Five Year Strategic Plan

2024 -

2029

Strategic Plan

Hilton Head Preparatory School

PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE...

A collaborative process

Dear Hilton Head Prep Community,

Building a compass to guide our work at Hilton Head Preparatory School has been central to our efforts over the past year and we are pleased to share the 2024-2029 Strategic Plan with you. A plan such as this allows us to define our priorities in the coming years and serves as a guide as we sharpen our vision and strive toward our aspirations. Beginning in January 2023, the school leadership and community have conducted a collaborative process that included many different stakeholders with the goal of establishing our priorities and harnessing our dreams.

This work was undertaken at every level of the organizational structure and included the Board of Trustees, the school leadership team, faculty, parents, alumni and students. The plan is OUR plan and the process of creating it has allowed us to crystalize what matters most to us and distill those convictions into an accessible and measurable plan for the coming years.

Our three centers of gravity center on our faculty, our campus and our community. In the following pages you will see both wider goals and specific areas of work to which the school leadership can hold itself accountable.

Part of the strategic planning process included condensing the wording of the school’s Mission Statement. Clarity of mission is central to our success as it ensures that who we are and what we do are rooted in a common vision of why Hilton Head Prep is here.

We welcome your questions and are excited to share this with all in our community. As with its creation, the implementation of this plan will require community involvement and support. The Board of Trustees and the school leadership are committed to this work and we invite you to learn more about the future of Hilton Head Prep.

Paul W. Horgan

Samuel C. Bauer ‘84 Head of School Chairman, Board of Trustees

MISSION STATEMENT AND CORE VALUES

In a joyful, accepting, and ambitious environment, Hilton Head

Preparatory School is a place where children discover what is great about themselves and the community around them and learn how to use that knowledge to impact an ever-changing world and thrive within it.

Core Values: • Scholarship

Community

Creativity

Integrity

Excellence

Centers of Gravity

FIVE YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN

Hilton Head Prep’s campus will be invigorated with facilities that are designed to meet the needs of students, artists, and athletes now and for generations to come.

Hilton Head Prep will provide top-tier support for a great faculty and staff by allocating necessary resources to provide its students with the very best professional educators.

In order to move boldly into the future, Hilton Head Prep will broaden its reach into the community, into the region, and into the world.

“...designed to meet the needs of students, artists, and athletes now and for generations to come.”

Critical Work Seeking Things That Produce Evidence

DEEPER SENSE OF CAMPUS PERMANENCE

FOCUS ON SUPPORTING STUDENT MENTAL HEALTH & WELLNESS

RETAIN GREAT EDUCATORS

DEEPER CONNECTIONS TO THE SURROUNDING COMMUNITY

BUILD CAPITAL SUPPORT

SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC MODEL

DEEPER SENSE OF CAMPUS PERMANENCE

In striving to create a deeper sense of campus permanence, Hilton Head Prep will center these themes: A healthy, welcoming atmosphere, school safety, program supportive spaces, and flexibility for future generations.

• The school will invest in a thorough campus master planning process, which will include input from every constituency of our school. This planning will emphasize the idea that the campus design should clearly reflect its focus on the future.

• Hilton Head Prep will focus on academics, arts, and athletics, and on spaces that support programs (speeches, athletics, academics) as well as revenue generation.

“...a

healthy welcoming atmosphere, school safety, program supportive spaces, and flexibility for future generations.”

FOCUS ON SUPPORTING STUDENT

MENTAL HEALTH & WELLNESS

The school will allocate resources toward, and deepen the focus on, supporting student wellness and mental health.

• We will annually review staffing needs in order to ensure support for all of our students.

• We will provide proactive programming that promotes positive mental health.

• We will assess our institutional use of time as well as student schedules.

RETAIN GREAT EDUCATORS

“...ensure academic excellence, and make the investment necessary to retain great educators.”

The school will provide the resources for best-in-class professional development for its faculty and staff. In so doing, it will improve both teaching and learning for each teacher and student, ensure academic excellence, and make the investment necessary to retain great educators.

• Each Division Director will maintain a professional development budget.

• We will address challenges regarding housing and affordability.

• We will provide competitive compensation for faculty and staff.

DEEPER CONNECTIONS TO THE SURROUNDING COMMUNITY

The school will build deeper connections to the surrounding community and create sustained growth and learning opportunities for ALL Hilton Head Prep students beyond the boundaries of the physical campus.

• While there are some examples of this programming at Hilton Head Prep currently, the school’s faculty, students, and staff will contribute more deeply and benefit more fully from the region and beyond.

• We will partner with the local community to provide our students with additional exposure to the professional workplace.

• We will seek to expand the cone of admissions candidates to include those who previously did not consider Hilton Head Prep an option.

• We will utilize the Hilton Head Prep Institute for Business and Innovation to connect with the larger Hilton Head Island business community.

BUILD CAPITAL SUPPORT

Build capital support to move boldly toward the school’s most critical needs and just as importantly, its aspirations.

• Under the leadership of the Board of Trustees and Head of School, Hilton Head Prep will acquire and marshal philanthropic gifts toward the strategic plan.

• We will expand the philanthropic range of the school through connections to the community.

• We will expand our proactive processes toward seeking and obtaining grant money for the school.

• We will implement a full time Director of Institutional Advancement position.

SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC MODEL

Hilton Head Prep will create and maintain a sustainable economic model for the future.

• We will identify the “right size” for ideal enrollment through market research and long term financial modeling.

• We will deepen engagement with Alumni.

• We will assess and refine marketing and communications strategies.

• We will create and maintain five-year budget projections.

• We will implement a full time Chief Financial Officer position.

• We will continue to grow the endowment.

“...create and identify the ’right size’ for ideal enrollment.”