Strategic Agenda 2006-2011
During the 2005/2006 school year, the board, administration, faculty, parents and students of the school embarked on a series of retreats, workshops, meetings and surveys to establish the priorities of the school over the next five years. Although additional specifics will be developed as the plan below unfolds, the short-term future of the school requires attention to the matters identified below.
Marywood-Palm Valley School is an independent, college-preparatory, coeducational, non-denominational pre-school and K-12, which offers a challenging educational program.
Marywood-Palm Valley School:
• Develops intellectual abilities through a passion for learning and critical thinking;
• Inspires individual courage, and respect for others;
• Fosters integrity, compassion and responsibility;
• Nurtures imagination, creative expression and diversity;
• Encourages sense of humor, healthy lifestyles, and physical fitness.
Marywood-Palm Valley School community, (families, staff, and trustees) is committed to an educational environment that reflects these values. Our curriculum empowers our students to be effective citizens as they meet the challenges in an increasingly complex world.
Recruitment and Admissions
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Strategic Goal 1.0: Recruit and sustain a student body composed of 468 students grades PS – 5 (3 classes at each grade), 180 students in grades 6 – 8 (3 classes at each grade), and 160 students in grades 9 – 12 (2 classes at each grade), for a total student population of 808. Class sizes are to be 20 or less at all grade levels.
Objective 1.1: Investigate the cost of establishing an Admission Office, staffed by a professional and experienced admission director, and provide resources required to assure the success of marketing and recruitment efforts.
Objective 1.2: Design a comprehensive marketing plan designed to take into account the regional independent school landscape.
Objective 1.3: Establish and publicize a need-based financial aid program.
Objective 1.4: Work with faculty, staff, and school leadership to define and publicize the unique attributes and features of the MPVS Upper School.
Strategic Goal 2.0 Complete a feasibility study designed to clarify the highest and best use to which the school’s assets can be put, utilizing a two-campus model to ensure maximum flexibility for future growth and development.
Objective 2.1: Retain expertise in facility design and construction to assist in devising alternative options for facility development.
Objective 2.2: Board to endorse one of the several alternatives for facilities development to appropriately serve the needs of the academic, athletic and artistic programs.
Objective 2.3: Develop a phasing program to tie facility development to available capital funds.
Strategic Goal 3.0: Formulate a development program to generate resources needed for capital and endowment funds while simultaneously strengthening alumnae relationships with the school.
Objective 3.1: Hire a professional development director as a full-time staff member.
Objective 3.2: Develop philanthropic spirit among all community stakeholders.
Objective 3.3: Expand and refine existing donor databases.
Objective 3.4: Design an operational plan for recurring development/fund-raising items such as the Annual Fund and the Phoenix Gala.
Objective 3.5: Launch and complete a capital campaign designed to fund the facilities and program vision endorsed by the board.
Strategic Goal 4.0 Build a governance structure and implement practices and policies that support the role of trustees as long term institutional stewards of the school.
Objective 4.1: Appoint an ad hoc Committee on Governance to review and assess the existing board structure, policies, and practices.
Objective 4.2: Clarify and implement newly evaluated structure, policies, and practices.
Objective 4.3: Establish and publish clear and congruent expectations for the board in relation to the head, and for the head in relation to the board, leading to the establishment of an effective board/head partnership.
Objective 4.4: Provide charges for each standing committee of the board, and transfer the results of the ad hoc committee on governance to the Committee on Trustees.
Objective 4.5: Set procedural and communications norms designed to build and sustain a culture of respectful accountability.
Introduction: The heart of a Marywood-Palm Valley education lies in the relationships developed between staff and students. In a small school, in small classes, everyone is a “big fish in a small pond.” Everyone’s opinion is sought and heard and everyone’s participation in a balanced program of academics, arts and athletics is valued. The Lower School emphasizes mastery of the foundation skills of reading, writing and numerical literacy. The Middle School provides support for the development of strong study skills and independent work habits. The Upper School focuses on the advanced thinking skills needed to analyze and synthesize complex information in preparation for a four year college program.
Strategic Goal 5.0: Create a superior preschool to grade 12 program in the valley at each of the Lower, Middle and Upper School levels, supportive of college preparatory student learning and emphatic on the development of skills and values to become positive, contributing citizens.
Objective 5.1: Annually review the consistency and continuity of the curriculum in providing a logical and sequential development of skills and attitudes leading to preparation for college work and a lifetime of learning.
Objective 5.2: Develop an integrated program of opportunities to link the various divisions (Lower, Middle and Upper School) across the school and enhance student movement from one division to the next.
Objective 5.3: Increase emphasis on a seminar-based advanced program for all subjects in grades 11 and 12.
Objective 5.4: Enhance the focus on student success in the Lower School through appropriate class sizes and/or an expanded student support system.
Objective 5.5: Investigate the option of a quality summer program for arts, academic and athletic enrichment.
Staff Compensation/Retention Issues
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Introduction: A major challenge facing all educational institutions in the next 5-10 years is the impending retirement wave that will result in the loss of 30% of all teachers. The ability to attract and retain the very best teachers will be critical to the success of students.
Strategic Goal 6.0 - Ensure that Marywood-Palm Valley students receive the best possible instruction from highly qualified faculty.
Objective 6.1: Create a competitive compensation and benefit package to ensure the school is able to attract and retain outstanding teachers in the face of an impending teacher shortage.
Objective 6.2: Facilitate and encourage academic autonomy and instructional innovation while simultaneously ensuring high quality delivery of academic fundamentals.
Strategic Goal 7.0 – Develop a culture of professionalism for faculty, continuously emphasizing collegial relationships, supporting the instructional needs of staff, and promoting respectful relationships among staff, parents and board.
Objective 7.1: Create private and appropriately equipped spaces for staff to work, meet and socialize.
Objective 7.2: Develop scheduling that provides an opportunity for staff of related subjects or grades to meet.
Objective 7.3: Support the professional growth of staff through continuous investigation and training in instructional strategies that are reflective of the latest research in student learning effectiveness.
Objective 7.4: Establish clear policies and guidelines for parent involvement in the classroom and on both campuses.
Strategic Goal 8.0 - Develop leaders of character who embody and respect the mission-driven values of the school, ie. courage, respect, responsibility, integrity, compassion, creativity, tolerance and humor.
Objective 8.1: Utilize the Eight Points of the Phoenix wings to deepen the community’s understanding of the Marywood-Palm Valley mission through associating each point with one of the mission-driven values above and continuously reinforcing these values through an organized character-development program.
Objective 8.2: Design and implement a substantial service learning program, grades 3 – 12, designed to make Marywood-Palm Valley a significant community citizen.
Objective 8.3: Design and implement an age appropriate program for teaching ethics to all students and reinforcing such community ethics through the effective and continuous review and implementation of an honor code.
Objective 8.4: Create opportunities for exemplary citizenship – on the part of students and adults – to be acknowledged and honored.
Strategic Goal 9.0 – Develop a program consistent with the mission of the school to initiate and continuously educate parents on school culture and issues of importance in raising and educating children.
Objective 9.1: Finalize a motto for the school that embodies the most important elements of the school culture and is clearly understood and manifested by staff, students and parents.
Objective 9.2: Enhance communication between the school and the home and design and implement policies to encourage parent involvement but limit parent interference.
Objective 9.3: Create an annual series of parent lectures/workshops to help parents and staff understand the developmental stages of students and the appropriate actions to take to help them grow in a safe and healthy manner.
Objective 9.4: Continuously enhance internal school communication to provide parents with timely and appropriate information to help them understand the mission, events and future needs of the school.
