IV. OVERVIEW OF STRATEGIC PLAN AND SELF STUDY PROCESS

SELF STUDY PROCESS

Summer 2018 Planned and created community engagement for the year

August 2018 SAIS Value Narrative Survey - All constituent groups were invited to take the Survey. Great response - kicked off self-study from a place of strength/voices of community heard.

October 2018 The Summit @ Cannon School. All constituent groups represented. Unique aspect: we invited the community to be a part of the day. Keynote panel. Breakout sessions. The day was focused on not finding answers, but rather finding the right questions. We worked from a Harvard Business Review article and research about discovery through questions-the Question Burst.

Fall 2018 Self-Study Committee digested data gathered from survey and Summit to identify areas of mission-aligned growth of greatest interest to community members.

December 2018 Professional Development Day. Faculty/staff in small groups reviewed a select group of questions and chose essential questions to explore in greater depth. It became clear by December that the engagement of faculty/staff together (mixing up of divisions) was well received and welcomed by the community. This engagement across divisions and the faculty/staff divide had great benefits.

February 2018 Professional Development Day. Faculty/staff were placed in small groups for morning and afternoon. Specific questions that had risen to the top were discussed in small and larger group settings. The focus was thinking about these questions “from where you sit.” An effort to consider the question from different people’s vantage points on campus. We continued with making sure people from different areas were engaged. We also had “Walk and Talks” - with one faculty and one staff leader for each group.

Spring 2018 Student focus groups were held using questions faculty and staff had discussed on April PD day.

April 2018 PD Self-study is the year-long process we completed 2018-2019 that culminated in five findings. Reporting back to faculty for year’s research and findings and Rose, Thorn etc. exercise/collected feedback.

Here is the presentation that was used to share findings from the year with faculty and staff.

2018-2019 Throughout the year worked with the Admin Team at each stage for feedback on the process, the data, etc.

August 2019 Admin Leadership Team begins working on a bridge from the five self-study findings to the creation of a strategic plan.

Fall 2019 Board of Trustees begins to work with HOS on a Vision statement to drive the next five year strategic plan.

October 2019 PD Workshops offered to faculty and staff all center around the five findings of the self-study.

December 2019 PD First Strategic Planning Retreat held with 30 selected admin, faculty, and staff members to begin to develop a set of strategic drivers that will govern the next five-year strategic plan.

January 2020 The Self-Study Committee reconvened as the Accreditation Team to see through the process of SAIS Chair and Team Visit for Accreditation.

February 2020- Leadership Team works on drafts of a vision statement and set of strategic drivers to July 2020 present to BOT.

August 2020 Head of School presents first version of strategic design package to BOT. This includes mission, core Board Advance values, (new) vision statement, and set of 5 strategic drivers.

What must we do to attract, develop, and nurture learners who are caring, relational, inspirational, adaptive experts?

What must we do to help our learners grow in curiosity, teamwork, collaboration, ethical decision-making, empathy, and time management?

What must we do to balance the demands our academic programs, our character education, our artistic and athletic offerings place on our learners?

What must we do to grow as an inclusive community of learners?

What must we do to foster purposeful, regular, continuous school engagement with the Concord community?

BUILDING OF THE STRATEGIC PLAN

Context

With the addition of a Vision and five Strategic Drivers, the Leadership Team and members of the Board of Trustees completed Cannon’s Strategic Design. This was accomplished by: building upon our existing core values; aligning with our 2017 mission statement; using our 2018 community-wide self-study; and, hosting multiple workshops and discussions with faculty and staff and parents.

The strategic design should guide both expansive all-school investments of resources, and day-to-day choices made by teachers and staff. In contrast to any strategic plan, the power of this strategic design is that it will provide institutional, divisional, departmental, team, and individual direction every day, for every program, project, system, or decision.

Cannon School commits to

Community: Belongingness, Engagement, and Access Cannon believes you belong here. Your identity, your richness of experience and background, improves our academic community and our school culture. Cannon reinforces the skills and habits that allow us to engage productively and grow in the context of differing opinions, real stakes, and intense emotions. Cannon seeks avenues for you to engage fully, know that you belong wholly, and access the educational experiences we offer without barrier.

Students: Developing Critical and Confident Learners Cannon pursues learning experiences that promote critical thinking and inquiry-based exploration. Cannon values experiencedbased, active learning across all disciplines and grades. A Cannon education prepares a student for the complex academic and competitive life challenges they can expect, and those they cannot. Cannon believes in the power of the teacher-student relationship as its learners develop the habits of Adaptive Expertise.

Educators: Distinctive, Personalized Professional Growth Programs Cannon delivers world-class teaching. Teachers and staff are at their best when challenged individually to meet their potential. Cannon seeks to curate a unique growth experience for each teacher, leader, and staff member. Cannon reinforces a professional culture organized around a growth mindset in service of constant improvement and innovation.

Wellness: Structures that Promote a Culture of Health and Balance

Cannon fosters an experience of balance. In a world of quickening pace and social pressures, Cannon reinforces the whole-child concept, supports developmental differences across ages, and acts to cultivate a school culture that values our learners’ whole selves. Cannon evaluates and develops school programs and systems that promote our learners’ health and well-being.

Sustainability: Mission-Responsive Resources and Partnerships Cannon intentionally develops and uses financial and campus resources in support of its mission. Cannon places mission at the core of its systems and structures to ensure we deliver upon our daily purpose more effectively and efficiently. Cannon establishes strategic and programmatic partnerships beyond its campus to accelerate and enhance each learner’s journey of growth.

NEXT STEPS

While the Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS) deferred all member-schools’ accreditation cycles by one year, Cannon is ready to declare its future direction. Following appropriate Board action, we will present the full strategic design (mission, core values, vision, and strategic drivers) to faculty and staff during post planning in June 2021 and pre-planning in August 2021. This will include the set of growth initiatives we are committing to for the next few years. The work on initiatives will begin in August 2021.