Our Home, Our Future S TR ATEG IC PL A N
January 2017 Dear St. Andrew’s School Community, We are very pleased to present to you St. Andrew’s School’s five-year Strategic Plan. In harmony with the St. Andrew’s School mission and traditions, the plan articulates five goals for institutional improvement with a focus on financial sustainability, curriculum and pedagogy, identity, technology, and personnel. The result is a dynamic blueprint designed to ensure the future health and growth of St. Andrew’s School and provide us with a direction and focus that will enhance current programming, inform operating plans, and build and strengthen our community. It was in the creation of this plan that we were able to imagine our future and discover ways to grow, to become stronger, and to truly fulfill the Chapin Tradition that makes St. Andrew’s so special. As we move from planning to implementation, we welcome your input and encourage everyone to participate enthusiastically and thoughtfully in helping shape a robust future for St. Andrew’s School. Our tireless Strategic Planning Committee — comprised of faculty, staff, administrators, and trustees — having identified both the opportunities available to St. Andrew’s and the challenges facing the institution, as well as considering affordability, access, inclusion, our legacy and
Board of Trustees academic mission, and, of course, our commitment to the whole student, has designed a plan that will impact our community most profoundly. This plan reflects a lengthy review and consideration of survey data, National Association of Independent School trends, the budget, past accreditation reports, and solicited feedback from major stakeholder groups, as well as intensive discussion and engagement with the St. Andrew’s community at large. The result is a multi-faceted and forward-looking vision, one that includes a set of goals and initiatives to move us forward to benefit each and every member of the St. Andrew’s School community. Sincerely, David Tinagero Headmaster
Anton P. Giedt
Board President
Officers Anton P. Giedt, President Nina Brodeur, Vice President Eric B. Mack ‘00, Secretary Joel E. Legon, Treasurer
Charter Trustees David A. Brown ‘52 Pamela C. Faulkner Alfred B. Van Liew Margot F. Wolf
Trustees John S. Harker Audrey Kupchan Sara Shea McConnell Karen A. Pelczarski Mark A. Ross Benjamin C. White ‘08
Trustees Ex Officio
We thank the members of the Strategic Planning Committee: Ryan Alescio, Faculty Audrey Berry, Faculty Matthew Cerullo, Faculty Pam Faulkner, Board Member Abdou Lo, Faculty Susan McGann, Faculty
Michael Morin, Administration Stephanie Morin, Administration Karen Pelczarski, Board Member Jamie Sweirk, Faculty Robert Tisdale, Faculty
The Right Rev. W. Nicholas Knisely, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island The Rev. Robert K. Marshall, Rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church, Barrington, RI
President Emeritus Norman E. McCulloch, Jr.
The Chapin Tradition Forged from our founder’s deep compassion and generous spirit, the Chapin Tradition is an ethos where problemsolving and resilience are valued and each student’s self-reliant spirit is developed and celebrated. It is characterized by an enduring commitment to service, action, and inclusion.
Conceived to change the fortunes of a single orphaned
our commitment
child, today St. Andrew’s is carried forward by an enduring and evolving mission to welcome children of many cultures, any faith tradition, all socioeconomic backgrounds, and a wide range of learning profiles.
our vision The Chapin Tradition will live everywhere at St. Andrew’s. It will imbue our curriculum, invigorate our faculty, and challenge our students in a place we call home. Cultivating their individual strengths and talents, our students will confidently and courageously go forward as agents of change — transforming themselves, their communities, and our world.
Our Goals
Support professional development by creating and implementing an innovative evaluation and coaching process for all St. Andrew‘s employees.
Determine the feasibility of a teaching and learning center that will provide all faculty and staff access to resources to produce research-based, innovative, 21st-century strategies to achieve teaching excellence, thereby transforming St. Andrew’s into a hub of educational expertise.
Develop a transparent compensation and benefit system to ensure competitiveness in the regional independent school market. This will include tuition reimbursement options for those looking to further their education, as well as a comprehensive wellness program.
our people
The people of St. Andrew‘s are dedicated and exemplary professionals who carry forth the Chapin Tradition through their commitment to professional growth and the acquisition of expertise. We look to be educational leaders, addressing the unique needs of individual students, and continuing to build on the institution’s strengths and its people’s rare abilities to recognize, engage, and amplify each child’s potential. To this end, we ensure support, training, evaluation, and competitive compensation for our faculty and staff.
Create a diversity program to celebrate the multiculturalism of the St. Andrew’s community in tandem with our legacy of inclusion.
our practice At its core, St. Andrew’s is a center of learning whose purpose is to motivate, engage, and empower its Saints to go forward as prepared and educated agents of change with a strong sense of purpose. The institution will define and articulate the St. Andrew‘s pedagogy. Along with a meaningful integration of technology, we will create systems of continuous curricular improvement delivered through researched best practices to ensure a tailored academic experience for each student in small, intimately-staged classes.
Define an overarching curricular structure and pedagogy, ensuring that the curriculum is aligned and sequenced with Chapin Tradition. This will include the examination of our current master schedule.
Establish and adopt core and mastery achievement standards, benchmarks, and common language while ensuring vertical and horizontal alignment of grades 6-12 (cross disciplinary, including learning services).
Integrate technology throughout the curriculum by adopting a device requirement policy, offering relevant courses, and providing the associated professional development.
Develop the necessary tools to collect and analyze longitudinal student data for achievement.
Expand and enhance our postgraduate program.
Enhance morning meeting, review the advising program, and initiate an annual school-wide orientation to ensure that student connections are aligned to the Chapin Tradition.
Revise the code of conduct to reflect the Chapin Tradition.
Develop a Chapin Program that will require each student to engage in annual service experiences both in
our home
St. Andrew’s is home to all of its students. It thoughtfully and consistently offers opportunities for education and growth outside of the classroom, encouraging and expecting all of its Saints to learn, take risks, and challenge themselves in safe, supportive environments. The community fully believes in the importance of co-curricular offerings as an integral part of “whole-person” development.
and outside the classroom.
Optimize use of existing facilities and explore the possibility of creating new facilities, including a new student center and additional faculty housing to enhance the student experience.
Continue the creation of robust co-curricular programming in alignment with the Chapin Tradition, including a student leadership program, a student work program, and a spiritual life program.
Use existing space and develop innovative programs to accommodate an increase in the number of boarding students in both the middle and upper schools.
Create comprehensive and intentional internal and external communication plans to highlight and celebrate school-wide accomplishments.
Develop partnership programs with the town of Barrington, the state of Rhode Island, and local colleges and universities to affirm the mission and purpose of St. Andrew’s.
our reach To ensure that the institution’s mission and accomplishments are clearly communicated and widely understood, St. Andrew‘s will meaningfully and purposefully engage with local, regional, and global communities.
Establish programs to create opportunities for external community members to visit the St. Andrew’s campus and meet members of its community.
Expand the institution’s parent and alumni groups to include those beyond New England and empower the members of each group to become effective ambassadors for St. Andrew’s. Additionally, provide opportunities for parents and alumni to engage in school life.
our future
St. Andrew’s believes that it must continue to develop an infrastructure that addresses programmatic and support services while allowing for institutional growth and flexibility, all to ensure long-term financial sustainability.