Grace-St. Luke's Episcopal School Strategic Plan: Balancing Innovation and Tradition

MISSION STATEMENT

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Grace-St. Luke’s Episcopal School prepares boys and girls to become creative problem solvers, confident lifelong learners, and responsible citizens in their communities and the world.

INTRODUCTION & VISION Balancing Innovation and Tradition In today’s world, new technologies continue to shift the way industries function. This remains top of mind as GSL prepares boys and girls to become creative problem solvers, confident lifelong learners, and responsible citizens in their communities and the world. At the core of this strategic plan is our vision to recognize, embrace, and implement best-practices to prepare our students for success in high school, college, and into their careers. GSL has been a leading school in the Midsouth for 70 years, and in order to maintain that status we must continue to approach our mission and vision by balancing traditional academic approaches with innovative and visionary thinking. In everything we do—from exploring new ideas while maintaining proven strategies to investigating global thinking while remaining anchored by our success skills—GSL will maintain a balance of the old and new.

THE STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS

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Grace-St. Luke’s began the strategic planning process by establishing a consulting relationship with David Madison, Head of the SouthWestern Association of Episcopal Schools. Under his guidance, initial planning retreats were held in the Fall of 2016. Drawing on the work of Simon Sinek, the Board worked to generate a “why statement,” articulating the core essence that makes GSL special. In the Fall of 2017, the Board met with David again—this time with senior administrators—to prepare for the strategic planning process.

Following that meeting, the Board and Head worked with David to develop a survey for the community. All stakeholders were surveyed, including parents, faculty, alumni, Board, and administrators. Following the collection and tabulation of the survey, David spent three days on campus focused on stakeholder meetings.

Representative faculty, Board, administrators, students, parents, and alumni met with David to share their experiences, hopes, observations, and feedback about GraceSt. Luke’s. An extensive, day-long retreat followed for all Board members and senior administrators. Working with David, five core themes emerged from the survey data and stakeholder interviews. These themes became the overarching goals for our Strategic Plan. At the conclusion of the meeting, initial language for each goal with some suggested objectives were established. Using the foundation from that retreat, the Board’s Strategic Planning Committee worked to further refine and develop the language of each goal and objective. The committee divided into subcommittees for this work, each focusing on a particular goal. The subcommittee drafts were vetted by the larger Strategic Planning Committee and, ultimately, by the Board. Feedback and revisions were suggested and incorporated into the Strategic Plan, which was then presented to the Board for final approval.

HISTORY Grace-St. Luke’s Episcopal School is a coed, independent school located in the heart of Midtown’s beautiful and historic Central Gardens neighborhood. GSL opened in 1947 when Mrs. Lorena Webber Walker began a program at Grace-St. Luke’s Church under the direction of the Reverend Dr. Charles Stuart Hale. The school was issued its first charter in 1959. The school decided to make 1979 the last year for tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grades, allowing GSL to focus on developing students in preschool through middle school. In 1986, GSL acquired Snowden Field and Miss Lee’s School of Childhood, allowing the school to expand its preschool offerings.

As GSL experienced growth, the school worked with the church to link the church, the school administrative offices, the middle school, and the Saints gym via an addition known as the Evans building. In 2010, the Anchor Center opened on campus, featuring a new gym, cafeteria, library, music and art rooms, science labs, dedicated space for After School Care, and a greenhouse. In 2013, the Little Lukers program was added, expanding the preschool program to include two-year-old children. GSL was one of the first schools in Memphis to add such a program. In 2017, GSL proudly celebrated 70 years of success in Memphis.

SUMMARY OF GOALS

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1. ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE Provide a vigorous academic experience that fosters individual achievement and personal success.

2. DIVERSITY Develop, embrace and promote a broad definition of diversity that is reflected in the composition of our student body, faculty, and Board of Trustees, as well as in our curriculum and enrichment offerings.

3. FACILITIES Maintain and improve every aspect of our vibrant physical spaces to enhance the quality of teaching and learning, to attract, hire, and retain top quality students, faculty and staff, and to create a campus that promotes safety, provides a welcoming atmosphere, and nurtures academic, artistic and athletic excellence.

4. INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT Develop and implement an advancement strategy that supports sustainable enrollment and retention, promotes GSL’s story, and fosters long-term relationships with families, donors and volunteers.

5. FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY Ensure long-term financial viability by operating on a sound basis and developing financial resources to support GSL’s goals.

GOAL 1

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ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE Provide a vigorous academic experience that fosters individual achievement and personal success.

Background GSL distinguishes itself by providing an academically vigorous, traditional curriculum while intentionally incorporating more progressive practices where appropriate. This, blended with diverse experiences, has developed compassionate leaders and lifelong learners with strong ethical values.

We successfully deliver this in a coed, two year old through eighth grade environment that challenges the intellect, nurtures the spirit, and provides multiple opportunities for leadership and interaction among the various ages of our student body. We help students reach their full potential through a well-rounded experience rooted in high academic standards and anchored by our robust character-building and service learning curricula.

Objectives 1. Set high standards for faculty to prepare students for academic and

personal success in high school, college and beyond using up-to-date resources and technology.

2. Create a supportive feedback culture within the teaching faculty and

empower teachers to develop their leadership and academic strengths.

3. Renew our commitment to a vigorous, personalized academic

experience while continuing to instill upstanding character, moral, and ethical values in each GSL student.

4. Employ new strategies to develop and support teachers so they can

succeed in challenging and supporting each child while emphasizing academic excellence and the importance of developing creative and collaborative problem solving skills.

5. Develop leaders in our student body by providing students with

opportunities to push beyond their comfort zones.

GOAL 2

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DIVERSITY Develop, embrace and promote a broad definition of diversity that is reflected in the composition of our student body, faculty, and Board of Trustees, as well as in our curriculum and enrichment offerings.

Background GSL is committed to creating and sustaining a school community that celebrates all forms of diversity. At GSL, we believe that a learning environment that includes diverse viewpoints is essential to a complete educational experience and will serve as anchors for the leaders of tomorrow. Rooted in our Episcopal heritage, we strive to be a welcoming community for students, families, and faculty.

Objectives 1. Ensure our classroom content, teaching methods and extracurricular

activities provide a range of experiences and viewpoints from a cultural, geographic, religious, gender and socio-economic perspective.

2. Enhance and celebrate diversity at GSL to create an inclusive

environment where all families feel valued and are tied into the GSL experience and welcoming Episcopal spirit.

3. Continually develop a teaching staff and student body representing a

broad range of backgrounds and ethnicities.

4. Build upon our commitment to invest in the social, emotional, spiritual,

and academic success of each GSL student and ensure that every student is cared for, cared about, and celebrated.

GOAL 3

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FACILITIES Maintain and improve every aspect of our vibrant physical spaces to enhance the quality of teaching and learning, to attract, hire, and retain top quality students, faculty and staff, and to create a campus that promotes safety, provides a welcoming atmosphere, and nurtures academic, artistic and athletic excellence.

Background GSL is a community that blends the old and the new. Nowhere is this truer than in our facilities. We recognize that some of our buildings often show their age, but with age comes great character. Through this strategic plan, we intend to focus on connecting our campus to better deliver a consistent experience from preschool through middle school.

Objectives 1. Develop a master plan for our campus that includes detailed and

measurable maintenance objectives with a focus on identifying shortterm improvements that will improve upon the GSL experience.

2. Maintain our facilities at the highest level and execute repairs in an

expeditious manner.

3. Create a neat, tidy, well-maintained home that welcomes GSL families

and guests.

4. Develop and execute a facility-wide branding plan to provide a

harmonious aesthetic to our campus.

5. Make prudent and sensible use of our facilities to maximize our

midtown Memphis location.

GOAL 4

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INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT Develop and implement an advancement strategy that supports sustainable enrollment and retention, promotes GSL’s story, and fosters long-term relationships with families, donors and volunteers.

Background Grace-St. Luke’s has long been referred to as “the best kept secret” in Memphis. To sustain and expand our enrollment, we aspire to become more widely known as a caring and academically-vigorous school that prepares students for a changing, dynamic marketplace. In our ever-growing, competitive market, an increase in dollars raised is needed to support the ongoing expenses of facilities, staffing, and programs while keeping tuition accessible. Our tight-knit community uniquely positions us to establish personal relationships with students and families which can be utilized to support our advancement efforts including enrollment, marketing and development.

Objectives 1. Develop a mission-driven outline of who we are so we can better

articulate our identity and value of GSL to current and prospective families, as well as current and prospective donors, in a consistent and compelling way.

2. Focus our enrollment efforts on continuing to build a mission-

appropriate, upstanding student body that is reflective of our neighborhood, city, nation, and the world.

3. Explore new and creative ways to increase both income sources and

enrollment while engaging constituents in the overall advancement of GSL.

4. Promote GSL’s unique community, including the personalized student

and family experience.

GOAL 5

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FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY Ensure long-term financial viability by operating on a sound basis and developing financial resources to support GSL’s goals.

Background GSL is committed to financial stability and has long been a prudent steward of its financial resources. We strive to continue this tradition while planning appropriately for building maintenance, educational resources, teacher compensation, and need-based financial aid. Through the development of a thoughtful and comprehensive financial plan, we will be well positioned to provide the financial resources needed to be successful in the short- and long-term.

Objectives 1. Maintain a balanced budget.

2. Strengthen long-term financial stability and seek revenue enhancement

opportunities to reduce tuition dependence.

3. Research best-practices and community needs to develop new potential

income sources.

4. Develop and implement a comprehensive fundraising campaign to

raise funds for need-based financial aid.