Jackson Prep | Strategic Planning

Jackson Prep Strategic Plan

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT

During the school year 2014-15, Jackson Prep launched a strategic planning process. The strategic plan was developed to provide a long-range view of future school priorities created through a highly inclusive and participatory process. A steering committee was formed and focused on research, environment scans, SWOT analysis, committee exercises, and trends in both the independent school and education world.

In order to build a base of sound information and to guide the planning process, the school enlisted the assistance of a research and planning firm, Ian Symmonds & Associates. A comprehensive research effort was completed, including stakeholder surveys, competitive and educational landscape analysis, market segmentation, and demographic trends.

Early in the strategic planning process, it was determined that the steering committee would benefit from gaining additional industry context. As a result, a comprehensive list of best-in-class independent schools in the Southeast was developed, and the steering committee divided into visiting teams on a journey to learn more about the latest innovations in independent education. The schools visited by the steering committee included Baylor School (TN), Ravenscroft School (NC), Parish Episcopal School (TX), and Galloway School (GA), among several others. Steering committee members created post-visit observations and shared them with the larger group, reflecting upon their visits in the context of planning for Jackson Prep.

In the winter and spring of 2015, the strategic planning steering committee worked collaboratively through a series of exercises designed to establish priorities based upon the findings of the research. This process culminated in May 2015, with the steering committee developing a small set of priorities for future focus.

As strategic priorities developed, the steering committee expanded upon then to outline specific initiatives, action plans, and immediate priorities.

Each of these strategic goals contains several strategic initiatives and numerous action plans. The strategic initiatives and action plans benefit from having additional implementation details, such as costs and metrics of success, recorded in the planning process and will be utilized as the school moves forward on executing the strategic plan.

The planning process was completed in May 2015 as the steering committee recommended the following strategic plan to the Board of Trustees. The Board approved and adopted the strategic plan, and in September 2015, it was unveiled to students, faculty, alumni, and friends as #PREPJourney: A Roadmap to the Future of Your Education.

Strategic Plan Goals

List of 5 items.

I. Diversify and Grow Our Global Leadership Platform and Efforts.
- Clarify the concept of “Every student is a leader.”
- Integrate student leadership opportunities into curricular and co-curricular activities.
- Provide and identify more hands-on student leadership opportunities.
- Create a sustainable and accelerated growth model for the Global Leadership Institute.
- Equip patrons on relevant and social cultural issues.
- Explore an honor system.
II. Create a More Diverse and Externally Connected Jackson Prep.
- Attract and nurture a wide variety of students, families, and faculty because Jackson Prep is a welcoming environment.
- Create an atmosphere of openness and respect in which the exchange of ideas and perspectives happens naturally, enabling all students to experience growth, success, and joy.
- Equip and empower faculty and students to invest in those outside the Prep community through partnerships in service and education.
- Articulate a case that will help us grow both market share and our reputational footprint through an effective communication plan.
III. Develop a Culture of Continuous Innovation.
- Create an academic experience for our students that is personalized and empowered through self-direction and utilization of multiple platforms.
- Ensure that our students’ academic career is experiential, draws on a variety of resources, and is connected to the world beyond our campus.
- Cultivate a faculty body that models and drives collaborative, continuous innovation.
- Embrace, support, and expect continuing innovation in all aspects of school life.
- Continue to evolve the Prep curriculum, emphasizing a foundation of 21st century skills including critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity.
- Learn from our successes and failures by attempting, evaluating, and discarding or embracing new educations innovations.
- Expand academic choices for students outside the traditional curriculum, ensuring students are prepared for the changing, technological landscape of the collegiate setting.
- Provide the learning spaces and schedules conducive to the needs of our innovative college preparatory curriculum.
IV. Enhance and Integrate Our Excellent Academic and Co-Curricular Program.
- Maximize opportunities for academic exploration, collaboration, and supportive co-curricular programs.
- Cultivate an environment in which faculty members (academic and co-curricular) facilitate deep, meaningful, and relevant learning among students and themselves.
- Encourage and develop academic excellence with every student by actively seeking ways to develop student potential and identify ability.
- Expand the breadth of our performing arts programs.
- Provide parent support in an evolving educational landscape to enhance the student experience.
- Expand and integrate systems to support the academic needs of all students.
V. Enhance Our Financial Sustainability.
- Consider new avenues for expansion of enrollment.
- Position the endowment for growth and long term financial contribution and focus on planned giving, which includes legacy and estate planning.
- Focus on education, cultivation, and implementation of fundraising ideas.