Orientation to the Goals & Criteria

Faculty & Staff

Ninety-first Street faculty and staff are oriented to the Goals and Criteria through a year-long onboarding program managed by the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Community Life. At the start of their 91st Street journey, new faculty and staff receive materials and resources and participate in workshop sessions throughout the academic year to learn about and engage with the Sacred Heart mission. Annual, all-school planning weeks and professional development days begin with a mission-centered prayer service and reflection led by the Heritage & Spirituality Council, followed by professional learning opportunities that directly address the theme of the service. Each new faculty or staff member further engages in reflecting on specific Goals and Criteria as they pertain to divisional, departmental, and team priorities and objectives.

The Heritage & Spirituality and Awareness Councils separately and together offer Goal- and Criteria-centered programming throughout the year for new and established members of the professional community. The Administrative Team invites RSCJ guests to speak at faculty and staff retreats, in honor of Feast Days, and to celebrate new developments, like the publication of the revised 2020 Goals and Criteria. The Head of School selects at least one Goal and/or Criteria as the annual focus each year, leading to regular all-school and divisional opportunities for deeper exploration.

Lower School, Middle School, Upper School, and Athletics and Wellness divisional faculty and staff encounter the Goals and Criteria in curriculum development processes, faculty meetings, support team meetings, policies and processes, presentations, grade-level meetings, and meetings for first-year divisional faculty. The Athletics and Wellness division further aligns coaches with the Goals and Criteria through the HEART (Honor, Effort, Attitude, Resolve, and Togetherness) athletic values. Annual goal-setting and evaluation processes incorporate the Goals and Criteria. In support of professional

growth and talent development, division heads, academic deans, and department chairs observe and evaluate faculty annually during their first three years of employment and periodically in successive years.

Members of the professional community are encouraged to participate in Network meet-ups, Summer Service Projects, and professional learning experiences such as Roots that Give Us Wings and Tending to the Relationships that Matter Most.

Students

Ninety-first Street students engage with the Goals and Criteria from the moment they enter the admissions experience to graduation day and beyond. Divisional community meeting time, homeroom and advisory activities, holiday and Sacred Heart milestone celebrations, service learning projects, Network programs, grade-level retreats, masses, and prayer services are anchored in the Goals and Criteria. Faculty embed the Goals and Criteria as they develop curricula and programming and reference the Goals and Criteria in instructional practice to contextualize student learning and decision-making. Signature projects—such as the Senior Capstone, STREAM work, and Herstory—encourage students to integrate, connect with, and reflect on the Goals and Criteria. Welcome events and orientations, handbooks and planbooks, wellness and social emotional learning programs, and disciplinary processes are rooted in and reflective of the Goals and Criteria.

Parents & Families

Parents and families are oriented to the mission of Sacred Heart education and the Goals and Criteria through the admissions experience, divisional handbooks, community communications, Parents Association events, and divisional programming, from curriculum nights to speaker series to special events. The Goals and Criteria are a differentiator in admissions marketing and foundational in divisional and all-school correspondence, discussions, interviews, and events. Divisional leaders and admissions officers translate the Goals into age-appropriate language for students and are intentional in centering and connecting to the Sacred Heart mission during presentations, at events, and in communication. Mementos, artifacts, and emblems significant to the Sacred Heart mission and 91st Street history are embedded meaningfully, physically, and digitally, throughout the school, at milestone celebrations, and at community gatherings and traditions.

Board of Trustees

The Board of Trustees selects new members who demonstrate an understanding of and commitment to the mission of Sacred Heart education. New trustees participate in an orientation designed by the Board Committee on Trustees and the Executive Committee and focusing on an education to mission as well as governance and leadership in Sacred Heart schools. Trustees are also invited to participate in Network programs for leadership, including the Annual Trustee Education to Mission Conference in St. Charles. Throughout the year, the Head of School leads Goals-focused discussions at board meetings, communicates community missives, and shares invitations to Sacred Heart experiences.