Jackson Prep | Strategic Planning

Jackson Prep Strategic Plan

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT

With the completion of our fiftieth year, we are looking forward to the next fifty years at Jackson Prep, as we endeavor to embody our mission, which provides, “Jackson Preparatory School inspires and challenges students toward academic, athletic, and artistic excellence, instills personal integrity through biblical values, and equips students to pursue lives of distinction in service to society.” A critical part of achieving this mission is in our strategic planning. To that end, we engaged Ian Symmonds, a renowned thought leader in the area of strategic planning for educational institutions, to assist us in planning for the next five years at Jackson Prep. A strategic planning steering committee was formed, and this committee, despite COVID-19 and other disruptions, worked tirelessly, both internally and with outside work groups, to formulate an ambitious five-year strategic plan that promises to help Jackson Prep continue to reach its full potential in these challenging times. I want to take a moment to thank our committee for their dedication and hard work on behalf of Jackson Prep.

We live in challenging and disruptive times, which can make strategic planning seem daunting. With Ian’s assistance, we discovered that disruption can serve as a critical catalyst for ascertaining who we currently are and where we want our school to be in the next five, ten, and even fifteen years. As a result, we have formulated a strategic plan that demands both innovation and growth over the coming years while remaining true to who we are as an institution.

We have seven ambitious goals, which will challenge us and serve us well in the coming years. While achieving and implementing these goals will take hard work and sacrifice on the part of our administration, faculty, students, and families, the effort will result in a stronger and more sustainable institution for the next fifty years.

This is Your Jackson Prep.

Based on the recommendation of the steering committee, the Jackson Prep Board of Trustees has approved a new strategic plan with the following goals:

List of 7 items.

I. Expand our educational footprint.
Develop and launch new programs to reach elementary school students.
Deepen and expand our remote learning offerings.
Increase our international student population.
Evaluate and enhance our academic support programs to ensure our students thrive in our curriculum.
Further our role as the first choice for extraordinary college preparation.
II. Foster a spirit of innovation, agility, and creativity.
- Align our curriculum, assessment, and professional development through the lens of innovation, agility, and creativity.
- Introduce and connect our students to experiential-based opportunities preparing them for higher education and professional experiences.
- Provide a platform for students to build an optional portfolio including original, independent work.
- Develop and communicate the value of Prep’s culture to include connectivity, innovation, agility and creativity.
III. Deepen and enhance the prep experience.
Foster a culture of doing and self-advocacy.
Deepen our curriculum focused on 21st Century skills development and acquisition.
Enhance the Global Leadership Institute.
Expand our curricular choices for the upper grades of high school students.
IV. Ensure best-in-class faculty and staff.
Recruit high quality personnel, emphasizing people of color, diverse backgrounds, and a broad array of pedagogical approaches.
Foster retention through intentional support and development of current faculty and staff.
Improve our professional development program for faculty and staff.
V. Broaden our affordability, accessibility, and financial sustainability.
- Explore evolving tuition models to improve student outcomes while balancing offerings and affordability.
- Adjust our brand strategy according to the shifting needs of the marketplace.
- Deepen our endowment and annual giving.
- Ensure the Prep experience is financially accessible.
VI. Fortify our commitment to diversity in our Prep community.
Strengthen the internal diversity efforts at Prep and ensure that each member of the Prep community is treated with kindness and respect.
Overcome financial barriers that impede our progress toward a more diverse Prep.
Strengthen the external perception and approachability of Prep to all audiences.
Ensure our curriculum and programming includes relevant emphasis on diversity frame- works consistent with Prep’s Mission.
VII. Invest in our core facilities.
- Design and Implement the Junior High Building upgrades and renovations.
- Develop and launch the Institute for Innovation and Creativity.
- Upgrade the Manning Center to enhance student athletic development.
- Identify and improve critical classroom needs and other campus technological infrastructure.
- Upgrade our baseball facility.