Christian Private School Strategic Planning... Part 1
by Kent Warkentin
Have you ever felt like you were just spinning your wheels as a leader? Perhaps you have tried everything that you know of and your school still isn’t moving ahead? Maybe you have teacher challenges, board governance challenges, or enrolment stagnation challenges?
I am here to tell you that none of your challenges will get easier unless you apply defined and deliberate STRATEGY!
Strategy is NOT:
- a binder on the shelf collecting dust
- major academic vocabulary that doesn’t translate into understandable solutions
- blind hope without research
- a waste of a Principal’s time
- so difficult to envision or break down that it isn’t worth pursuing
Strategy IS:
- a roadmap of where your school is going, and how it will get there
- an active, reviewed, living and breathing mechanism for action and change
- owned by everyone in the school from board to support staff
- sometimes singular in focus, sometimes collective in focus
- a way to address challenges or great ideas with studied, proven, and supported solutions going forward
I would strongly suggest that every school engage in the following:
- Assess the major priority issues that are causing challenges, are needed for continuous improvement, and require action.
- Research best-practise. Talk to other successful schools. Talk to experts.
- Develop a Strategic Plan - one that is actionable, comprehensive, alive, measurable, motivational, missional, and visionary. This could be a plan around one priority issue OR a school-wide plan that encompasses all major areas of operation.
- Move forward and see results!
As we all seek to continually improve our schools and develop a culture of growth mindset, strategy can be a major asset to achieving goals, addressing challenges, and positively impacting school culture! Please contact us at ACSIEC to learn more!
~ Kent
