Path to the Future Strategic Plan 2021
An exceptional school is never idle. It keeps pushing forward, growing and reaching higher. Ridgefield Academy/Landmark Preschool possesses a drive to push forward, to grow, and to reach higher. Our mission calls us to pursue excellence, which compels us to move forward with a willingness to change and iterate as new opportunities and research-based approaches to teaching and learning emerge. For nearly 50 years, this ambition has resulted in programs that empower each student to confidently rise to their authentic self and shape their futures with ingenuity and integrity.
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Ridgefield Academy/Landmark Preschool is flourishing. Enrollment is strong, philanthropy is generous, educational programs are vibrant, students are joyful, and we are fiscally sound. It is from this position of strength that the school developed a strategic plan that will advance us further as an institution of excellence. Most importantly, we approach the future by remaining focused on our students, who will benefit from the new ideas, new learning spaces, and new initiatives outlined in this plan.
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“Because of substantial, innovative, and thoughtful work done over recent decades and especially recent years, Ridgefield Academy/ Landmark Preschool will be one of the few schools that educationally, programmatically, financially, and pedagogically emerges from the COVID pandemic a stronger institution than when the pandemic first appeared.” — CAIS Re-Accreditation Visiting Committee Report 7
learning for life Vision Ridgefield Academy/Landmark Preschool will be the school that families choose to equip their preschool - Grade 8 children with an individualized foundation for learning and for life. We will be known as a school where students feel encouraged to speak up, stand out, and discover who they really are. • We will present students with a highly personalized program that focuses on deep and enriching learning and prioritizes different perspectives and experiences.
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• We will cultivate in each student a growthmindset and key skills that spark curiosity, encourage intellectual risk taking, and inspire critical thinking.
We know that a strong community and culture advances learning by creating a safe emotional space for children to grow. • We will deepen students’ sense of belonging by increasing the deliberate connectedness of the people and programming within and beyond the school community. • We will further students’ understanding of, appreciation for, and connections to different cultures, backgrounds, and perspectives, we will fully integrate diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in our overall educational program. We will deliberately advance as an institution that effectively executes its mission for current and future generations of students. • We will capitalize on this powerful moment in the life of the school by developing a sophisticated and creative institutional business model that creates opportunities to further advance the school’s reputation and increase new revenue. 9
Strategic Initiatives The following four initiatives will bring our vision for the school to life. Each initiative is designed to elevate RA/LP as a school of distinction.
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Expert Learners
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Leadership Institute
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Expanding Markets
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School of the Future
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Expert Learners
The Expert Learners initiative will add to our challenging curriculum and surpass state standards. It will provide a new way for students to be excited about their learning and will superbly prepare graduates for the contemporary high school environment, college, and life beyond. Our students will become experts in two connected ways. 1 T hey will become masters of understanding their own thinking and learning needs. This advanced metacognition will make them better able to actively engage in and guide their learning. Nothing lends a deeper/greater understanding/retention of knowledge than when a student discovers it for themselves 2 W e will design a school-wide program that prepares and empowers students to conduct sustained, developmentally appropriate research. They will have the opportunity to gain a depth of knowledge and become experts on topics that energize and excite them. From simple beginnings for our youngest students, this will evolve into complex research for our older students.
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Leadership Institute
Every child can be a leader, and leadership exists in every corner of our community. At RA, spaces designed to practice leading, following, and collaborating will create new opportunities for each child to develop their own approach and style of leadership. The Leadership Institute promotes the use of both opportunity and space: 1 W e will establish a comprehensive and dedicated PreschoolGrade 8 leadership program that is rooted in a clearly defined and shared progression of skills and values across divisions. Students will become leaders in a manner that is mission aligned, individualized, and inclusive of our entire student body. This program will integrate communication, social/emotional development, conflict resolution, as well as diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. Students will be prepared to collaborate, build community, and to understand their responsibility to foster connections with others. 12
2 W e will explore building an outdoor education facility that allows us to further implement leadership programming. The Leadership Institute will be designed in coordination with a comprehensive master facility planning process and it will be supported by a capital fundraising effort.
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Expanding Markets We know what we do well as a school. We intend to do more of it by building on our success and expanding into new markets. The school will enhance and augment its current auxiliary programs, including summer camp, facility rentals, and after school clubs. Additionally, we will identify new, innovative educational initiatives that will broaden our program, expand our reach to new families, and extend our brand, thus deepening connections with the broader community and increasing revenue to continue strengthening our core educational program.
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School of the Future Managing the COVID pandemic presented the opportunity to reimagine how schools function. This project will place our educational leaders at the center of a collaborative process that will inform the design and development of the project, proactively integrating new knowledge, new technology and new ways of teaching. The school will select a building project that best supports the future of Preschool – Grade 8 education and meets the needs of our evolving educational program. Drawing on our educational expertise to think about what school will look like in 5, 10, 15 years time and what we will require to stay ahead and and meet our students’ needs will result in facility adaptations that are equally forward thinking. Construction/renovation will occur in coordination with a comprehensive master facility planning process, and it will be supported by a capital fundraising effort.
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Next Steps Over the next three to five years a Strategic Planning Committee will guide the process of comprehensive project planning and implementation. We will identify an order and sequence to the projects that aligns not only with the school’s wants and needs, but considers financial, public health, and other external factors.
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Never Idle. Reaching Higher. By 2026, Ridgefield Academy/Landmark Preschool will be known throughout the region as a school that unabashedly places joyful learning at its center. Imagine the individual, community, and institutional future of RA. Each student will be equipped with a deep understanding of theirself as a leader, as a learner, and as a community member. They will possess a sense of assuredness and sensitivity that makes them equally adept at pursuing their dreams and working to make their community a better place. The time, attention and resources invested by many individuals coming together to support the school will have enriched the sense of connectedness and responsibility that comes with our tight-knit community. Diversity will be a deeply integrated part of our culture, and equity, camaraderie, and civility will be modeled by students, faculty, staff, parents and alumni alike.
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Our graduates will be qualified to attend the finest secondary schools in the country. Prospective families will discover RA/LP and contact admissions, having heard about our advanced educational program, superb facilities, and robust resources through other families who are proud of their own children’s accomplishments. Ridgefield Academy/Landmark Preschool will be known as a leader in innovative Preschool-8 education, having seized opportunities to meet the evolving needs of families with young children. It will be recognized in the region for having tapped the expertise of its community, for having built a revenue structure that is deliberately diverse, and for securing contributions from its community to invest in its future. Together, we can build it.
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Mission The Ridgefield Academy and Landmark Preschool community celebrates childhood, pursues excellence, and cultivates kindness. Our educational program is intellectually inspiring, and we foster joyful learning and mutual respect in all that we do. We empower each student to rise to their authentic self, preparing confident graduates who shape their future with ingenuity and integrity. Strategic Planning Committee
2021-22 Board of Trustees
Kaye Hale (Chair 2021) Lynne Geaney (Chair 2018-2020 ) Kate Ritter Stephanie Luedke Drosten Fisher Damani Howell Caroline Kellen Howard Turner Tom Main (Head of School) Dave Suter (Associate Head) Alison O’Callaghan (Head of PS/LS) Mo Carleton (Director of Advancement) Fell Herdog (CFO)
Lynne Geaney, Chair Kate Ritter, Vice Chair Stephanie Luedke, Treasurer Alison Davis, Secretary Alex Bellina Drosten Fisher Dr. Kaye Hale Dr. Damani Howell Caroline Kellen Tom Main, ex-officio (HoS) Laura Masotti Liz Smolenack, RAPA ex-officio Rachel Sondheimer State Attorney General William Tong Abigail Wattley Wendy Wo Beurket Howard Turner, Honorary Trustee Tim Birch, Honorary Trustee
Never Idle. Reaching Higher.