A FRAMEWORK FOR OUR FUTURE STRATEGIC PLAN 2020-2025
ADOPTED BY THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES ON DECEMBER 17, 2019
CLAIMING OUR FUTURE
The King School Strategic Plan 2020-2025 is an innovative framework for the future of the school. This plan was informed by the experiences and perspectives of all constituencies – current students, parents, faculty, and staff, as well as alumni and parents of alumni from all of our founding institutions that were the King, Low Heywood, and Thomas schools. The plan was developed through the partnership between the Board of Trustees and the school’s leadership, supported by consultant Ian Symmonds and his team.
This plan articulates a vision for King’s future that leverages our strengths and successes and positions us to make bold and courageous choices to best prepare our students for the world they will inherit.
First and foremost, we reaffirm our goal to provide an unparalleled student experience as our top priority. To achieve our vision, we strive to be the country’s leading researchfocused independent school. We commit to an inquiry-based approach to teaching and learning that is anchored in discovery and exploration and develops in our students the mindset and ability to ask questions, seek answers, investigate, and apply knowledge to solve real-world problems.
Through this process, students in PreK through Grade 12 build mastery as they leverage curiosity, engage in experiential learning, and analyze and synthesize information to find meaning and take action. This approach leads to highly engaged students who have a greater sense of purpose, possess advanced critical thinking skills, and are guided by a deep understanding of themselves as learners.
As a research-focused academic institution, King School students engage in research both in the classroom and through partnerships with renowned research institutions. The school is also committed to keeping up with the latest research in the fields of education and child development to ensure that best practices continue to be applied in our academic program as well as in every other area of the school.
The 2020 - 2025 King School Strategic Plan weaves together the imperative of Academic Excellence with:
Wellness to sustain it;
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging to enrich it;
Athletics and Community Partnerships to enhance it;
Strategic Enrollment Management to fulfill it;
Financial Sustainability and Facilities Development to support it;
Institutional Identity to share our pride in who we are.
The King culture has given me the courage and the confidence to ask questions, to make mistakes, to be wrong, and to explore new possibilities.
-Annie Upper School
4
ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE
Academic Excellence is at the heart of our strategic vision. Students will engage meaningfully and collaboratively in project- and research-based learning experiences that will enable them to gain a deep understanding across the liberal arts and sciences while building research and digital literacies, academic acumen, socialemotional competency, and leadership skills.
King students will continue to build foundations of content mastery and self-knowledge that equip them to construct new understandings, ask the right questions, innovatively solve complex problems, and become empathetic leaders of change.
The initiatives listed in this plan are essential pillars for the realization of this goal and must work in conjunction to support it.
5
WELLNESS
Physical and mental health are interconnected and essential for students and adults to thrive academically, professionally, socially, and emotionally. Overall wellness combines a sense of well-being and fulfillment in all of these areas and is essential in the individual and collective advancement of our strategic goals.
Broadening our focus to the wellness of our whole community of students and adults, we will inspire the development of fulfilled young people who embody a sense of purpose and who maintain wellness and balance in all aspects of their lives.
The kids here really encourage each other. Everyone here is interdependent and open to other opinions.
-Varun Lower School
6
DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION, AND BELONGING
Experiencing a sense of belonging is essential for students to strive for academic excellence and for children and adults to grow and thrive in every area of their lives.
As a school focused on providing a deeply engaged student experience, King School will continue its commitment to fostering a respectful and inclusive environment where every voice is heard, respected, and valued.
Ensuring that we are welcoming of all, we will leverage new approaches to understand the myriad of ways in which community members experience life at King and beyond and respond appropriately to the needs of our community.
King students will be challenged to think critically and consider multiple perspectives and, as a result, will learn more – and more deeply – as they prepare to enter a world where they will navigate difference on a daily basis.
7
COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS
King School believes in the importance of teaching students to become agents of change and contributing members of their communities. The school also recognizes that through engagement in real-world experiences, students can apply and expand their research skills and knowledge.
We will develop a network of partnerships to enable King students to experience meaningful work in action and better understand how dedication, collaboration, and empathy create positive change in the world. This kind of real-world experience will fundamentally contribute to our students’ understanding of topics and industries as well as to their overall academic, social, and emotional preparedness.
8
ATHLETICS
King School recognizes that a robust and holistic athletic program teaches leadership, teamwork, and collaboration; helps students improve academic performance, and supports a life of health and wellness. An established and reputable athletic program can also help the school increase community spirit, strengthen its institutional identity, and support strategic enrollment goals.
Recognizing that all of these benefits are key in the advancement of our strategic vision, King School will strengthen the competitiveness and consistency of performance for our athletic program, particularly in terms of student-athlete leadership, wellness, and commitment, while continuing to support and grow our pool of talented coaches, and raising school spirit and Viking Pride. We will also continue to help launch our most dedicated and successful athletes onward to careers in college and beyond.
9
STRATEGIC ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT
By designing and implementing a long-term, strategic enrollment model, King School will ensure financial stability; enrich its diverse student body; provide an inclusive approach to financial access; attract and retain the most talented students, faculty, and staff; deliver the most robust and relevant academic experience for King students and position King for success in its institutional advancement efforts.
FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY
We will maintain our commitment to responsible and strategic financial management by focusing on implementing best practices to make King School compelling and accessible to the most talented students and continuing to make intentional and mission-aligned financial investments and decisions that simultaneously address the current needs of the school in advancement of our strategic vision.
10
The Model United Nations simulation helps us understand major global issues and how we can help. I learned that in order to make a great resolution, you have to collaborate with others and listen to their opinions, even if you may disagree.
-Devon Middle School
11
FACILITIES DEVELOPMENT
We envision facilities that can accommodate new and existing programs that align with our strategic goals; incorporate the necessary elements for innovative, inquirybased teaching and learning; support a variety of research-based teaching methods, and allow students to explore different approaches to a deeper understanding of themselves and the world around them. Our plan envisions flexible indoor and outdoor spaces that can help promote academic success and wellness by boosting engagement, motivation, creativity, and collaboration. Additionally, these new and renovated facilities will strengthen King School’s reputation and institutional identity, which will help support the school’s strategic enrollment goals by attracting the most talented and mission-aligned students, faculty, and staff.
12
INSTITUTIONAL IDENTITY
As King School advances all of the goals and pillars in the strategic vision, we will develop an intentional and purposeful plan to define and articulate the school’s institutional identity.
Through a defined identity, King will strengthen its reputation and differentiate its position within the market. The ability to articulate King’s value proposition as a student-centered, research-focused institution that places academic excellence at its core and emphasizes wellness and inclusion will be essential components of our strategic enrollment and advancement efforts. The value proposition around the strategic vision will reinforce the reputation of a school that nurtures a love of learning and rallies around its virtues of Integrity, Kindness, Perseverance, and Respect.
As part of the plan to strengthen the school’s institutional identity, we will create opportunities to tell the King School story and champion a cohesive and compelling message that encapsulates our ultimate goal to prepare students to thrive in a rapidly changing world.
13
14
A Special Thanks to Our Community
Providing a long-range view of future school priorities, the King School Strategic Plan 2020-2025 is the collective, comprehensive effort of the entire King community.
We are grateful for the thoughtful input from our community of parents, trustees, students, faculty and staff, alumni, and parents of alumni who contributed through surveys (1,000+ responses), focus groups, and working sessions.
We are thankful for the leadership and vision of our Strategic Planning Steering Committee members. In partnership with Ian Symmonds & Associates, a leading firm in the field of strategic planning for educational institutions, our Steering Committee reflected on extensive input from our community plus focused on competitive and educational landscape analysis, SWOT analysis, demographic trends, market segmentation, and trends in the independent school and the education sectors.
The Board of Trustees, Head of School, leadership team, faculty and staff, and our whole community, will continue to partner in the months and years ahead to achieve the bold vision and forward momentum propelled by the King School Strategic Plan 2020-2025.
15
