and staff alone; it involves everyone. We encourage and rely on our families to support and take part in carrying out ideas and events that help advance our school’s goals and objectives.
Objectives and Outcomes 1. Create an environment where everyone can feel safe, welcome, respected, and excited to take part in the school.
Continue to have a strong staff presence to welcome families at the start of each day. Strive to recruit diverse faculty, staff, and leadership that is representative of the student population and surrounding community. Continue to highlight and display students’ work throughout the school to help students and families feel that their voices, experiences, and ideas are included and valued in the learning process. Continue to host and promote social and community events, such as, morning sing, annual picnic, class potlucks, The Arts Festival, and the all-school field trip to strengthen connections and relationships. Consider equity and accessibility in designing and implementing all community events.
2. Ensure that consistent, timely, and accurate communication is occurring between families and the school – faculty, staff, and school leadership.
Develop clear communication expectations and methods between the school – leadership, staff, and faculty – and families. Review and share these expectations with families throughout the year. Create and share more explicit community norms and expectations on how members should communicate and interact with one another at Giddens. Create and share a communication plan and set of appropriate actions that guide the decision-making process in resolving difficult problems and conflicts that may impact multiple groups at Giddens or the school as a whole. Review expectations throughout the year.
3. Provide opportunities for families to engage with the school in ways that are meaningful and support the school’s goals.
Work with the Giddens Community Association to ensure that its structure and functions offer varied volunteer and engagement opportunities that support classrooms and school-wide efforts as well as provide occasions for volunteering families to have fun and build stronger connections. Ensure that events and volunteer opportunities occur in a wide variety of times and places, to accommodate diverse family schedules, interests, and needs. Continue to provide educational and informational sessions, such as Gidden’s View Live, curriculum night, and others to help families better understand the school’s approaches to curriculum, social and emotional development, discipline, anti-bias pedagogy, and other topics. Provide opportunities for adult-only interactions that encourage learning and reflection and action around substantive issues that resonate with the Giddens community and mission.
4
Strategic Priorities
Financial Strength Ensure a solid, permanent financial base and achieve long-term financial sustainability consistent with the Giddens School mission, values, and strategic goals.
In the next three years, we must build a stronger financial foundation to deliver on our mission and the priorities of this strategic plan. While Giddens has been financially stable and improved its financial governance in recent years, renewed and enhanced focus on financial strength is crucial at this moment, especially as we embark on a capital project and move into a new space. Innovation, flexibility, creativity, living our values, managing financial sustainability over the long term – these are essential to our success as a school and require an evolved understanding of financial strength and well-being. We must embrace a longterm growth and investment strategy. To do this, we must budget for future capital needs as well as current operations, reach and maintain optimal enrollment, cultivate and grow our donor base through communitybased campaigns that emphasize philanthropy, and reaffirm and codify our commitment to sustainable financial aid policies.
Objectives and Outcomes 1. Budget for annual operations and future capital needs.
Maximize operating efficiency and learning and teaching outcomes from each year’s operating budget. Generate annual financial surpluses to service new building financial structure, enhance reserve funds, and invest in future capital projects. Build budgets that are in alignment with current enrollment and programs, the strategic plan and built on realistic forecasting and goals. Articulate and refresh our measures of financial health based upon the school’s current and prospective financial condition and strategy.
2. Reach and maintain optimal enrollment
Continue to refine the enrollment management plan. Assess annual tuition in the range charged by peer schools. Continually “right size” program costs and commitments consistent with actual enrollment. Ensure current families receive timely and relevant information that supports student retention as they advance year to year, articulating how Giddens’ integrated academic model prepares them for middle school and beyond.
3. Reaffirm our commitment to sustainable financial aid policies that make Giddens accessible to a diverse student body Create and articulate policies that clarify the purpose of financial aid and describe the necessary processes and practices that can be replicated year to year. Communicate clearly and regularly our values, approach, and any significant changes to our approach, to the school community. Evaluate current approaches, models, policies and 'best practices' of peer schools regarding financial aid, and recommend changes to the current policy as needed.
4. Cultivate and continue to grow Giddens’ donor base and culture of philanthropy
Assess ways to maximize philanthropy within the school’s community, refining the traditional vehicles (annual fund, auction, and in-person asks) to stay fresh and effective. Continue the cultivation and stewardship work begun in the capital campaign, and use this base as the start of an ongoing and robust major gifts program. Provide opportunities for ongoing community engagement, learning opportunities, and social connections among and between current families, alumni families, and other donors, to steward a culture of philanthropy.
Building Giddens' future, together.
Acknowledgments This Strategic Plan is the result of many months of work and the contributions of many committed people. It was initially developed over the 2016-17 academic year by a Strategic Planning Committee made up of nine Giddens parents, faculty, staff, and board members (listed below). Committee members volunteered many hours of their time to collect and analyze feedback, discuss strategies and approaches, and craft this plan. Each one of them made a significant contribution, and we thank them all. Giddens School Strategic Planning Committee: Ken Bender, Director of Extended Day and Summer Programs Orest Holubec, Parent Ruth Lockwood, Board Member & Parent Dr. Morva McDonald, Head of School Emily McKenzie, Parent Diem Nguyen, Parent Dan Reich, K/1 Teacher Anne Sarewitz, Board Chair Jessica Young, Board Member, Chair of Strategic Planning Committee The committee is grateful for the input and ideas of the many parents, staff, faculty, board members, and community members who agreed to be interviewed, filled out surveys, participated in in-person input gathering sessions, and reviewed drafts of this document. The resulting document is truly a community effort! The strategic planning process was co-facilitated by Emily Anthony Consulting and Edsforth Consulting, who were honored to have the opportunity to work with the Giddens School on this plan.
2120 21st Avenue South, Seattle, Washington 98144 206.324.4847 | info@giddensschool.org giddensschool.org