Schools of the Sacred Heart | San Francisco: Strategic Plan

2012-2017

Strategic Plan Schools of the Sacred Heart | San Francisco

Our Mission Founded in 1887 as an independent, Catholic school, Schools of the Sacred Heart San Francisco carries on the educational mission of the Religious of the Sacred Heart. We share with the other members of the nationwide Network of Sacred Heart Schools five common goals and the commitment to educate to:

A personal and active faith in God A deep respect for intellectual values A social awareness, which impels to action The building of community as a Christian value Personal growth in an atmosphere of wise freedom

A K-12, four-school complex, Schools of the Sacred Heart San Francisco offers the unique experience of single-sex education within a co-ed community. Students are expected to achieve their highest level of scholarship while learning to assume leadership roles as responsible, compassionate and contributing members of society.

Our Aspirations Schools of the Sacred Heart educates promising young men and women toward lives filled with meaning, purpose and prosperity of spirit.

Our strategic priorities seek to sustain and strengthen the school’s ability to fulfill its mission, ensuring this vibrant community will thrive into the next century.

“

We must remember that it is better to begin a great work than to finish a small one.”

—Janet Erskine Stuart, RSCJ

Educational Excellence The Strategic Plan is informed by research of independent school best practices and peer benchmarks, coupled with a comprehensive exploration of community opinion through focus groups and constituent surveys. Through this process, the Board of Trustees has identified four distinct pillars, which will underpin our school through 2017: Financial Stability, Academic Investment, Organizational Alignment, and Formation to Mission.

These four pillars are both co-dependent and integrated across multiple dimensions. Financial sustainability is compulsory and essential to all undertakings.

Academic investment relies on the foundation of financial sustainability and leverages the outcomes of organizational alignment. Our mission is the defining differentiator of our school and guides our academic investment. In realizing these objectives, Schools of the Sacred Heart San Francisco will continue to provide educational excellence.

The Four Pillars Financial Sustainability The school will increase the revenue contribution from endowment and annual fund while increasing financial accessibility to all students.

Academic Investment The school will enhance the quality, reputation and outcomes of its academic offerings to attract the most talented and qualified students.

Organizational Alignment The school will improve its kindergarten through twelfth grade integration and improve organizational collaboration to better support the quality and efficiency of instruction.

Formation to Mission The school will implement a formalized plan to educate the adult community in the mission, Goals & Criteria, and traditions of the Society of the Sacred Heart to empower them as bearers of the Society’s mission and to assume their responsibility to foster its transmission to the next generation.

Financial Sustainability The school will increase the contribution from non-tuition revenue as a proportion of operating expense to increase accessibility to students and families of a broader range of financial means. The school will adopt a model of financial equilibrium, which over time ensures: Annual operating revenues to be greater than or equal to operating expenses, Growth in annual revenues to be greater than or equal to growth in operating expenses, Limited endowment spending to ensure that the corpus of the endowment can sustain its real purchasing power, Reinvestment in the physical plant and equipment to be sufficient to preserve their useful life.

The school will continue to strengthen financial stability through an aggressive plan that continues to grow revenues, improve operating margins, increase annual fundraising, grow endowment and reduce debt.

Academic Investment The school will enhance the quality, reputation and outcomes of its academic offerings to continue to attract the most talented and qualified students.

The school will implement five strategies to strengthen the academic reputation of the Schools of the Sacred Heart San Francisco:

Employ innovative strategies grounded in research that support effective teaching and learning, Create an optimal learning environment that meets the needs of the spectrum of students, Identify and support teaching excellence, Assess and strengthen the co-curricular program and extra-curricular programs, Ensure continuity of K-12 academic and co-curricular program.

Organizational Alignment The school will improve its kindergarten through twelfth grade integration and improve organizational collaboration to better support the quality and efficiency of instruction. Through better organizational alignment, the school will achieve: Improved operational efficiency and effectiveness in a manner that maximizes resources and reduces redundancy; reduces complexity in operations and budgeting; simplifies school level reporting up to the President; and improves evaluation mechanisms for faculty and staff, A more integrated K-12 operating and teaching environment with increased high school retention that fosters greater collaboration and communication internally, A strong and clear school identity that differentiates it in the market.

Formation to Mission The school will implement a formalized plan to educate the adult community in the mission, Goals & Criteria and traditions of the Society of the Sacred Heart to empower them as bearers of the Society’s mission and to assume their responsibility to foster its transmission to the next generation.

Convent & Stuart Hall

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Convent & Stuart

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Schools of the Sacred Heart | San Francisco

Schools of the Sacred Heart | San

2222 Broadway San Francisco, CA 94115 www.sacredsf.org ŠSchools of the Sacred Heart | San Francisco, 2012