BEACON ACADEMY
2015 2019 Strategic Plan
Mission Statement Beacon Academy provides a transformational year between 8th and 9th grades to promising, motivated and hard-working students from Boston and surrounding urban areas. Inspired by a challenging curriculum and stimulating co-curricular experiences, students learn vital academic skills and develop habits of mind that empower them to change the trajectory of their lives. They emerge as active learners with increased confidence, critical thinking skills, and broader vision, prepared to thrive at competitive independent high schools that share our commitment to their success. Beacon Academy supports its alumni as they continue their journeys. The school welcomes opportunities to work in partnership with teachers and schools to help create and maintain inclusive communities for all.
BEACON ACADEMY A Decade of Changing the Trajectory of Students’ Lives
Beacon Academy embarked on a yearlong strategic planning process in the fall of 2013 to set the direction for its next ten years. Mary Rivet, a Beacon Trustee since 2008, led a thoughtful process that engaged more than 275 members of the Beacon community – Trustees, Corporation members, parents, alumni, faculty, secondary school partners, recruitment partners and financial champions. We now have a deeper understanding of how Beacon has evloved over its first decade and have chartered a strong course for our future. The fall of 2014 marks the start of Beacon Academy’s watershed tenth year. As we enter this new stage in the life of Beacon, we have made the following strategic choices: · We reaffirm our mission and purpose – to empower Boston-area urban students to change the trajectory of their lives through entry to and success in competitive independent secondary schools. · We embrace the power and unique opportunity that our single Boston location brings us to forge vital strategic partnerships, provide rich cultural and social opportunities for our students, and access the talented volunteers that are a key part of our success. · We will amplify our impact through a broader sharing of our knowledge about the barriers to success facing all low-income students rather than through traditional scaling techniques. In the future, our impact will come increasingly from the actions of our alumni, whom we will continue to nurture through an expanded alumni support program. · We will diversify our funding sources to ensure that Beacon Academy will be here for the long run. As Trustees, we celebrate all that Beacon has accomplished in its start-up decade and proudly and plainly proclaim, “Beacon Academy works and is here to stay!” The five strategic goals outlined in this plan ensure that Beacon will prosper in the next decade and beyond. Sincerely,
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Pam Dickinson
Cindy Laba
Marsha Feinberg
Board Chair
Founder and
Founder and Director
Head of School
of Strategic Development
4 7 7 L O N G W O O D AV E N U E
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02215
TELEPHONE 617.423.2266
B E A C O N A C A D E M Y. O R G
Beacon Academy Strategic Goals 2015-2019 GOAL I: Ensure our financial sustainability over the next five years and beyond. GOAL II: Expand our alumni program to help our alumni achieve their full potential through secondary school and college and keep them connected to us for the long run. GOAL III: Increase our impact by sharing our deep understanding of how to confront the enormous barriers to success created by poverty and under-education. GOAL IV: Create a sustainable working environment for our faculty and staff. GOAL V: Significantly improve our communications to convey the urgency, importance and effectiveness of our work in order to expand our support and increase our influence.
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GOAL I: Ensure our financial sustainability over the next five years and beyond. Strategies Thanks to the extraordinary generosity of many, Beacon has succeeded in raising the resources needed to support our mission. However, the vast majority of our funding comes from private donors and must be newly raised each year. To ensure our future, we will deepen our current donor relationships and pursue more diverse funding sources on an ongoing basis. 1. Create and implement a long-term development plan that effectively supports Beacon and our amplified program over the next five years. 2. Establish an endowment with existing resources and a concentrated 10th year fundraising effort, with the goal of meeting 15% of Beacon’s annual expense budget by 2019 through income generated by the endowment. 3. Expand the percentage of our support that comes from private and corporate foundations.
GOAL II: Expand our alumni program to help our alumni achieve their full potential through secondary school and college and keep them connected to us for the long run. Strategies Despite the enormous gains our students make during their 14 months at Beacon, they continue to need our support through secondary school and, to a lesser extent, college. Our alumni have enormous potential to positively impact the world, both as individuals and as members of the Beacon family. A priority is making sure we maintain our connection with them as they enter their adult lives. In the long run, we envision that our alumni will be the driving force behind the Alumni Program itself, a key source of mentoring for new students, and a major source of funding. 1. Deepen our current Alumni Program to systematically address our graduates’ needs in high school and college. 2. Work closely with our secondary school partners to identify and address the social and economic inequalities that often impinge upon our graduates’ potential. 3. Develop a comprehensive approach to tracking and maintaining contact with our graduates and their families. 4. Harvest the talents and collective power of our alumni to benefit their communities, Beacon Academy and the world at large. 3
GOAL III: Increase our impact by sharing our deep understanding of how to confront the enormous barriers to success created by poverty and under-education. Strategies We have learned that simply working with our students to prepare them for competitive secondary schools is not enough. Their next environments can present hidden barriers to their success that we must address as an essential part of supporting them. Even many in our own community do not fully understand the complex issues of racial and socioeconomic inequality that impair the potential of all low-income students. 1. Work in partnership with our secondary schools to create more supportive environments for all low-income students in their schools and communities. 2. Continue to produce symposia and other forums that extend and deepen understanding of these issues in the independent school community. 3. Seek out opportunities at broader educational forums to speak about these barriers and share the best practices we have developed for dealing with them.
GOAL IV: Create a sustainable working environment for our faculty and staff. Strategies Our staff is the heart and soul of our school. They have continued to work “start-up hours� as we have refined our model and expanded the scope of our work to fulfill our mission. We are committed to creating a sustainable workplace that supports them and acknowledges their value to Beacon. 1. Fully staff all essential activities, whether through personnel additions or the strategic and thoughtful use of outside experts. 2. Competitively compensate our faculty and staff for their extraordinary talent and dedication. 3. Support staff development through feedback, performance reviews, and access to professional development activities.
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GOAL V: Significantly improve our communications to convey the urgency, importance and effectiveness of our work in order to expand our support and increase our influence. Strategies Beacon has changed in its first ten years. We are no longer just a 14-month school, as we have been describing ourselves, but a 14-month school with an additional 8-year commitment to support our graduates through high school and college. We must develop new thinking around how to describe our model and how to communicate it more effectively to all of our constituents. 1. Track, measure, and communicate the unusual breadth of our activities, the depth of our achievements, and the impact of our work. 2. Professionalize our communications to systematically and consistently message Beacon across all constituencies.
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Special thanks to‌ Mary Rivet, Beacon Trustee, Strategy Consultant and Chair of our Strategic Plan. Mary worked tirelessly and with great skill designing the plan, facilitating the process, mediating divergent viewpoints, drafting language and making sure we stayed on track and on point. Without her we simply would not have completed this remarkable process and plan in nine short months. We would also like to acknowledge Rob Duboff of Hawk Partners, for advising on survey techniques and conducting our focus group, and Chris Meyer of NERVE, LLC, for facilitating our strategic planning retreat. Donor interviews were conducted by an independent professional firm.
Acknowledgements Crafting this plan was a true community effort. To the members of our Strategic Planning Steering Committee, our current and former staff, our donors, volunteers and partners, our alumni and alumni parents, thank you for giving us your time and talents and sharing your perspectives. We would like to particularly mention the following people, schools and organizations for their roles in this endeavor.
Board of Trustees
Mary Rivet*
Alumni Parents
Pam Dickinson, Chair*
Michael Rubenstein
Carmen Alvarez
Anna Afeyan
Ann Ryan*
Marie Anderson
Janet Berkeley*
Angela Singleton-Scott*
Edward Asare
Deedie Bouscaren*
Stephen Spaloss
Jean Bernadeau
David Chapin
Mark Stanek
Edith Buruca
Lyndsay Charron
Rachel Phillips, Clerk
Chantal Charles
Priscilla Cohen* McLane Cover Caroline Erisman Marsha Feinberg* Rebecca Forrester* Ilene Greenberg* Wendy Hill Rosemarie Johnson** Cindy Laba* Amy McCarthy* Victoria Munroe Allyce Najimy Carolyn Peter*
Current and Former Beacon Staff Sally Baker Kinne Chapin Christy Johanson Christopher Dean Conway Lisa DiAdamo Matt Dunkel Eric Nett Mervan Osborne* Peter Steinmetz Anne-Marie Yu-Phelps
Sandra Crawford-Jenkins Joan Cromwell Tarshia Jefferson Dorothy Johnson Emily Luckett Trilok Manandhar Bennadette Manning Estela Matta Gloris Monterrey Linda Palmer Janet Roberts-Williams Gregoria Sanchez Herminia Sanchez 6
Leila Santana Judy Scribner-Moore Janie Ward Mary Warren Leon Welch
Community Partners Katie Carroll, Epiphany School Rabbi Ronne Friedman, Temple Israel Stephanie Gendron, Tenacity Dan Goldsbury, UP Academy Steve London, Simmons College
Mark Engerman Marie Myers Ayres Stiles-Hall Dana Hall School Caroline Erisman
Shamikah Baker Nancy Caruso Peter Hutton Belmont Hill School Steve Carr Kathy Richards Ann Tift
Justin Charles Chantal Clerveaux
Maria Cornier
Milton Academy Todd Bland Pam Pleasants
Samantha Craig Leandra De los Santos
Paul Rebuck
Shalise Depina
Tonysha Taylor
Greg DeSouza
Noble and Greenough School Bob Henderson Cassie Velazquez
Beaver Country Day School
Johnathan Charles
Josh Abrams
Julia Morgan, Squashbusters
Secondary School Partners
Marga Celado
Malek Colaylat
Jennifer Hines
House Charter School
Briana Cardwell
Meridian Academy
Betsy Madsen, Epiphany School
Jill Wurster, Neighborhood
St. Mark's School
Hobiedy Diaz Latia Durant Oluibukun Ekpebor Diarra English
Ava Archibald
Angel Escalante
Rohan Arjun
Sterling Etheridge
Allyson Brown David Lubick
Alyssa Evans
Jeniene Matthews
Kendrick Terrell Evans
Lynette Sumpter
Marki Gaffey
Thayer Academy Jennifer Welch Winchendon School John Kerney
Dora Garcia Karrisha Gillespie Wendy Gomez Corey Gregory
Alumni
Robert Gutierrez
Momo Afreen
Melody He
Bashiru Akinfolarin
Sonny Huang
Celia Alvarez
Cristina Hughes
Claudia Amador
Laura Anne Hughes
Anthony Anderson
Alexis Ifill
Geordie Mitchell
Annabell Asare
Felicia Imbriano
Doug Neumann
Catherine Ashley
Marquice Jackson
Karen Barahona
Zora Jackson-Bartlemus
Elizabeth Baxter
Auston James
Larry Gefin
Dennishia Bell
Mima Kaba
Estefania Torres
Malik Bernadeau
Rachel Kalombo
Brittni Black
Eptisam Kassim
Rashaan Bryant
Torian Kidd
Gregory Bullock
Meghan Le
Chris Zamore Brimmer and May School Brian Beale Judy Guild Buckingham Brown & Nichols Lewis Bryant Kim Gold
Geoff Theobald Commonwealth School Catherine Brewster
Bill Wharton
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Concord Academy
Ricky Leggett
Henry Santana
Damon Levin
Rafael Santana
Jerry Lherisson
Jasmin Saunders
Cleuton Lopes
Joseph Scott
Axel Lopez
Matthew Scott
Hui Lu
Eli Scribner-Moore
Maya Luckett
Kishan Seenanan
Jessica Maldonado
Ravendra Seenanan
Trishala Manandhar
Jude Simplice
Arena Manning
Joshua Smith
Phoebe Manning
Iashai Stephens
Diana Martinez
Derrick Stone
Krystina McClure
Abel Tesema
Eddie McDonald
Colin Thomas, Jr.
Ashley Miller
Liz Torres
Ronald Miller
Nicholas Uchendu
Valerie Monterrey
Ogugua Uchendu
Carishmar Moore
Kingsley Umemba
Hannah Morales
Kyle Umemba
Kneide Nascimento
Miranda Vilain
Monee Neal
Melodie Vo
Tiffany Nova
Raymani Walker
Nairet Olivo
Eli Ward
Shaina Omoroghomwan
Stanford White
Leslie Orellana
Cheyanne Williams
Nicholas Osarenren
Christline Williams
Alexander Pagan-Mejia
Jasmine Williams
Kai Palmer Dunning
Nyesha Wornum
Ivanna Perez
Sominishia Wright
Michael Prentice-Glasgow Aanoucheka Presume Diane Previlon Kenny Previlon
*Strategic Plan Steering Committee Member **Trustee 2007-2014
Amanda Ringland Zipporah Robinson Isiah Robinson-James Jennifer Rojas Elizabeth Saldana Laura Sanchez 8
Johnathan At Beacon, I learned to have stamina, to persevere and to be an upstander.
About Beacon Academy Exceeding all expectations in rigorous academics, cultural fluency, and social confidence, our kids work harder than they ever have in their young lives. Hailing primarily from Dorchester, Roxbury, Hyde Park, and Mattapan, they overcome the multiple challenges of growing up in adversity to change the trajectory of their lives. Our students earn full scholarships to top independent high schools, including Belmont Hill School, Brimmer and May School, Buckingham Browne & Nichols School, Commonwealth School, Concord Academy, Dana Hall School, Milton Academy, Noble and Greenough School, and many others. Almost all go to colleges like Bowdoin College, Boston University, Connecticut College, Emmanuel College, George Washington University, Skidmore College, Smith College, Tufts University, University of Massachusetts, and Vassar College, among others. Collectively our graduates have earned $21 million in secondary school scholarship aid and more than $12 million in college support. We invite you to learn more about Beacon Academy by attending an Open House or scheduling a visit to our school. To learn how, visit www.beaconacademy.org or call 617-423-2266.
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