Strategic Plan

List of 4 items.

• Strategic Goal One - Belonging

  Unify the Derryfield family by strengthening connections with our extended community, including alumni, alumni parents, and emeritus faculty and staff.

  Build a sense of belonging and identity within the Derryfield family.

  • Invite all members of the Derryfield community to participate fully in the life of the School, from our celebratory events to using the campus as a comfortable spot to convene.
  • Develop and implement a diversity mission statement and plan in the spirit of preparing students to be valued and purposeful members of any community.

  Increase personal and school communication to broaden engagement.

  • Assess our various relationship touch points with parents, alumni, and extended family, including an effective relationship management database.
  • Implement professional networking opportunities to serve our extended Derryfield community.
  • Involve emeritus faculty and staff in ongoing events, committees, and service opportunities.

• Strategic Goal Two - Leading

  Become a regional and state leader in educational excellence and innovation.

  Attract, train, and retain excellent faculty and staff.

  • Ensure sustainable workload assignments for faculty.
  • Research faculty and staff compensation and compare to peer schools.

  Cultivate inspired, effective, and compassionate student leaders committed to enriching their wider communities.

  • Create The Derryfield School Center for Purposeful Leadership.
  • Craft a definition of leadership that is inclusive and consistent with the mission, and a program that develops those leadership skills.
  • Partner with alumni leaders for mentoring and shadowing.
  • Develop strategic internships with local institutions, including a culminating experience for Derryfield seniors.

  Develop a cohesive, coordinated middle and upper school program with an emphasis on academic and co-curricular skills most relevant to a 21st century education.

  • Enhance our advising, coaching, and mentoring efforts in the key years of eighth, ninth, and tenth grades so students take full advantage of opportunities available at the School.
  • Build upon our expertise in brain-based teaching, learning, and differentiated instruction.
  • Expand our service-learning program at home and abroad to include one major experience in each grade.
  • Staff a writing center to help students achieve success both in their coursework and external publication efforts.

  Enhance our STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) program.
  

  • Focus the STEAM courses on projects that address local or global issues.
  • Develop Derryfield’s technology and computer science curriculum to include an introduction to programming in the Middle School as well as electives and A.P. Computer Science in the Upper School.

  Become a leader in environmental sustainability.

  • Coordinate efforts to significantly reduce our ecological footprint.
  • Expand curriculum and educational experiences in environmental issues.

  Increase global partnerships and educational opportunities.

  • Connect with students and educators around the world through technology in the classroom.
  • Increase the number and diversity of international exchange programs.
  • Increase financial access to global opportunities for all students.

  Become an educational convener in the state and region.

  • Convene and lead a consortium of independent schools to collaborate on student programming and faculty professional development.
  • Collaborate with educators from local public and parochial schools.
  • Create a teaching fellows program.

• Strategic Goal Three - Building

  The Derryfield family deserves a first-class campus to match our first-class programs.

  Improve campus safety and convenience.

  • Expand our parking facilities.
  • Ensure campus safety through the implementation of safety study recommendations.
  • Improve access for mobility impaired spectators at the upper athletic fields.

  Establish the proper preconditions to pursue the acquisition of neighboring properties.

  • Create alternatives to purchasing properties, including land swap scenarios.
  • Foster relationships with neighbors and develop a financial plan to allow for the purchase of neighboring properties when available.

  Invest in a sequence of multiple physical plant upgrades by following a traditional master planning, campaign, and construction cycle.

  • Build new dining and indoor athletic facilities.
    Define and prioritize deficient dining, reception, and athletic spaces.
  • Update campus aesthetics, focusing on the Upper School.
    Complete a comparative study of other competitor, benchmark, and aspirational schools to identify key areas of improvement.
  • Address physical spaces that are perceived to be limiting in their performance.
    Define and prioritize academic spaces that are limiting in their performance.
  • Create a modern media library and learning commons.
    Create a vision and needs analysis for a modern media library and learning commons that will align with 21st century learning needs.

• Strategic Goal Four - Elevating

  Raise our profile in the state for the purpose of expanding enrollment and ensuring long-term financial strength.

  Increase public awareness of Derryfield as the premier day school in the region and an integral community convener.

  • Continue to grow summer programs on campus.
  • Establish faculty as experts through their participation as presenters outside of Derryfield.
  • Develop more brand ambassadors within our parent, alumni parent, and alumni population.
  • Increase our presence in local media and community news outlets.

  Increase revenue through strategic enrollment initiatives.

  • Consider tuition pricing options.
  • Ensure the strategic use of financial aid, for both need- and merit-based awards.
  • Steward relationships with feeder schools and educational consultants.
  • Expand our bus transportation system to increase geographic access for families.

  Expand program and marketing to attract more families and retain current families.

  • Identify curricular and co-curricular programs that will attract new mission-appropriate students.
  • Expand into new market segments based on demographic data.
  • Gather and communicate stories from alumni and alumni parents about the value and outcomes of a Derry?eld education.
  • Align all print and electronic publications with school mission and market opportunity.

  Improve financial strength of our School through strategic advancement and alternative income sources.

  • Conduct a feasibility study in preparation for a capital campaign.
  • Grow the School’s endowment during our next capital campaign.
  • Invigorate alumni giving.
  • Grow the annual fund to at least the NAIS day school average of 5.7%.
  • Enhance the School’s fund-raising programs, including gifts to the annual fund, reunions, and planned giving programs.
  • Engage our international families in giving to Derryfield.
  • Maximize auxiliary revenue through the development of mission-aligned programs.