STRATEGIC PLAN | 2021
Dear Harbor Day School Community, We are delighted to share with you the Strategic Plan for Harbor Day School. This plan, which represents the culmination of more than five years of collaboration between the Board of Trustees and the HDS Administration, includes a refreshed Mission Statement, elevated importance of the school motto (“Gradatim ad Summum”), and the establishment of six Core Values for Harbor Day School. It is meant to guide everything that we do at Harbor Day, both in preserving the elements of the school that we all hold so dear and in driving continued innovation and improvement. The Board of Trustees aims to produce a new strategic plan every three to five years. When we embarked on the planning process more than five years ago, it became clear very quickly that the most pressing priority was the building of a new campus to call home. Anyone driving down San Joaquin Hills Road can see that this New Campus Project is in full swing and we could not be more excited about watching teachers and students move into the new building in early 2022. The plan you are looking at now is intended to ensure that the Harbor Day education, co-curricular offerings, high standards, and warm culture fully carry over to this new home while at the same time moving forward with program additions and expansions that ensure the best possible education and opportunities for Harbor Day students. There were a considerable number of inputs to the multi-year strategic planning process, including surveys of parents, students, alumni, and faculty, board/administration/faculty retreat discussions, working group committees and subcommittees, and outside research. Thank you very much to everyone who took part in this expansive process. The Strategic Plan has been a collaboration of the Board and Administration, but we now turn the plan over to Head of School Angi Evans and her team for implementation. We look forward to continuing to support Mrs. Evans as she maintains her steady leadership of Harbor Day.
Sincerely,
Whitney Gomez, President, Board of Trustees Gene Tsai, Chair, Strategic Planning Committee Aaron Bartz, Past President, Board of Trustees
GRADATIM AD SUMMUM STEP-BY-STEP TO THE TOP
MISSION HARBOR DAY SCHOOL PROVIDES AN ACADEMICALLY CHALLENGING, WELL-BALANCED EDUCATION IN A NURTURING AND INCLUSIVE FAMILY-CENTERED ENVIRONMENT. OUR FACULTY INSPIRES CURIOSITY AND A DESIRE TO LEARN, AND CULTIVATES IN STUDENTS THE CONFIDENCE, STRONG MORAL CHARACTER, AND PERSEVERANCE TO THRIVE. WE CELEBRATE DIVERSITY AND TRADITIONS, VALUE COLLABORATION AND INNOVATION, AND CHERISH OUR COMMUNITY AND THE LIFELONG RELATIONSHIPS DEVELOPED.
CORE VALUES CHALLENGING CURRICULUM EXCELLENT TEACHERS INTEGRITY AND SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION NURTURING AND INSPIRING ENVIRONMENT VIBRANT COMMUNITY
TOGETHER, WE ENSURE THAT A HARBOR DAY EDUCATION AND ITS TRADITIONS CAN BE ENJOYED FOR GENERATIONS TO COME.
CORE VALUE 1:
CHALLENGING CURRICULUM We value academic excellence and provide a challenging, well-balanced curriculum that prepares students for a rapidly evolving world.
STRATEGIC GOALS Redefine the academic schedule to enhance the needs of our community of learners. Develop a shared understanding of the skills and habits that students will need for future personal and professional success; map them into our curriculum. Adopt a global perspective throughout the curriculum to reflect our dynamic student and parent body; promote and reinforce our inclusive and empathetic community. Implementation Steps include: ●
Continuing the tradition of a strong program that includes language arts, mathematics, science, technology, social studies, world language, performing and visual arts, physical education, and social-emotional learning;
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Identifying opportunities in the curriculum to address skill development; and
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Auditing the curriculum to ensure that multiple perspectives are represented in every classroom.
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CORE VALUE 2:
EXCELLENT TEACHERS Excellent teachers form the foundation of Harbor Day School. We will continue to attract and retain an outstanding and diverse faculty.
STRATEGIC GOALS Attract the highest quality teachers. Retain the highest quality teachers at Harbor Day School. Implementation Steps include: ●
Identifying and implementing an equitable hiring process to recruit an outstanding racially and ethnically diverse faculty;
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Providing high quality professional development opportunities that allow skills acquisition and knowledge base growth; and
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Providing opportunities for travel grants to faculty and staff at longevity milestones.
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CORE VALUE 3:
INTEGRITY AND SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING Harbor Day School develops self-reliance, strong moral character, and social-emotional intelligence in our students.
STRATEGIC GOALS Explore new ways to incorporate character development and social-emotional learning into the current curriculum. Encourage and facilitate opportunities for families to participate in character development programs. Implementation Steps include: ●
Pursuing further professional development for faculty so that the curriculum is created with character development and social-emotional learning as part of the teaching process;
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Including social-emotional learning and character goals in teacher goal-setting and evaluations; and
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Providing service opportunities for parents and students to participate in throughout the school year.
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CORE VALUE 4:
DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION Harbor Day School fosters socially responsible and empathetic students who recognize and embrace differences among the members of our society.
STRATEGIC GOALS Cultivate an inclusive school community that values diversity, equity, and inclusion. Increase diversity in the Harbor Day School student body. Recruit, develop, and retain an increasingly diverse faculty, staff, and administration. Provide resources to support diversity, equity, and inclusion. Implementation Steps include: ●
Designing a financial assistance approach that enables HDS to increase the diversity in the student population;
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Engaging placement firms that focus on diversity recruitment and attending diversity teacher recruitment fairs to increase HDS’ profile among minority candidates; and
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Identifying opportunities to host community-wide events that emphasize elements of student identity and multiculturalism; fostering a partnership between families and school on this topic.
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CORE VALUE 5:
NURTURING AND INSPIRING ENVIRONMENT We provide a warm, innovative, and secure learning environment that inspires students and teachers to think creatively and work collaboratively.
STRATEGIC GOALS Construct and maintain a safe and secure campus. Provide a nurturing and innovative learning environment with a focus on school culture and leveraging technology. Implementation Steps include: ●
Building a new campus and incorporating best-in-class safety standards;
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Creating a plan to carry the School’s family atmosphere and ethos into the new campus buildings; and
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Exploring the idea of creating a technology integration plan that inspires in students curiosity, creativity, and interest in innovation.
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CORE VALUE 6:
VIBRANT COMMUNITY Harbor Day is an active and engaged school community characterized by supportive relationships, shared values, wellness, and social responsibility.
STRATEGIC GOALS Ensure continuity of the school’s warm culture and a strong sense of community as we transition to the new school facilities. Assess and strive to address community health and wellness, with particular emphasis on nutrition, exercise, and mental health. Implementation Steps include: ●
Maintaining traditions and creating new events that promote the school’s values, fun, and community.
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Surveying school stakeholders regularly to ensure that the school continues to carry out the mission, takes advantage of opportunities to innovate, and responds to new needs. Topics that merit exploration include extracurricular learning, after-school programming, mental health resources, dining offerings, community events, and parent involvement opportunities.
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Creating an on-campus dining plan that offers healthy options, provides students with adequate time for play, and potentially teaches students nutritional principles.
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