Strategic Planning at MCS
The Board of Trustees is ultimately responsible for having a Strategic
Plan in place. At MCS, the Strategic Plan guides the energies of
the entire community. At the August, 2007 Retreat, a group of the
faculty, administration, MCA, Board, and many parents and other
community members drafted a Strategic Plan, shown below. Meanwhile,
the faculty and administration is conducting the Self-Study that
will ultimately lead to reaccreditation by the American Montessori
Society (AMS). Once the Self-Study has studied the school's program
and services from a Montessori perspective, the Strategic Plan will
be finalized.
The current DRAFT is below:
MONTESSORI COMMUNITY SCHOOL
STRATEGIC PLAN
DRAFT Sept. 4, 2007
The following goals emerged from the Strategic Planning Retreat
August 24th and 25th. Twenty-eight Board members, faculty, administrators,
and parents, invited because of their long-term commitment and involvement
with the school, participated in these brainstorming sessions.
The sentences following each heading summarize the major themes
within that section. The bullets within each section are not in
any order of priority.
MCS by 2012 will:
FACILITIES: New facilities, thoughtfully conceived,
on an enlarged campus will better support a Montessori program.
The Green property is seen as an opportunity that will sustain the
model program and support greater enrollment. An emphasis on the
outdoor environments, adequate maintenance, and classroom materials
are critical to a model Montessori program.
• Complete the Capital Campaign and raise the money to build the
new Fine Arts Center.
• Develop a long-term comprehensive facilities and maintenance plan.
Top-notch facilities is an important component of a Montessori environment,
and addressing maintenance issues is important to the faculty and
to our efforts to gradually increase enrollment. Continue efforts
to refresh and renew materials in classrooms, maintain high aesthetic
standards, provide storage space, replace worn materials, etc.
• Enhance our outdoor facilities beginning with classroom outdoor
environments.
• Build a middle school facility on the Green property that truly
enhances the adolescent program.
• Develop a new Campus Master Plan with an architect that integrates
the current campus with the adjacent Green property and is visually
cohesive, beautiful, and includes age-appropriate outdoor environments
for all classrooms, better traffic patterns and parking, a green
space (with the ability to maintain plant life in the summer),
EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM: An expanded scope and a gradually expanded
enrollment will both broaden the appeal of MCS, but also support
better utilization of facilities. A more clearly delineated scope
and sequence will assure consistent delivery of a model Montessori
program.
• Stabilize at an expanded enrollment that will support in an ideal
way a strong Montessori program. (Visions of this enrollment include
possibilities such as an expanded toddler program, an infant program,
expanded enrollment “at the bottom of the pyramid”, two UE sections
in the 600 building, plus a new Middle School facility.). Aim to
reduce annual attrition to 10%.
• Expand the scope of the programs with an emphasis on integrated
outdoor learning, greater options (afternoon and/or after school
so as not to interrupt the work cycle), a stronger physical development
and team sports component, stronger foreign language, research skills
(library), world awareness, and community service components.
• Improve the scope and sequence of our curriculum. This includes
looking hard at subjects we teach in specials, as well as topics
not yet addressed. Examine topics such as supplementary languages,
library and information science, health, safety, arts, music, practical
life, leadership skills, and peacemaking.
• Develop enhanced summer programs, possibly including programs
for non-MCS children, that would use MCS facilities more fully,
provide service to the community, meet the demand for summer care,
provide an opportunity to show the school to non-Montessori families.
• Incorporate the wetlands into the educational program.
• Consider having all the Primary environments end the day at 3:00
and have those students who require late-day/after school programs
from all classrooms be in a late-day program that draws from all
the Primary environments. Consider offering a language immersion
program at that time.
PEOPLE: Our people are the core of our community,
and all efforts to develop a culture of professional growth, greater
partnerships, a strong compensation package, satisfying volunteer
experiences, and collaborative relationships between among all employees,
will strengthen our ability to create a true Montessori community
and provide the most effective community-based education for children.
• Sustain our faculty through continued strong salaries and benefits,
supportive administration, and a forward-thinking and strategic
Board of Trustees, and a strong supportive Parent-Teacher partnership.
• Continue to nurture the satisfaction that comes from rewarding
volunteer contributions through the MCA, opportunities in the classrooms,
committee work, Board membership and participation in Board committees,
thereby continuing to build and expand a reservoir of involved community
members and people outside the MCS community.
• Provide expanded opportunities for faculty professional development,
including a greater emphasis on presenters from outside whose insights
are embraced by all faculty. Promote a stronger “culture of professional
development” throughout the faculty and administration. This, too,
is a prerequisite for properly supporting expanded enrollment. It
is also a prerequisite for becoming better connected to the outside
community and to the international Montessori community.
• Develop a stronger parent-teacher partnership, in part by developing
a stronger program of parent education leading to stronger commitment
to benefits for children of our Montessori approach. Consider creating
a standard program of Montessori education for parents considering
MCS, or for those who are current families wanting to deepen their
understanding. `
• Consider offering parenting education workshops to our parents.
• Consider ways to increase staff communication, build a team atmosphere
throughout the school community, utilize faculty expertise, clarify
policies, and expand opportunities for faculty development.
GOVERNANCE: In order to solidify the remarkable gains under the
last strategic plan, MCS needs to more clearly articulate its mission
as part of a larger effort to better articulate its identity, and
develop greater participation by a wider group in its efforts to
raise money. As truly a model educational institution, MCS must
develop other sources of reliable funding and greater resources
for need-based financial aid.
• Develop a new Mission Statement that more clearly states who we
are, as part of a larger effort to delineate and articulate the
attributes of MCS and the benefits for children of an MCS education.
Build our identity in part around the “whole child” and spiritual
components of a Montessori program often referred to as Cosmic Education.
Use the Web and other media to cohesively communicate and promote
our school and its mission. Articulate what sets us apart from other
schools.
• Develop an improved approach to fundraising and wider awareness
of the need for wider participation in voluntary giving. Transform
the outlook of many MCS families who believe that paying tuition
is their only responsibility, and awaken the kind of giving that
is both common among existing Triangle area communities and especially
common among independent schools in this area.
• Examine its tuition structure to better promote retention.
• Create a Development position in the school administration. This
person could provide staff support to the Board of Trustees’ development
efforts, coordinate outreach to alumni, coordinate volunteer fundraising
efforts, articulate clearly where the needs are, and support the
“friendraising” efforts of the MCA.
• Become a model educational environment on a national level, validating
both the effectiveness and economic viability of a Montessori education.
Included in this concept is an endowment to make possible diversity
of all kinds. A step in this direction is to devote annual fundraising
to financial aid. OUTREACH: Encompassing many goals, a greater more
effective effort to communicate with the wider community is essential.
• Develop marketing that includes an enhanced web presence, stronger
“branding”, and clearly articulates our Strengths, the outcomes
of an MCS Montessori education, and what differentiates us from
other independent schools.
• Have an on-going working active Diversity Committee that involves
outreach and is supported by endowment and summer offerings that
include non-MCS students. The Committee would do research, make
recommendations, support outreach efforts. This effort could also
help MCS become better connected to the wider community.
• Be better connected to the outside community and the international
Montessori community through community service, professional development,
an enhanced web presence, and other outreach.
• Continue efforts to increase diversity.
• Improve communication with our families regarding our educational
approach, individual student progress, upcoming events, and issues
of interest to the community.
• Update the admissions process and parent orientation in order
to better “on board” new parents and students, perhaps including
greater summer offerings for new students, more teacher involvement,
neighborhood open houses, etc.
• Reach out to alumni both as resources to the school and as evidence
to validate the success of a MCS education.
• Promote our identity as a model school and our relationship with
Chapel Hill by being a leading part of the “edible school”movement.
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