The Raleigh School is a cooperative community of children, parents, and teachers that fosters a love of learning in an atmosphere of challenge, inquiry, and respect. This mission provides clear direction and vision, but each year we meet challenges and opportunities by articulating specific goals. For the 2024-2025 school year, the Board of Trustees in collaboration with the school community and with the guidance of the Strategic Planning Committee, has identified priorities in 5 strategic areas to be targeted and assessed over the next 1-3 years.
OUR PRIORITIES
Dynamic Leadership
Transformative Programs and Teaching
Strategic Management of Enrollment, Facilities, Human and Financial Resources
Impactful Auxiliary School Programs
Community Development and Engagement
Priority: Dynamic Leadership
Provide and cultivate thoughtful, successful, and mission-centered leadership.
Current Action Items:
- Create a longer-term strategic vision for The Raleigh School. Using information/data from community surveys, horizon scans, and partnership investigations, develop a vision for where TRS should be ten years from now.
- Use the reaccreditation processes to foster and support faculty leadership by encouraging reflection and goal-setting for future programmatic initiatives.
- Review and modify current faculty/staff retention and recruitment efforts to ensure The Raleigh School fosters a culture of belonging, retains its exceptional talent, and is able to attract employees who will help the school continue to deeply live its mission and abiding values.
- Ensure the board actively cultivates diversity and a feeling of belonging among its members, beginning with recruitment and onboarding and continuing through years of service.
Priority: Transformative Programs and Teaching
Strengthen and ensure that curriculum across age and grade levels is mission-aligned while developing a common language to educate parents, inform practice, and continue a culture of collegiality.
Current Action Items:
- Adopt a new/revised elementary math program that is aligned with our mission/values and supports the development of age-appropriate mathematical reasoning and skills.
- Review and re-evaluate ways to inform parents about child progress (newsletters, reports, conferences,...) ensuring mission/values alignment.
- Develop and share common language and practice for emergent curriculum/project-based learning and our social-emotional curriculum.
Priority: Community Development and Engagement
Continue to cultivate an active and inclusive community, ensuring strong partnerships between educators, children, and parents.
Current Action Items:
- Continue the implementation plan for elements of the TRS Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging framework.
- Ensure that marketing efforts, community events, and development work prioritize creating a feeling of belonging for a diverse community.
- Develop a long-range fundraising plan that sets goals and priorities for philanthropic endeavors (Fund for TRS, larger gifts, tuition assistance, faculty/staff education, special events) and details the work of trustees and volunteers in fulfilling the plan.
- Continue to explore goals, opportunities, and feasibility of community partnerships.
Priority: Strategic Management of Enrollment, Facilities, Human and Financial Resources
Ensure that The Raleigh School successfully manages its resources in order to serve children and families for generations to come.
Current Action Items:
- Review all admissions and marketing-related materials and procedures to ensure consistent messaging, emphasizing the school’s mission and approach in a clear and compelling manner.
- Create a sustainable financial strategy that includes a cohesive, long-term view of the school's financial levers, an oversight dashboard to review the school's financial health, and accompanying strategies to guide key drivers to support the school’s long-term vision: tuition, auxiliary programming, philanthropy, tuition assistance, compensation, program expenses, facility maintenance, and endowment.
- Review the recommendations from the faculty and staff benefits review committee and determine a plan to evolve and improve benefits to strengthen the employee experience in a fiscally responsible way.
- Review current tuition assistance and remission policies and practices to ensure equity, best practices, and alignment with stated mission/goals.
- Monitor local area development for opportunities and threats and ensure the school responds in ways that support/protect/enhance its mission and values now and in the future.
Priority: Impactful Auxiliary Programs
Ensure all current school programs best serve our children and families in a mission-appropriate way, encouraging the development of the whole child.
Current Action Items:
- Create an auxiliary programs (camps, clubs, aftercare, science olympiad) 5-year plan that incorporates programmatic and financial goals.
- Examine the feasibility of reestablishing/expanding aftercare for school day fours to better serve families needing aftercare.
To support the work being done to address these strategic priorities, please deeply engage in your parent committee work, community events, and give to the Fund for TRS in support of the work of teachers.