2006 Strategic Plan
Woodstock
Academy
Strategic
Planning Committee
Sandy Fredrickson, Chair
Bob Blackmer
Kevin Johnston
Jim Kaeding
Jeri Musumeci
Philippa Paquette
Christine Swenson
Tom Stokes
Richard Foye, Headmaster
Robert Warren, Assistant
Headmaster
Joseph Campbell,
Business Manager
Carol Taylor, Dean of
Curriculum
Kristen Willis, Director
of Development
Meghan Johnston,
Planning Consultant
Table of Contents
I.
Introduction 3
II.
Planning Process 3
III.
Woodstock Academy Today 4
IV.
Woodstock Academy Tomorrow
7
1. Program 7
2. Faculty 8
3. Governance 9
4. Facilities 10
5. Enrollment and
Relationships 10
6. Fiscal Management 11
7. Community Partnerships 12
8. Resource Development
12
V.
Monitoring and Evaluation
13
Appendices
Appendix
A Planning Process – Overview
Appendix
B Data Sources
Appendix
C Focus Group Summary
Appendix
D Plan Worksheet – February 2006 Draft
I. Introduction
In this 2006
Strategic Plan, the Woodstock Academy school community reaffirms its commitment
to its students and to the mission-driven education and heritage that have
shaped the Academy experience for two hundred years, introducing practical
strategies for program and business operations that will ensure continued
success in an increasingly challenging environment. The Academy’s vision for the future is a school
community that offers each student a meaningful connection to supportive people
and diverse interests in a safe and welcoming physical environment, and in the
context of a varied curriculum, provides encouragement and challenge to that
student as s/he cultivates the skill and habit of learning in an atmosphere of scholarship
and citizenship. The mission statement
guides the Academy’s practices toward this vision:
The mission of the Woodstock Academy is to
prepare all students for a lifetime of learning, fostering both a sense of
pride in self and effective participation in family, school, community and the
world through a diversity of learning experiences.
Section II
describes the activities and participants in the planning process, and section III summarizes
key aspects of the Academy’s current characteristics and challenges.
In section IV, eight
strategic direction statements, each accompanied by implementation strategies,
provide a structure for year-to-year action planning and budget development,
and establish a practical approach to achieving this vision.
II. The Planning Process
The Trustees and Headmaster
initiated the strategic planning process with the following goals in mind:
1.
To
clarify and promote Woodstock Academy’s mission with internal and external audiences,
articulating and communicating ‘the Academy difference’;
2.
To
develop a unified vision for the Academy’s next three to five year stage of
development that will guide Trustee and staff decision-making; and
3.
To
establish specific priorities for Trustee and staff action that will guide
resource decisions, provide a framework for ongoing accountability, and ensure
steady progress toward the realization of the Trustees’ vision for the
Academy’s future as an independent school with a public purpose.
A Strategic
Planning Committee of the Board of Trustees was appointed in early 2005,
chaired by Sandy Fredrickson, and including Trustees Jim Kaeding, Jeri
Musumeci, Bob Blackmer, Tom Stokes, Kevin Johnston, Christine Swenson, and Philippa
Paquette, and administrators Richard Foye, Headmaster; Bob Warren, Associate
Headmaster; Kristen Willis, Director of Development; Carol Taylor, Dean of
Curriculum and Instruction; and Joseph Campbell, Business Manager.
The process was
conceived as a Trustee-driven endeavor that would invite broad input from the
Academy’s internal and external stakeholders, while proceeding in a decisive
and timely way. Planning activities were
chosen that would consider all existing data, elicit fresh input about the
Academy’s strengths and critical challenges from specific constituencies,
encourage Trustee, faculty and other stakeholder discussion, and build
consensus around a series of practical strategies for the future to ensure both
methodical follow-up and continued
strategic thinking.
In its September
2005 meeting, the Committee identified four major areas of planning activity to
be completed by June 2006:
1)
Consultant
and Committee review of previous planning data, including the Report of the
Visiting Committee (1998 New England Association of Schools and Colleges,
Inc.), and the 2004 interim report of the Trustees’ Planning Committee. (Appendix B lists all preliminary data reviewed.)
2)
Eleven
focus group discussions, designed to elicit specific input from students,
faculty members, parents, alumni, sending town officials and residents of the
sending towns (Appendix C includes summary comments from all
groups, representing over 200 individuals).
3)
A
Trustee retreat in December, during which Trustees and administrators worked in
small groups to consider preliminary data, identify areas of priority concern,
and craft preliminary strategies in eight areas of the Academy’s
operations. Trustees and administrators
then reviewed retreat outcomes and had an opportunity for further comment in
January and February of 2006. (The Plan
Worksheet, a working tool compiled over the course of the planning process,
shared with the Trustees in December, and amended in January ‘06 based on
Trustee and Administrator comments, appears as Appendix D.)
4)
Review
and discussion of planning data and strategies during monthly committee
meetings, regular reports to the Board of Trustees, and ongoing review of plan
drafts by Planning Committee members and administrative staff.
Through these
activities, a comprehensive assessment of the Academy’s current and anticipated
assets and challenges - and the trends in the field of education that will
likely affect the Academy’s future - was compiled and reviewed in committee,
board and faculty meeting settings. This
analysis resulted in the development of the Strategic Directions, and
accompanying implementation Strategies, outlined in Section IV of
this report. Each of these strategies
will ultimately be addressed in action plans, developed with input from faculty
members, administrators and staff, and committees of the Board of Trustees, and
reviewed annually.
III. Woodstock Academy Today
Woodstock Academy
is a nonselective, independent, coeducational secondary school that serves
residents of Woodstock, Eastford, Union, Brooklyn, Pomfret, and Canterbury, and
is open to residents of other communities in Connecticut and neighboring
states. The Academy was the first of six
academies chartered in Connecticut when it was founded in 1801, and has
maintained the corporate governance structure, high academic standards and
personalized educational approach characteristic of the New England Academy system.
Governed by a
thirty-member Board of Trustees, the Academy’s board process is open to the
public, and structurally linked with each sending town’s board of education
through appointed, ex officio seats on the Academy’s Board. The Academy’s
governance is, by design and regulation, independent of control by local
elected officials. A committee structure
focuses Trustee attention in specific areas of governance oversight required by
regulation such as finance and nominating.
Woodstock Academy
in 2006 is a strong school, with an engaged Board of Trustees and a skilled
faculty and staff, all closely in touch with the values and diverse program
that characterize ‘the Academy difference.’
During the last several years, a number of significant accomplishments demonstrate
the Academy’s strengths related to expanded curricular and co-curricular
program offerings, notable student performance outcomes, and improved business operations. These include:
§
New
programs, including Freshman Focus and related efforts to effectively integrate
new students and promote an early sense of connection to the Academy, have
brought increased public recognition to beliefs about the role of community in
education that have been part of the Academy tradition for years.
§
An
expansion of the athletic program to include wrestling, lacrosse and football
has provided additional opportunities to student athletes and established new
relationships between the Academy and other schools in the region.
§
Innovative
art and vocal music programs have gained recognition beyond the school
community as outstanding examples in their respective disciplines, showcasing
the talent and dedication of participating students and faculty members, and
creating visibility for the Academy in the secondary school community.
§
The
designation of an Academy student as Governor’s Scholar for five of the past
seven years, and for the past three consecutive years, as well as the Academy’s
improving scores on statewide tests indicate positive trends in student performance
outcomes. The fall 2005 Connecticut
Academic Performance Test (CAPT) results indicated improvement among Academy
students in every major subject area, between 80 and 90% of Academy students
performed at or above the ‘proficient’ level, and overall scores above
statewide and Educational Reference Group medians.
§
The Academy’s
financial systems have been the focus of an aggressive effort by the business
office and Trustees to establish consistent budgeting, spending and monitoring
procedures, all of which have resulted in more accurate budget planning and
internal controls, and contributed to the Academy’s overall financial
stability.
§
The
Academy’s administration has been restructured to include an Administrative
Council, Student Assistance Team and other designated teams that bring new
focus to specific areas of planning, student support and resource management.
§
The
Board of Trustees has formalized its board recruitment, orientation and ongoing
board development processes, revitalized its committee structure, designated an
annual board planning retreat, and undertaken comprehensive strategic planning.
With these
accomplishments comes a new understanding of the challenges that the Academy
will face - some familiar and some new - as the school seeks to improve its
facilities, maintain a wide array of curricular and co-curricular choices that
are delivered by a creative and experienced faculty and staff, and provide each
student with adult attention and support for decision-making regarding
post-graduation choices.
Many of the
familiar challenges are financial. School
buildings and campus infrastructure require vigilance with respect to
maintenance and repair, and careful planning with regard to renovations and new
construction that will sustain the Academy’s unique program. The Academy’s support for meaningful
adult-student connections requires ongoing attention to student-teacher ratios
and class size. During the last ten
years, many independent schools have sought to decrease their dependence on the
traditional tuition-based revenue model in order to respond to similar financial
challenges, and the Academy must do the same, both through a significantly
enhanced fund development program and through the implementation of
revenue-generating programs. Growth in
the endowment is critical to the Academy’s future, and the pressure to continue
this growth is unrelenting.
New challenges
relate to managing increased parental, student and regulatory expectations, as
well as increasing pressure to demonstrate results for multiple audiences in a
complex environment. The Academy’s faculty
and administration drive the mission by creating the connections with students
that help them engage fully in the educational experience. This expectation calls for ongoing, creative
attention to professional development, team building, planning and scheduling. Similarly, curriculum content and organization
is critical to a secondary school’s ability to prepare students for additional
education and/or employment in a rapidly changing global economy. Increased reliance, by public policy makers, on
testing as the primary measure of student
success, as well as increased regulatory requirements at the state and federal
level, will challenge faculty members’
and administrators’ ability to provide effective curriculum planning and
oversight, and to assess student performance in ways that include, but are not
limited to, testing. This broader view
will be necessary to the Academy’s efforts to fully communicate student success
to a variety of audiences including current and prospective parents, local residents
and officials, alumni, individual donors, and institutional funders such as
foundations and corporations. None of
these challenges can be met without resources.
Regulatory
expectations for the governing boards of independent schools are increasing, as
well, and as an independent New England Academy, Woodstock Academy’s board has
the legal obligation to comply. The Academy
has worked hard to develop a strong governing board, and this effort will
continue into the future. It is
critically important that local audiences, particularly potential students and
families, as well as town officials, fully understand the Academy’s governance
model, and that trustees continue their diligence in assuring fiscal
transparency, positive community relations, and ongoing strategic planning.
For any school,
enrollment is the greatest determinant of revenue, and projecting enrollment is
a critical component of responsible planning.
Woodstock Academy, like other independent schools, has adjusted to
fluctuations in enrollment over the years.
Unlike other independent schools, however, the Academy’s enrollment is
largely determined by the decisions of sending towns, so the traditional marketing
and recruitment campaigns that influence enrollment in other settings are not
available here as tools for stabilizing enrollment.
As an independent
school with a public purpose, the Academy has not instituted a selective
admissions process or limited enrollment from any of its current sending towns
in order to cap enrollment as the total number of students has grown to over
1100. This growth in school size has
allowed the Academy to keep per-student costs down, expand curricular offerings
and faculty talent, and maintain a pattern of tuition increases that compare
favorably to those of public districts around the state. It has also stretched the physical capacity
of the current campus and created the need for facility enhancements in
addition to those that would be necessary to maintain and improve aging
facilities regardless of school size.
The Academy’s
foremost responsibility is serving the students who are currently enrolled, and
yet this very practical, day-to-day responsibility requires that the Board of
Trustees remain alert to potential changes in future enrollment. Through the regular review and discussion of
enrollment projections from a variety of sources, including those published by
the State Department of Education, and through active participation in contract
negotiations with sending towns, the Board of Trustees takes this
responsibility seriously.
Based on the
current configuration of sending towns, the Academy’s enrollment is projected
to increase very gradually over the next eight years, resulting in a possible
growth of 150 students during that timeframe.
However, as this plan is being written, the Town of Brooklyn is in
negotiations with Region 11 regarding a cooperative high school, and it is
possible that the outcome of this negotiation will result in a significantly
decreased Academy enrollment.
At this time, it
is the position of the Board of Trustees that the Academy will engage in good
faith contract negotiations with current sending towns with the intent of
developing the necessary long term stability to plan responsibly for the facility,
curriculum, faculty and administrative capacity that will provide enrolled
students with a high quality secondary school education. While it is understood that decreases in
enrollment may well occur, the Academy Board of Trustees is fully committed to
planning responsibly for any change in total enrollment to insure that
the quality of education is not adversely affected, and that a positive sense
of connection between students, faculty members, administrators and trustees prevails.
IV. Woodstock Academy Tomorrow: Strategic Directions
For each of eight result areas, Woodstock Academy’s overall
strategic direction appears below, accompanied by brief summary of background
information (assets, challenge and trends that will likely influence the
Academy’s success in that area), and implementation strategies. Action plans will identify priorities for
each year of implementation, assigning costs and accountability.
1.
Program
Background:
Woodstock Academy has a reputation as an academically challenging school
that offers diverse curricular and co-curricular choices and serves high
achievers well. The Academy’s arts
program is considered exceptional. Programs
such as Freshman Focus and those with an international focus nurture student
connections to the school community and provide experiences with diverse cultures
to develop confident and engaged citizens. The Academy is challenged to provide both high
quality college preparatory and alternative programs so that all students can find
support for their strengths and interests, to insure that curriculum content
and quality are consistent across grade level and discipline, and to measure
and communicate student performance to external audiences.
5-year Strategic Direction:
Woodstock Academy will engage students of all abilities and interests in
a rigorous, personalized educational experience within a welcoming school
community, providing a varied program of curricular and co-curricular
offerings, and demonstrating high standards for curriculum effectiveness and
student achievement. Consistent
attention to campus safety and healthy lifestyle choices will provide Academy
students with a supportive environment in which they can develop as students
and community members. An early and
active focus on post-graduation choices, participation in local community
activities and exposure to diverse cultures will further prepare students for
community and world citizenship.
Strategies:
1.
Meet
or exceed the programmatic standards set by the New England Association of Schools
and Colleges.
2.
Provide
high quality college preparatory and alternative programs that engage students
across interests, ability levels and post-graduation plans.
3.
Coordinate
curriculum content and expectations for student skill development by grade level
and discipline, meeting or exceeding state and federal standards.
4.
Develop
a systematic means of assessing and communicating student success in and out of
the classroom.
5.
Provide
enhanced guidance and mentoring services to all students.
6.
Develop
a more specific focus on international education that emphasizes diverse
cultural experiences on and off campus.
7.
Increase
opportunities for interdisciplinary learning.
8.
Communicate
regularly with sending schools regarding program and curriculum issues.
9.
Develop a formal community service program that
provides consistent expectations for student service and citizenship, and
visible benefit to the community. (see
Community Collaborations)
10.
Promote healthy lifestyles and decision-making.
2.
Faculty and Staff
Background:
Woodstock Academy
employs many dedicated and creative faculty members whose enthusiasm for their
subject matter is described by students and parents as ‘infectious.’ Faculty and staff members are responsive to
student and family needs, and students describe a connection to these adults as
one of the most positive aspects of their experience at the Academy. Students, parents, administrators, and
faculty members themselves, are not confident, however, that the quality of
teaching is consistently high across positions, or that faculty members receive
adequate support for interdisciplinary collaborations, administrative duties
and ongoing leadership development.
5-year Strategic Direction:
Woodstock Academy
recognizes the critical role that strong adult-student connections play in the
educational success of its students and is committed to attracting and
retaining dedicated, innovative and talented faculty and staff members, setting
high expectations for individual performance and teamwork that focus on student
needs.
Strategies:
1. Continue to
support the primary teaching role of faculty members, while supporting their
involvement in a larger, unified system.
2. Increase
opportunities for leadership development, interdisciplinary collaboration and
peer support.
3. Establish
mechanisms for defining, promoting and monitoring consistently high quality
faculty and staff performance.
4. Promote
professional growth opportunities for individual faculty and staff members that
are related to their teaching and administrative roles.
5. Provide planning
and professional development opportunities that strengthen WA’s unified
approach to high quality education.
6. Manage WA’s
response to increases or decreases in enrollment, assuring adequate staffing
levels, ongoing leadership development and curriculum continuity.
7. Improve internal
communication related to increases or decreases in projected enrollment and its
impact on program and facility. (see
Enrollment)
8.
Continue to strengthen communication and the working
relationships between administrators, faculty, staff and students.
3. Governance
Background:
Current trustees represent a positive mix of experience, continuity,
skills and knowledge, and the board has rallied to address significant
challenges during the last two years, developing a positive working
relationship with the headmaster and other administrative staff. The trustees’ have revitalized several board
committees, and the Academic, Expulsion and Finance Committees are functioning
effectively. The Academy’s governance
model, however, is not entirely understood by either internal or external
audiences, and additional board development will be necessary to support
trustee efforts to adopt the more active planning and fund development
approaches characteristic of independent schools. Sarbanes-Oxley, current Senate Finance
Committee efforts to increase regulatory oversight of not-for-profit
corporations, and state level efforts to strengthen the board’s fiduciary role
have contributed to an increase in public scrutiny that requires ongoing
vigilance on the parts of officers, committee chairs and trustees.
5-year Strategic Direction:
Woodstock Academy
will develop and communicate its identity as an independent school organized
under the New England Academy model, engaging in regular self-assessment,
strategic board recruitment and ongoing board development to support the
priorities of the strategic plan. The
Trustees are further committed to governing the corporation in compliance with
state and federal regulation and providing effective stewardship for all public
and private funds that support the School’s mission.
Strategies:
1.
Increase Trustee involvement in establishing and
promoting a strategic vision for WA’s future
2.
Align committee structure and goals with strategic
plan priorities.
3.
Promote a clearer understanding of the NE academy
model among trustees, faculty and staff members, local town residents, donors
and other constituents.
4.
Develop and maintain active linkages with regional,
statewide and national groups representing NE academies and independent
schools.
5.
Ensure compliance with ethical and regulatory
guidelines for the governance of New England Academy schools (per Connecticut
Attorney General’s Office, IRS, NEASC, and the Connecticut Department of
Education).
6.
Design and implement an aggressive approach to board
assessment, recruitment and development, emphasizing board roles and skills in
legal and fiduciary oversight, community relations and fund development.
7.
Provide increased role clarity and support for board
members with representational responsibilities.
4. Facilities
Background:
The Woodstock
Academy campus is a beautiful setting that provides freedom of movement to
students and staff, and is considered a local asset. Recent renovations have
created additional classroom space, but additional steps are necessary to
maintain the welcoming atmosphere, connections between students and adults, and
diverse course offerings that are core to the Academy’s program, including
ongoing upgrades to technology that will support a progressive business
operation and academic program. In
addition to these upgrades, the current school size requires additional
expansion of academic and athletic facilities to comfortably accommodate
student and program needs.
5-year Strategic Direction:
Woodstock Academy will engage in comprehensive master facility
planning to insure that the campus and physical plant enhance its mission and
comply with pertinent regulations and accreditation standards through the next
ten years. Facility improvements will
honor the Academy’s history and community relationships, ensure a safe and
welcoming environment, support program and curriculum priorities, and promote a
sense of connection within the school community.
Strategies:
1.
Initiate a comprehensive master facility planning
process to address all classroom, athletic, administrative and other space
needs, including:
§
An inventory of all physical plant assets.
§
Maintenance schedules (w/costs and a tracking system
for maintenance and repairs).
§
Short and long term priorities for renovation and
construction.
2.
Complete the installation of the sewer line.
3.
Complete the library renovation.
4.
Develop innovative approaches to scheduling,
off-campus internships and community service, distance learning and other
programs to enhance the educational experience of students while reducing
pressure on existing program space.
5.
Enrollment and Relationships
Background:
Woodstock Academy
is recognized by residents of the region as a significant asset, and a draw to
families considering moving to the area.
Despite the complexity of the governance model, and the fact that it is
not well understood by local communities, families of current and potential
students recognize a significant improvement in the Academy’s efforts to share
information and participate more actively in ongoing discussions with sending
towns on both programmatic and financial issues. Enrollment, and its impact on revenue, is
central to the Academy’s ability to plan responsibly, and depends on productive
working relationships and long term commitments from sending towns that focus
on quality education and support cost-effective solutions to common challenges. The Academy’s belief that students’ sense of
connection to the school community is central to a positive educational
experience is reinforced by wider trends in education toward smaller learning
communities. Larger schools, in some
cases, have begun to explore means of re-organizing program delivery and the
use of physical space to support student-adult relationships and connections
within smaller segments of the community.
5-year Strategic Direction:
Woodstock Academy will define and communicate more effectively all
of the factors that make up the Academy’s capacity to provide students with a
rigorous, mission-driven secondary school education. The Academy is also committed to building
stable relationships with the sending towns through ongoing and open dialogue
regarding their changing educational needs and the Academy’s capacity, current
operation and plans for the future. Woodstock
Academy will conduct these relationships consistent with all regulatory
requirements for New England Academies, maximizing the roles of Trustees and
Town representatives.
Strategies:
1. Identify the
indicators of WA’s capacity that reflect the Academy’s specific mission, values
and educational program.
2. Establish a
process to monitor capacity on a regular basis.
3. Make consistent
and integrated presentations to sending towns and the public regarding WA’s
capacity and plans for the future.
4. Strengthen WA’s
communication with sending town residents and officials through the town
representatives to the Board of Trustees. (see
Governance)
5. Improve internal
communication related to increases or decreases in projected enrollment and its
impact on program and facility. (see
Faculty and Staff)
6. Community Partnerships and Collaborations
Background:
The Academy has initiated and developed
partnerships with local secondary schools, colleges, and businesses in order to
provide additional coursework, work-study and other opportunities to benefit
students as they explore a range of interests in the process to planning for
further education or careers. Currently,
every ninth grader is introduced to comprehensive Career Center services, and
over 80% of graduates go on to 2 or 4 year colleges. The Connecticut Department of Education is
recommending that off-campus experiences, college courses and other student
projects, including community service programs, be offered to high school students
to better prepare them for college and other post-graduation choices. In addition, the Academy campus provides
opportunities to bring local families together to participate in activities
that help to introduce younger students to the Academy and provide a wider
benefit to the community.
5-year Strategic Direction:
Woodstock Academy
will be increasingly visible as a resource for community connections that
provide benefit to students, their families, and the wider community,
increasing the number and strategic nature of its formal and informal linkages
with nonprofit organizations, schools and colleges, businesses and other
community groups.
Strategies:
1. Establish
linkages with additional businesses and other organizations that can offer
structured work-study or mentoring opportunities to students.
2.
Develop a formal community service program that
provides consistent opportunities for student service and citizenship, and
visible benefit to the community. (see
Program)
3.
Develop campus-based programs to elementary and
middle school children and their families.
4.
Expand utilization of the WA facility for
educational and cultural events open to the public.
5.
Develop and promote school partnerships with other
schools, nonprofit organizations or businesses that are mission-related and/or
revenue-generating.
6.
Continue to expand and improve linkages with local
colleges and universities that allow student access to coursework and
facilities.
7. Fiscal
Management
Background:
The Academy’s
fiscal stability, and the internal systems that support it, has improved significantly
during the past two years due to significant changes in budgeting, spending and
monitoring protocols. The Board of
Trustees, through its Finance Committee, is increasingly active in fiduciary oversight
with regarding to budgeting and investment management. Budgeting has not yet, however, been linked to
long term planning. Anticipated changes
in enrollment that will affect operating revenue, and potential shifts in the
economy that may negatively affect endowment and reserve income are two
distinct challenges that face the Academy in the next five years. The Academy’s ability to communicate its
governance model and budgetary requirements to sending towns through their
representatives to the Board of Trustees will be critical to continued fiscal
stability.
5-year Strategic Direction:
Woodstock Academy will continue to provide a high quality
secondary school education for a reasonable price, developing additional
transparency through consistent and inclusive budgeting and oversight that
complies with the regulatory and ethical standards characteristic of
independent schools. Budgeting will
reflect the priorities of the strategic plan, and include consistent information-sharing
with internal and external constituencies.
Strategies:
1. Develop a 2-3
year financial plan based on the strategic plan.
2. Establish a
consistent, inclusive annual budget process, tied to the strategic plan
priorities as they are reflected in each year’s action plan.
3. Increase the transparency
of the budgeting and budget monitoring process through consistent discussion
and regular reporting to department chairs, administrative staff and Trustees.
4. Provide ongoing
education regarding the budget process to internal and external constituents.
5. Provide regular
reports on the status of the endowment to the Trustees.
6.
Provide additional support to town representatives,
particularly relating to their responsibility to communicate with members of
the local community during the annual budget process.
8. Resource
Development
Background:
The Trustees had the foresight, in 2000, to invest in a fund
development effort by creating a Director of Development position. Since that time, the Academy has laid the
groundwork for increased fundraising through the Alumni Association, annual
giving has increased, and the Third Century Campaign to improve library and gym
facilities is underway. The Academy has
not yet engaged in comprehensive fund development planning, nor been able to
develop the kind of major gifts program that many independent schools rely on
to keep pace with facility, endowment and program expansion needs. Success depends on the Academy’s ability,
through its trustees, administrators, faculty and alumni, to build
relationships with potential donors (individual and institutional) as part of a
long term strategy to develop a comprehensive and successful fund development
program.
5-year Strategic Direction:
Woodstock Academy will significantly increase its attention to fund
development infrastructure and planning, engaging trustees, administrators,
alumni and other community supporters in the ongoing cultivation of individual
and institutional (corporate and foundation) donors, and the steady increase in
numbers of donors and level of giving. The
Academy will also engage in the continual evaluation and improvement of fund
development outcomes.
Strategies:
1.
Adapt WA’s administrative structure and capacity to
support a more comprehensive fund development effort.
2.
Develop a comprehensive fund development plan that
references cultivation, annual campaign, planned giving, major gifts,
foundation and corporate gifts.
3.
Integrate donor cultivation into all
relationship-building efforts with internal and external groups.
4.
Strengthen ties with alumni.
5.
Strengthen WA’s capacity for grantwriting and
administration, including joint programs with other schools or organizations.
6.
Engage trustees in fund development planning and
implementation.
Implementation
of the strategic plan will be overseen by the Trustees, and managed by the Headmaster,
based on action plans drawn from the board-approved five-year strategies. Each action plan will identify priorities
(actions – measurable whenever possible, related to the three-year strategies)
responsible parties (administrator, staff member or staff work group, standing
or ad hoc board committee), relevant costs, revenue sources and
reporting/completion timeframes. Staff
and committee reporting, at faculty, administrative and Trustee meetings, will
include reference to progress on priorities.
The Headmaster and Executive Committee will coordinate an annual
assessment of progress toward priorities, and examine any issues and
opportunities that warrant changes in the action plan.