Salisbury Academy SAIS Self-Study Report

Salisbury Academy SAIS SELF-STUDY REPORT November 10-12, 2019

Salisbury Academy inspires a love of learning and prepares passionate leaders through discovery, stewardship, community, and faith.

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 Welcome 2-3 Meet Our Teams Board of Trustees Strategic Planning Team

Salisbury Academy Faculty and Staff 4-7 School Snapshot: Mission, History, Leadership, Self-Study, Improvement 7-10 Executive Update

Summary of major initiatives in last five years

Summary of progress on goals since the last self-study and response to previous visit recommendations 11 Expanded Statistics 11 Description of the School’s Self-Study Process 12-13 Goal 1: Profile,Vision, Plan, Results 13-16 Goal 2: Profile,Vision, Plan, Results 16-17 Goal 3: Profile,Vision, Plan, Results 18 Conclusions and Summary

WELCOME, ACCREDITING TEAM To the SAIS Accrediting Team: We warmly welcome you to Salisbury Academy. The strategic planning, reaccreditation, and self-study processes that have led up to your visit have yielded productive data, discussion, and analysis and have presented both strategic challenges and exciting opportunities as you will find outlined in our self-study goals. We look forward to sharing ideas as we examine these closely over the coming days.

Our ultimate goal is to make the most out of the reaccrediation learning and improvement process. Thank you for sharing your time and expertise and for partnering with us as we work to achieve our goals, live out the Salisbury Academy mission, and dream big for a bright future for our school.

Sincerely,

Beverly Fowler, Head of School

ACCREDITING TEAM MEMBERS Dr. Jeff Mitchell Head of School Currey Ingram Academy Brentwood, TN, 37027 jeff.mitchell@curreyingram.org

Mr. Eddie Mensah Head of School Charlotte Preparatory School Charlotte, NC United States emensah@charlotteprep.org

Ms. Tamika Jackson School Director New Hope Christian Academy Memphis, TN United States tjackson@newhopememphis.org

Ms. Kim Peele Dean of Students The Fletcher Academy Raleigh, NC United States kpeele@thefletcheracademy.com

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MEET OUR TEAMS BOARD OF TRUSTEES Ben Ott, Chair (‘21) Traci Williams,Vice-Chair (‘22) Strategic Planning Chair, Committee on Trustees, Head of School Committee

Madison Currin (‘22) Finance Committee Mark Robertson (‘22) Finance Committee

Cliff Sorel,Treasurer (‘21) Finance Committee

George Kluttz (‘20) Finance Committee

Andrea Davis, Secretary (‘21) Development Committee

Jon Palmer (‘20) Buildings and Grounds Committee

Paul Bardinas (‘21) Finance Chair, Committee on Trustees

Bryan Wymbs (‘21) Development Committee

Clint Robins (‘20) Committee on Trustees Chair, Head of School Committee

LaSheka Walker (‘22) Development Committee

Reid Acree, Jr. (‘20) Committee on Trustees

Mark Petty (‘22) Finance Committee

Diane Fisher (‘20) Development Committee

Greg Shields (‘22) Strategic Planning Committee

Ryan Rich (‘21) Development Committee Chair

Maria Vandergriff-Avery (‘22) Strategic Planning Committee

John Wear (‘20) Buildings and Grounds Committee

Exofficio Member of the Board: Beverly Fowler, Head of School

STRATEGIC PLANNING COMMITTEE

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Elizabeth Anderson SA Faculty

Beverly Fowler Head of School

Laura Smith Alumni Parent

Robert Anderson Alumni Parent, Past Board Chair

Melody Lee SA Staff

Nichole Towns SA Parent

Jennifer Burks Past SA Parent

Lizzy Roy SA Staff

Maria Vandergriff-Avery SA Parent, Board Member

Heather Coulter SA Faculty

Greg Shields Alumni Parent, Board Member

Traci Williams SA Parent, Board Member

FACULTY AND STAFF Elizabeth Anderson Lower School Division Director/Lower School Computer/ Lower School Science Tracey Baird Director of Annual Giving Heather Coulter Director of Curriculum/ 7th and 8th Language Arts/ 7th Home Room Jane Current 5th Home Room/ 5th Language Arts and Social Studies/ 6th and 7th Social Studies

Kristen Leonard 1st Grade Teacher Hannah Lewis 1st- 8th Spanish Katie Martin 1st Grade Assistant Shannon McCoy Business Manager Penny Moss Junior Kindergarten Assistant

Melanie Deal Part-Time School Counselor/ 3rd Grade Assistant

Shea Overcash 5th-8th Science/ 7th Homeroom

Allison Doby Director of Admission and Alumni Support

Tracey Peoples Administrative Assistant

Shannon Ellsworth 4th Grade Teacher

Dr. Rob Robertson JK-8th Music Teacher

Beverly Fowler Head of School

Kristen Rocko 3rd Grade Teacher

Jessica Goodman Middle School Division Director/ 6th Language Arts/ 8th Social Studies/ 8th Home Room

Jody Robins Kindergarten Teacher

Margaret Hattaway 7th and 8th Math/ IT Support Melissa Heilig Kindergarten Assistant

Lizzy Roy Director of Marketing and Communications Molly Shelton Art Teacher

Sandra Honbarger 2nd Grade Assistant

Kelli Starrett 6h Home Room/5th, 6th Math/MS Computer/ MS Support

Karen Isenhour Media Specialist

Heidi Tringali Academic Resource Specialist

Sandy Jordan Junior Kindergarten Teacher

Mary Lou Williams 2nd Grade Teacher

Melody Lee Director of Enrichment/ Athletic, Alumni Support

Tommy Wilson Athletic Director/PE Teacher

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SCHOOL SNAPSHOT MISSION Salisbury Academy inspires a love of learning and prepares passionate leaders through discovery, stewardship, community, and faith.

The mission of Salisbury Academy informs decision making at the school by centering each and every staff and faculty member on our core purpose of developing children as whole beings. Our mission expresses the key components to this learning environment as well as our ultimate goal of inspiring a love of learning and preparing passionate leaders. It is with these objectives in mind that decisions are made in all areas of school life: academic, administrative, and in the school community.

BRIEF HISTORY Salisbury Academy was founded in 1993 with the goal of providing an innovative option in education to the Salisbury community. With 13 students in grades first, second, and third, the first classroom facilities were established in the education wing of Haven Lutheran Church.

In 1996, the junior kindergarten and kindergarten were established in what today is the SA Spark Center, located behind the main school building. A year later, a middle school serving grades 5-8 was added, housed in a separate facility on Brenner Avenue.

By 2001, school constituents embarked on an extensive period of self-assessment and planning, and the decision was made to build a unified campus to serve all first through eighth grade students in one building (with the junior kindergarten and kindergarten at the building behind the main property) at the current location at 2210 Jake Alexander Blvd., N. An ambitious fundraising and construction project was launched that resulted in the beautiful ten-acre campus and new buildings we presently enjoy. The school moved into the new building in the spring of 2003.

This current building is part of an exciting master plan designed to ensure that Salisbury Academy will continue to provide exceptional educational facilities for our students for years to come.

Over the past two years Salisbury Academy constructed the Outdoor Learning and Play Space - trails, an outdoor amphitheater, native plants, gardens, an outdoor classroom, and a playground - as part of our Project Green Space movement.

Additionally, the building that was previously the junior kindergarten and kindergarten building was converted into the SA Spark Center, and JK/K students joined their first through eighth grade peers in the main campus building. The Spark Center is the heart of Salisbury Academy’s STEM inquiry and houses science classes, art classes, discovery center, robotics, and computer labs.

Salisbury Academy is a NC Green School of Excellence, one of just nine in the state, as well as an official STEM School in partnership with Horizons Unlimited. Salisbury Academy currently has 207 students enrolled in grades JK-8 and 31 faculty and staff members. Beverly Fowler has served as the head of school since 2014.

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LEADERSHIP Salisbury Academy is governed by an independent Board of Trustees (BOT) responsible for the school’s mission, fiduciary duties, strategic goals, and Head of School. The Salisbury Academy Board of Trustees consists of elected members representing parents of students, parents of alumni, and members of the community at large, as well as our head of school (the ex-officio member).

The BOT leadership consists of a President,Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer who each serve two-year terms, consecutive terms may be served.

The BOT will consist of no more than 21 members. The members are elected by ballot for the terms of three years. Elected members are eligible to serve no more than three terms consecutively.

The Committee on Trustees presents the slate of nominees and officers to the full BOT each spring. The newly elected trustees are installed beginning July 1 and complete a trustee orientation prior to the first official board meeting.

The board is organized in working committee groups for finance, development, buildings and grounds, strategic planning, committee on trustees, and head of school support. These committees meet every other month with full board meetings taking place five times a year, an additional board retreat each fall, and a board social each spring.

The Head of School (HOS) is responsible for the day-to-day operations, including admissions, hiring and evaluation of staff, curriculum and instruction, and financial administration.

Division Directors oversee Salisbury Academy’s Early Education, Lower School, and Middle School. The Director of Curriculum oversees implementation, resources, professional development, instruction and evaluation for all curricular components of the school.

The school has two administrative teams that provide shared leadership for the day-to-day work of the school.

The Advancement Team members consists of the Business Manager, Director of Annual Giving, Enrichment Director, Marketing and Communications Director, and Admissions Director. The Academic Team consists of Division Directors, Curriculum Director, and School Counselor. The HOS serves as the leader for both of these groups.

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SELF-STUDY Salisbury Academy used a comprehensive self-study approach that launched from our bi-annual, SAIS value narrative survey. Stakeholder input from this survey included students, faculty, staff, board, alumni, and parents. The strategic planning committee analyzed the data and provided a report back to our Board of Trustees in spring of 2018 with some identified areas for the board to consider as strengths and opportunities for the upcoming strategic planning process.

Some key takeaways included the ranking of what parents view as most important and what parents perceive that SA does best:

Our fall board retreat in 2018 provided a two-day meeting to engage in meaningful conversations on our BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goals) with board members and the Strategic Planning Committee members.

This time included a review of the past strategic plan goals to carry over incomplete action items and used the format of People, Place, Program, and Finance for the formulation of our three-year goals.

From this plan, the HOS, Strategic Planning Committee, and Leadership Team developed annual goals to meet the comprehensive goals of the plan.

Using our identified BHAG goals for self-study, additional stakeholder surveys and self-study goals were gathered during the 2018-2019 year.

Targeted surveys to alumni families and students were sent in September 2019 to gather additional data for our self-study report for the purpose of launching our alumni support service.

Stakeholder sessions with current parents, alumni parents, and students were conducted in September 2019 to provide an overview of the vision for the high school expansion and hear feedback.

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IMPROVEMENT Salisbury Academy has identified the following three goals as we progress forward strategically: GOAL 1: Financial Sustainability: Salisbury Academy seeks to provide a financially sustainable model with attention to debt reduction, new and non-tuition revenue, and tuition affordability.

GOAL 2: Programming Opportunities: Salisbury Academy seeks to expand mission-appropriate programming opportunities in the following areas:

• Establish alumni support services • Explore expansion through the addition of a downtown, micro high school model • Design a system of competencies that grow across the K-12 curriculum GOAL 3: Learning Support Services: Salisbury Academy seeks to gain a comprehensive understanding of the academic learning support services needed by our student population and strategically provide support structures and program services to meet these goals.

EXECUTIVE UPDATE Salisbury Academy has made tremendous strides since our 2014 reaccreditation visit after being encouraged to dream big for our future. The school continues to build on the self-study goals of:

• Increase focus on global and critical thinking

• Reduce mortgage debt to reduce the dependence on fundraising and increase hard income by

increasing headcount and reducing tuition discounting

• Identify and implement effective marketing With a focus on student-centered learning and increasing critical thinking, the school has used both formative and standardized testing to identify and implement curriculum changes to support this growth.

Dedicated analysis and interpretation of our ERB scores along with academic observations led us to implement a robust curriculum upgrade with our Core Knowledge Language Arts program in 2016.

Attention to Webb’s Depth of Knowledge is an emphasis as part of the revisions. This has led to a review of our curriculum maps with specific goals to implement higher-level thinking skills from Webb’s DOK. These goals also tie directly to the updates made by Educational Research Bureau for our annual assessments.

We are currently editing our standards with the eventual goal of creating a system of competencies across our JK-future high school.

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EXECUTIVE UPDATE (Cont.)

The school embarked on a highly successful path with community partners to add improvements to the areas of science/technology/engineering/math. We created a public/private partnership model with Horizons Unlimited, a local educational expert in Rowan County, to provide a comprehensive, choice curriculum to all students in grades 1-8. This off-campus, monthly experience supplements the work done in our weekly Discovery Center programs for grades 1-4 which provide unique opportunities for critical thinking, STEM inquiry, and student-led discovery.

Survey results also expressed safety as a top priority for our families and a desire for our early education students to be located in the same building as grades 1-8. Our refreshed campus arrangement now has all JK-8 students in the main campus building, and the building that was previously dedicated to early education was repurposed to create the SA Spark Center: a place where students are free to invent, problem solve, and explore. The Spark Center contains the art room, makerspace, and science rooms, and also houses the afterschool classroom for early education students.

With a restructured administrative model that includes both division directors and a separate Director of Curriculum, our Academic Team is now comprised of the HOS, Division Directors, Curriculum Director, and our new School Counselor charged with implementing and overseeing the school’s strategic program goals.

Lower school science labs and math small group support were added to lower school grades under the supervision of our Lower School Director.

Additional staffing restructuring was done with the advancement team that included hiring a part-time Director of Enrichment and Afterschool Programming to build a stronger selection of choices for afterschool programming and summer camp. A part-time Director of Annual Giving position was added in fall of 2016 to support the recommendations for increasing annual giving and developing donor relationships. Finally, a dedicated Director of Admission and Alumni Support has provided a focused effort on retaining and expanding our enrollment audience and has reengaged alumni students through the launch of alumni services and college counseling.

The Finance Committee has diligently worked to focus on a sustainable path forward that increased our hard income by increasing headcount and reducing tuition assistance. Our enrollment has grown from a headcount of 173 in the 2014-2015 school year to a five-year average of 203 students a year. At the same time, our full tuition equivalent grew from 147.5 in 2014-2015 to a current 166.64 for the 19-20 school year.

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The following chart outlines enrollment over the past five years:

The use of a conservative five-year finance pro forma that kept fundraising goals flat and projected modest tuition increases as well as targeted tuition funding goals provided significant growth in enrollment results.

Knowing that the increase in hard income through enrollment would reach a maximum point, the school also created some strategic goals around new and non-tuition revenue streams to help reduce the burden of tuition increases. A designated technology budget line item was added in 2015 to provide dedicated funds to support the school’s technology needs. Per our 2014 recommendation, the board formed a Development Committee to focus on increasing board giving, assist with major gifts development, and support the staff efforts for annual and capital giving.

Additionally, a Corporate Partner program was launched in the 2014-2015 school year with a goal of providing businesses with a way to reach the Salisbury Academy community through a tiered level of giving.

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EXECUTIVE UPDATE (Cont.)

In the spring of 2015, Salisbury Academy launched Project Green Space, an initiative to enhance the school’s outdoor learning environment while developing conservation-minded students and an energy-efficient and low-waste school facility. Since launching PGS, Salisbury Academy has:

• Earned recognition as a NC Green School of Excellence, making it one of just 9 NC Green Schools

of Excellence in the state.

• Formed close ties with Three Rivers Land Trust, Catawba College Center for the Environment and

other local farms and organizations invested in sustainability.

• Increased student environmental literacy through a wide variety of inquiry-based, hands-on science explorations.

• Rolled out an LED lighting conversion to significantly reduce the school’s carbon footprint.

A targeted fundraising campaign that raised $500,000 began in 2017 with the purpose of providing a dynamic Outdoor Learning and Play Space. This space provides an important visual component to complement our emphasis on the whole child. Features of the space include walking trails, a dry creek bed, an amphitheater, discovery gardens, play areas, and a wealth of native trees, plants, and grasses. This important project provided an opportunity to re-engage with donors and build new relationships, and it also provided a campaign for the Development Committee to oversee. This space is utilized by both Salisbury Academy and the community at large.

Marketing efforts over the past five years have streamlined parent communication and enhanced our brand presence through engaging inbound marketing and storytelling. Highlights and new efforts in the past five years include the following: We began a weekly newsletter called the Jag Weekly which goes out to parents and staff each Sunday and contains all pertinent information for parents for the upcoming week along with photo and article features conveying the value of a Salisbury Academy education. The larger community audience receives a quarterly e-newsletter, The Jaguar Journal, and prospective families receive Admission News and Notes features multiple times throughout the year.

A new, mobile-responsive website was launched which has capabilities for online web forms, embedded videos, and other engagement points. In-house videos are now created several times each year to launch and support campaigns and to market the school. Salisbury Academy’s social media presence was expanded through the addition of Instagram (currently at 660 followers) to our daily posting platforms (Facebook and Twitter). Annual magazines, packaged as “Giving Reports” to recognize donors, have been created as a professional presentation of our Salisbury Academy stories, brand, and supporters. The school continues to submit regular articles to our local newspaper and to print advertise in a select few publications.

Key community engagement points in the past five years included Salisbury Academy’s 25th anniversary celebration in the 2017-18 school year. Recognition of this important milestone in our school’s history took place throughout the year through social media anniversary campaigns, a 25 Years of Service school-wide day of service, alumni connections at our Bloom gala, and a Founders Day chapel that drew founding families and community supporters for a special service and the reveal of a new Jaguar mascot for the school.

Other key community touchpoints have included lunch and learn speakers on a variety of topics including executive functioning, dyslexia, ADD, and social-emotional development, as well as bigger-name evening speaking engagements drawing speakers such as Devorah Heitner and Jonathan Hetterly talking on navigating the digital world with our children and resiliency.

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EXPANDED STUDENT STATISTICS Grade Levels Served:

JK through 8

Number of Students:

207 (106 Female, 101 Male)

Percentage of Ethnic Diversity:

11.3%

SELF-STUDY DETAILS Salisbury Academy’s self-study approach was comprehensive, utilized a variety of formats and forums (survey work, discussion groups, visioning days, etc.) and gathered input from a wide range of stakeholders: students, staff, board, alumni, parents, and community members.

Steps in the process included:

• SAIS Value Narrative Survey was distributed to stakeholder groups and analyzed by the Strategic

Planning Committee and Board of Trustees. Strengths and opportunities were identified.

• Two-day fall board retreat in 2018 spurred meaningful conversations on Salisbury Academy’s BHAG

(Big Hairy Audacious Goals) and engaged board and strategic planning members. Past strategic

goals reviewed and formulation of three-year goals completed.

• Head of School Committee, Strategic Planning Committee, and leadership team developed annual

goals to meet the comprehensive goals of the plan.

• Additional stakeholder surveys were shared and more information on self-study goals gathered during

the 2018-2019 year (For example: a programming interest survey to middle school families, high

school interest survey to all SA families, and a targeted survey to alumni families and students

was sent in 2019 to prepare us for launching Salisbury Academy’s alumni support services).

• Stakeholder sessions were held with current parents, alumni parents, and students in September 2019

to provide on overview of the vision for high school expansion, hear stakeholder questions and

feedback, and gain stakeholder ideas on what they would most like to see as part of the SA high school experience.

• Comprehensive review of information collected by board and strategic planning members and the

preparation of the official self-study report.

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SELF-STUDY GOALS

GOAL 1:

Financial Sustainability - Salisbury Academy seeks to provide a financially sustainable model with attention to debt reduction, new and non-tuition revenue streams, and tuition affordability.

PROFILE This ongoing goal has been a priority of the board as they seek to retire the 2.1 million dollar debt that was the result of an unsuccessful capital campaign when the current campus was built in 2003.

With only 1.5 million dollars in pledges and more than $300,000 of those unrealized as part of the financial decline in 2008, the school has continued to struggle with how to provide a sustainable financial model that doesn’t solely rely on tuition increases. Significant enrollment growth from 20142019 and a conservative 5-year financial plan has provided the school with several years of positive cash flow and met strategic priorities for faculty salary and benefits. With capacity enrollment reached, the board has studied several paths for financial sustainability that included a debt reduction campaign, possible expansion to a preschool model, and the expansion of grades 9-12 in a downtown location in a leased space. After two years of capital fundraising exploration, the school ran a targeted campaign during the 2017-18 year for a $500,000 outdoor learning expansion to reengage with our donors and provide a visual niche to connect with our mission and philosophy. This was a very successful step and got us back into the development track. Additionally, the school was able to hire a part-time Director of Annual Giving to support the board and HOS with annual fundraising goals and work towards the next capital campaign.

VISION Salisbury Academy desires to reduce debt and lessen our dependence on tuition increases through the addition of new and non-tuition revenue streams. Finance has continued debt conversation and payment structure scenarios with banks as we seek a path toward sustainability. The school has relied on enrollment growth to meet annual budget goals the last 5 years. We have a short-term goal of securing funds needed for the high school launch and are planning for a more comprehensive campaign as part of a 10-year campus master plan. We are also working to identify tuition affordability by our Salisbury Academy families through analysis of previous tuition assistance awards and household income/expenses. We strategically reduced tuition assistance from 21% to an average of 15% in the last five years but also increased our faculty tuition remission to an industry standard of 50%.

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PLAN The Development Committee has created a giving pyramid and is currently engaged in donor meetings to solicit pledges for the high school. Utilizing a lease space and partnership model for the high school will result in a financial model that generates future income for our JK-12 model. The stakeholder and feasibility study was done in-house using the guidance of an outside development consultant. This was the format we used for the 2017-18 outdoor campaign which proved to be successful. Salisbury is a unique community whose members like for their local leaders to lead fundraising efforts for their organization.

We have expanded our extra-curricular offerings based on the parent feedback from our 2017 SAIS surveys to meet the needs of our parent population. This has generated a modest, new revenue stream.

Our 2019 alumni support programming expansion will serve our alumni audience and reengage with them through support and services critical to their preparation for college and beyond that are currently not being offered in our community. Called Jaguar Tracks, Salisbury Academy’s alumni support programming now offers group and individual counseling for SAT and ACT prep, college essay writing, time management, constructing and writing a brag sheet, and more. As the Salisbury Academy high school evolves we plan to expand upon these offerings to create a personalized program that tailors the college prep process to each student’s individual talents, interests, and needs.

RESULTS A financially sustainable 5-year plan will allow Salisbury Academy to reduce our reliance on net tuition revenue through the expansion of new and non-tuition revenue streams. We expect to see modest tuition rate increases that are affordable for our families as we continue to enhance our programming. Simultaneously, the creation of the new revenue streams will give us an opportunity to improve our balance sheet, specifically our cash reserves and debt to equity ratios, and place us in a more favorable position to pay down and restructure our current debt thus freeing up cash to be used for future capital needs.

GOAL 2: PROFILE

Programming Opportunities - Salisbury Academy seeks to expand missionappropriate programming opportunities in the following areas: • Establish an alumni support services program • Explore expansion through the addition of a downtown, micro school model • Design a system of competencies that grow across the JK-12 curriculum

The goal of programmatic expansion focuses both on curriculum goals and stakeholder feedback.

During our strategic planning process, stakeholders expressed desire for expansion of the Salisbury Academy experience to include high school. Additionally, one of our main areas for growth noted in the SAIS surveys was extracurricular programming outside of athletics. Services prior to 2018 were primarily after school care-related with a few weeks of summer programming offered. Building on our summer programming, Salisbury Academy hired a dedicated Summer Camp Director and expanded the number of weeks offered. Using program data from the summer survey, we also offered additional weeks to fill the gaps for working parents. Adding to the educational value and community connections of the summer program, we engaged in strategic community partnerships to provide a meaningful experiences for our campers.

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GOAL 2 PROFILE (Cont.)

During the 2018 school year, Salisbury Academy hired a part-time Director of Enrichment who is tasked with the responsibility of providing after school programming requested by our parents who find it increasingly difficult to take part in community programming that falls during the working hours. Strategic partnerships were formed with Catawba College, High Point University, Horizons Unlimited, and a number of other organizations to offer Early Ed, Lower School, and Middle School programming in developmentally appropriate settings.

A part-time position in admissions was made full time for the 2019-2020 school year with the purpose of expanding the position to include enrollment management and alumni support services.

Hiring a candidate with a background in college admissions and high school counseling allowed us to further develop our alumni support offerings. This also connects back to our goal of creating new and non-tuition revenue sources to lessen the burden of tuition increases. Currently we are offering counseling programming for a variety of college prep needs (ACT and SAT prep, college essay writing, etc.) for both Salisbury Academy alumni and high school students from the larger community with Salisbury Academy alumni paying a reduced rate for their participation in these programs.

A thorough study for potential program expansion revealed three key areas/programs to consider, all of which would use a non-traditional approach to the curriculum: adding a preschool, expanding our learning support services, and adding a high school model. After additional stakeholder surveys and focus groups and after studying the financial models for all three programs, the board voted to pursue both the high school expansion and learning support services.

Our objectives for students and systems for assessing and reporting grades is a focus for curriculum growth. Based on our data (teacher observations, test scores, students’ ability to problem solve and transfer learning across content areas), we knew that we had to take a more effective approach to preparing students to leave our school and find success in their environment. Our teachers and administrators spent time reading, going to workshops, and taking part in various forms of professional development and identified a competency-based approach with wide-ranging, interconnected goals would be the best fit for our school. This is also connected to the potential high school expansion and the research and design process that went into its creation.

Our goal is to have a thorough analysis of skills-based standards with incorporated higher-level thinking completed by the end of the 2019-2020 school year. Moving forward, we will work to design competency statements. These systems will better support the learner.

VISION Salisbury Academy believes strongly in lifelong learning and preparing passionate leaders, as expressed in our mission statement. We believe that the following goals directly support these key elements of our mission.

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Alumni Support Services: The major goal here is to stay engaged with our alumni once they graduate eighth grade and to provide them with services and support to continue their lifelong journey of learning as they identify their passions and purpose. Additionally, we want to establish college counseling services that will be required for the future expansion to grades 9-12. Support services for our high school students will include a more individualized approach to college and career services with internships, culminating products, and engagement with authentic audiences.

Grades 9-12 Expansion: Realizing this was a bold next step for any school, the Strategic Planning Committee organized to lead a thoughtful process to explore potential high school models that hold true to our institution’s mission. The committee sought out examples of schools in communities with similar demographics. Our goals until this point have been to identify the 5-year financial model needed to launch the expansion, develop the philosophy and vision for the learning experience, and conduct stakeholder sessions and a feasibility study to identify the “appetite” for this expansion.

Prior to attending stakeholder sessions for the potential grades 9-12 expansion, the following educational link was sent to Salisbury Academy parents. This resource shares the need and vision for the high school and answers key questions about the model, a typical day, and support services that would be provided: spark.adobe.com/page/HkXtRhUPlYH5g/ Upon leaving their stakeholder sessions, participating parents and students were asked to complete a brief survey that conveyed their general level of interest in the high school expansion. Results are shared in the following graph:

Curriculum Competencies: Competency-based education will allow for purposeful learning at all times and help with the transition from a teacher-based approach to a student-based approach to teaching. It will allow students to fully demonstrate competency in the areas of learning and be supported at individual paces and through innovative learning pathways. We will also design welldefined “personal success skills” and competencies for these that grow grade-to-grade based upon researched developmental capabilities and current brain research.

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PLAN Expansion of these programmatic goals has involved a robust process involving community engagement and partnerships that will allow us to meet the needs of students as we seek to offer additional opportunities beyond the school day. This has also created meaningful partnerships for community service, internships, and employment for staff who are hired to run these learning experiences.

The plan to expand to the high school model is one that is heavily considered as part of our financial goals and provides us with an important development goal to engage with donors as part of a capital campaign. The school has a required fundraising target to hit by December 1 in order to be operational by July 2020.

Salisbury Academy’s Jaguar Tracks Alumni Support Services launched in fall of 2019 and fills an important need in our community for these services. Salisbury Academy’s alumni support programming now offers group and individual counseling for SAT and ACT prep, college essay writing, time management, constructing and writing a brag sheet, and more. As the Salisbury Academy high school evolves we plan to expand upon these offerings to create a personalized program that tailors the college prep process to each student’s individual talents, interests, and needs.

RESULTS Future parent surveys should reveal a high level of satisfaction with the wide variety of opportunities now available to students. Additionally, we expect to see a higher level of alumni engagement that will allow us to further define our Portrait of a Graduate document and maintain relationships needed to encourage them to stay connected to Salisbury Academy.

Our work with the curriculum will result in new competencies that grow across grade levels and a shared evaluation system. We will also have a new reporting system that more accurately defines student achievement and areas needed for improvement.

GOAL 3: PROFILE

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Student Support Services - Salisbury Academy seeks to gain a comprehensive understanding of the academic learning support services needed by our student population and strategically provide support services and program services to meet these goals.

The school has experienced a continued growth in the number of students with diagnosed learning disabilities and accommodations. We have transitioned from the Division Director maintaining records for these students to having this included in the job description for our School Counselor. To track this information, we currently use a Google Docs system grouped by graduation year to maintain a system of notes that is shared from teacher to teacher. We have a tiered system that begins with routine classroom differentiation followed by the addition of accommodations or recommendations as needed. If the previous actions have not resolved the difficulty, then a recommendation for outside testing or tutoring is suggested. Upon receiving a formal evaluation, we offer a biannual review with the parents and teaching team to discuss the student’s needs and progress.

The school maintains an approved list of community tutors and professionals who can offer assistance in achieving academic growth. Additionally, the school has an outside occupational therapist who provides teacher support and student evaluations as part of our tiered plan for students. We have implemented a community education program to provide information on the topics of dyslexia, ADD, anxiety, executive functioning, etc. to add another layer of partnership to our program.

VISION With continued curriculum improvements, professional development, and teacher peer teams, the school is using this time to identify and define the level of support services needed for students. The pool of outside professionals to refer to in our community is very small, and this poses a challenge for families. Additionally, the strategic curriculum goals that provide a more individualized learning pathway will allow some of this to be addressed as part of routine classroom instruction. We will continue to use our designated Early Release Friday for ongoing professional development to equip faculty and staff with tools to better serve students.

PLAN Working closely with our teaching team, we would like to visit similarly-sized schools that offer in-house student support to identify possible models that we could utilize to serve our student body.

We also need to identify a staffing structure that provides continuous student support. Our current model only has a teaching assistant from JK through grade 3. Due to higher enrollment and individual student needs, we are looking to restructure this model as funding becomes available.

RESULTS Documentation in our Google Docs for student concern and parent meetings are paramount to tracking a student’s academic path throughout his/her years at Salisbury Academy. This creates the ability to know and understand what has occurred in the past with a student and move forward with that knowledge to attain continued growth without backtracking and repeating steps that have previously been taken.

Accommodated student information is given to all teachers in order to continue appropriate, useful, and helpful strategies for success. This information is maintained and updated by the School Counselor and, then, dispersed to the appropriate teachers for classroom instructional purposes. The teachers and counselor meet at the beginning of each school term to discuss each accommodated student. Teachers and/or parents are able to present recommendations for change at any time in the year based on the lack of success or continued success in the student’s progress.

Teacher input is vital in recognizing and pursuing the best measurement of struggling student growth through small group and individual tutoring, pull-out tutoring, consultative tutoring, or community professional tutoring.

Teacher and parent surveys can be utilized to gain a greater understanding of how our school’s current program is benefitting the students.

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CONCLUSIONS AND SUMMARY The process that began with our 2017 stakeholder survey to launch our strategic planning and self-study process has been one that challenged us, allowed us to celebrate what we do well, and identify a sustainable path forward. Using the feedback from our stakeholders about the desired increase of extracurricular activities provided a step in the direction of focusing on new and non-tuition revenue streams as a strategic goal. As a school with a mission that celebrates lifelong learning, the curriculum is a continuous process in review with a focus on what is best to support student-centered learning using the most current educational research. The challenges require all faculty and staff to engage in a process of continuous improvement through peer teams and ongoing professional development to meet both our annual and long-term goals. The dedication of this team of faculty and staff is unmatched and evidenced in the relentless devotion they have to their students and to supporting each other. Our greatest challenge remains how to deliver the student-centered educational approach we believe in within the confines of a young school with outstanding debt and develop a plan to achieve financial sustainability. The development and donor relationship efforts by the board, specifically the Development Committee, are beginning to show a path forward with donors who understand our mission and the need for a significant major gift to the school. With continued engagement by both our board and faculty/staff, Salisbury Academy is poised for an exciting period of growth.

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