Strategic Framework 2024-2029

STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK 2024-2029 St. Matthew Catholic School

Dear Families and Friends of St. Matthew Catholic School, I am pleased to present to you the St. Matthew Catholic School Strategic Plan. This plan provides a forward-thinking framework for the future success of our school, while also supporting the fundamental principles, expectations, and values that serve as the foundation of a strong and effective Catholic school.

By formalizing this plan, we are taking an important first step as a community to clearly articulate goals and aspirations for our students, the school, and the community overall. Accompanying these goals, we have identified well-defined actions that will help us reach our targets and surpass our goals. Our work on this plan has been a true community effort and it continues our commitment to excellence that has characterized our school for almost 100 years.

I offer my sincere gratitude to those who served on the School Advisory Board during this process, and the administration and staff who supported their efforts. Under their leadership we made a thorough and honest assessment of our school – with input from parents, faculty, staff, and parish members – and used the findings to inform and guide our planning. This year-long effort has resulted in this important document that will shape the future course of our school.

I hope each of you will read this plan and identify areas where you may be called to participate in this vital ministry of our parish community. While it is the primary responsibility of the administration and the School Advisory Board to implement this plan, as a school community, we all share the responsibility to help meet its various goals and objectives.

Together we continue the work of the Sisters of the Holy Cross, laying down a strong foundation and clear path to a unique and successful future for St. Matthew Catholic School! Thank you for joining us in this mission and for partnering with us in securing this strong vision for the future.

May God continue to bless us as we continue forward as pathfinders in Catholic education, and may his blessings and graces continue to be seen and felt throughout St. Matthew’s.

Best Regards,, Mr. Marc Nava Principal

Cultivate Catholic Identity Cultivate the soul of the school through a community that is engaged in the Catholic faith; inclusive of diverse cultures and backgrounds; supportive of school traditions; and committed to service, active participation, and continual improvement.

Create a leadership group linking the parish and school to execute Catholic identity initiatives.

• Form a new Catholic Identity Leadership Group to propose, execute, oversee, and improve upon key Catholic identity initiatives for the school community.

• Ensure that initiatives are aligned with the school’s mission and vision, and support and enhance Catholic identity.

Engage teachers, administrators, parents, and priests in dialogues aimed at modeling Catholic faith.

• Launch - and iterate on - programs that encourage conversations at home about Catholic faith, the PEARL, and the school mission (for example: Table Talk Cards that launched in 2023).

Enhance the overall experience of prayer and services in the church.

• Establish “stepping stone” events for each grade that promote faith formation (for example: K: Christmas angels mass, 1st: Blessing of the rosary, 2nd: Faith journal, etc).

• Pilot a “Mass+” event focused on a specific community group (for example: a sports mass where students starting the athletic season come to mass for a blessing, followed by a rally).

• Plan future Mass+ events for various other groups in the community (for example: Scouting groups, “Blessing of the Backpacks” for new students, etc.)

Develop community service traditions that integrate the parish and school communities.

• Catalog all community service activities available to students and classify them as either “inside” or “outside” the school environment. Require at least 3 of the 7 required hours of community service for junior high be performed outside of school for more community outreach.

• Revive pre-pandemic family community service traditions including environmental clean-ups and service to the poor and elderly members of the community.

• Create offerings for younger grade levels, allowing each class - starting in 4th grade - to participate in one community service event from the catalog each year.

Uphold Academic Excellence Create a school environment that is academically challenging and innovative: socially, emotionally, and spiritually nurturing; supportive of all learners; and collaborative among faculty, and between faculty and parents.

Define and operate against an educational journey/pathway strategy.

• Actively work against our stated WCEA/WASC accreditation goals - meeting the highly effective standards and obtaining the maximum 6-year re-accreditation.

• Actively work towards WCEA certification goals • Actively work towards meeting all WCEA/WASC critical goals identified in the the re-accrediation self-study.

• Intentionally reflect on, and work towards, meeting all standards of the National Standards and Benchmarks for Effective Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools (NSBECS).

Uphold Academic Excellence Create a school environment that is academically challenging and innovative: socially, emotionally, and spiritually nurturing; supportive of all learners; and collaborative among faculty, and between faculty and parents.

Enable more innovative teaching and learning across all grades.

• Use standardized assessment data and analysis (Star testing/ACRE) to evaluate student performance against standards to drive faculty instruction and curriculum development.

• Facilitate intentional professional development for faculty on a school wide and individualized basis.

• Develop a school wide learning plan that aligns with the Visible Learning platform to provide teacher clarity, make instruction intentional and learning more engaging for students.

• Dedicated STEM lab to provide interactive and hands-on lessons for students to learn to communicate, collaborate, and strategize ways solve a problem through a cross-curricular model.

Continue to incorporate technology into instruction and learning.

• Encourage learning beyond the classroom and develop a cultural enrichment program for all grades, including an expansion of field trips and educational experiences on campus.

Attract, retain and develop excellent teachers.

• Within the school budget and with the assistance of the Parish Finance Council, develop opportunities to support faculty and staff beyond the Archdiocesan-based compensation requirements, and in addition to providing basic school supplies and materials.

• Expand the teacher mentorship program and develop a robust induction programming for all staff.

• Provide meaningful teacher evaluations and feedback, and identify opportunities for frequent teacher recognition and appreciation.

• Encourage and support ongoing professional development for all teachers and promote information sharing among teachers.

Create an environment where students are seen and receive the attention and support they need.

• Evaluate and adopt social-emotional learning programs to strategically implement into the curriculum across all grades.

• Assess the feasibility of additional faculty in Math and Science to support current faculty, provide opportunities for reduced class sizes, and increase individualized attention in core subjects.

• Expand the Instructional Aides program as well as develop an induction and training plan, including roles and responsibilities for supporting teachers students.

• Expand the Counseling program to reach more students, providing support one on one, in small groups, and for whole classes.

• Ensure the Resource program is staffed to adequately support differentiated learning programs for all students, across the learning spectrum.

Nurture the Whole Child The whole child approach ensures that “each student is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged,” and adopts an overarching goal of the long-term development and success of all children.

Empower students with life skills and values that enable academic, social, emotional, and physical well being.

• Develop a communication plan to inform and educate the student body about counselor/mental wellness resources at school focusing each trimester on a different component.

• Increase school and parent partnership to support key areas of mental and emotional wellness (for example: bullying educaiton and parent volunteer guidance).

• Create new opportunities for extracurriculars, including clubs such as drama, book club, woodshop, and spiritual club.

• Research, develop and implement opportunities for teachers to get to know their students better to enable more personalized support.

Develop well-rounded, empathetic students who are respectful of others in their interactions and communications.

• Enhance Neighborhoods to incorporate Buddies across all grade levels, increasing 1:1 interactions to build relationships across the school community and creating opportunities for peer mentorship, teaching and learning.

• Reinstitute the Second Step program for social emotional learning (SEL) that develop positive interpersonal relationship and socio-emotional skills.

• Broaden exposure to multicultural celebrations and/or topics in the classroom and at school events.

• Improve the school community perception of the “E” (effective communicator) in PEARL and develop ways students can hone this important skill.

Inspire students become lifelong earners who are curious, motivated, and confident.

• Develop opportunities for K-5 to serve their civic community through hands on volunteer experiences.

(Ie. K + 5th grade Safeway/SVP activity).

• Define the “L” (life long learner) in PEARL to clearly reflect learning dispositions and apply new grade-appropriate ways to support these.

Connect Through Community Cultivate the soul of the school through a community that is engaged in the Catholic faith; inclusive of diverse cultures and backgrounds; supportive of school traditions; and committed to service, active participation, and continual improvement.

Define a “community journey” for families during their time at St. Matt’s.

• Create grade-level specific traditions and community events that build stronger bonds among the families in each grade.

Embrace and expand the diversity of our community.

• Actively engage a diverse group of families in the planning of our community events to inspire creativity and highlight the rich diversity within our school.

• Promote inclusion and opportunities for all families to connect through school-wide family-oriented events.

Build an inclusive community where all stakeholders feel adequately informed, are actively engaged, and are meaningfully contributing to and supporting the needs of the school.

• Update website with a grade-specific standardized messaging platform for mass communications, educational and marketing purposes (align information with Pathfinders guide).

• Develop templates for teachers and staff to use for standard communication with parents; educate the teachers on best practices for using the templates.

• Provide “Effective Communication” staff training to promote efficient and standard communication from school to students and families.

• Host parent parent education days that provide relevant and age-appropriate information to support the current needs of students, and also function as social and community-building opportunities parents.

Provide a supportive environment for school parents to deal with the practical challenges of daily life.

• Continue to support working parents with on-campus before- and after-school care and after-school programs; regularly assess after-school offerings and incorporate feeback and suggestions from parents.

• Ensure all children have access to a nutritious, cost-effective lunch option; consider including Choice Lunch assistance as an option for the financial aid program.

• Retain school counselor to work with students and families on social/emotional concerns; potentially increase hours as needed.

• Create oppportunites for parents to easily share feedback/input with school administration; email a “pulse check” short google form each trimester asking 3 questions and 1 box for open suggestions.

Integrate parishioners, alumni, and alumni parents into the life of the school as a whole parish community.

• Develop a more robust alumni communication platform to engage alumni in current school/parish events and to leverage the strenghs of our alumni.

• Expand the team responsible for alumni events/outreach.

Sustain Operational Vitality Manage the strategic direction of the school through effective planning, well-defined roles and responsibilities, sharing of important data and directions, and offering consistent and supportive leadership.

Manage against a strategic operating model for the school.

• Establish, and actively manage against, a strategic plan for the school that is guided by the school’s mission and identifies needed resources.

• Evaluate the most effective management model for the school with clearly defined roles and expectations for all administration, faculty, and staff.

• Partner with and support parent boards (as representatives of the broader parent community) to solicit strategic advice and assistance with community events and activities.

• Proactively communicate important results, key learnings, new initiatives, and ongoing expectations and responsibilities to all stakeholders.

Evaluate opportunities to expand and grow the school.

• Create an Enrollment Management Committee to analyze enrollment trends and recommend actions to secure and grow enrollment.

• Define and operate against a strategic marketing plan that creates sustained awareness and demand for the school.

• Modernize admissions programs, processes, and systems.

Continue to invest in campus improvements with a focus on enhancing student safety and learning.

• Work with the Buildings and Grounds committee to continually update and prioritize campus improvements.

• Create a 5-year campus master plan that optimizes current space and evaluates expansion opportunities.

• Update, train, and ensure ongoing compliance to Campus Safety Plan.

Ensure the ongoing financial health of the school.

• Sustain a healthy and realistic budget that supports the school’s operations and investments.

• Support socioeconomic diversity through a robust financial aid program.

• Maintain a competitive tuition.

• Leverage key fundraising events to make strategic improvements to the school.

• Create a strategy to expand the school’s endowment.

stmatthewcath 910 S. El Camino Real San Mateo, CA 94402 650.343.1373 office@stmatthewcath.org