Strategic Plan

Every aspect of the student experience should serve to move individuals towards the ideals identified in the RCDS “Portrait of a Graduate,” a beacon to a holistic definition of excellence and success. School activities, in the classroom and out, should be engaging, purposeful, and relevant, enabling students to reach their maximum potential and have a positive impact on their communities.

While content knowledge will remain important in the years to come, success in college and beyond will depend more on important habits of mind. The world increasingly depends on individuals with strong complex problem-solving skills, who can also lead and collaborate. Developing and nurturing creativity, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, and cognitive flexibility in a context of service to others is vitally important to our mission and the world. Particularly important in today’s world is the capacity for productive and respectful engagement across differences. As leading colleges and universities target civil discourse as a primary goal and aptitude for their students, RCDS has an important preparatory role to play in laying the foundation for the following faculties: critical thinking and discussion, nuanced thinking to unpack complex issues, and balanced research and analysis.

Select Action Steps

• In light of the lessons learned from COVID-19 adjustments, identify and institutionalize the positive changes and reimagined approaches that have proven to be improvements to teaching and learning.
• Ensure every Upper School student has the opportunity to participate in a Community Engagement Fellowship or Global Travel Program, or to otherwise put into practice the School’s motto, Not for Self, but for Service.
• Critically evaluate and modify, as necessary, each demand on student time and energy to ensure the student experience is aligned with the “Portrait of a Graduate” and optimizes learning, engagement, and well-being.
• Review and enhance the processes to critically evaluate and modify, as necessary:
  • Community messaging about student and faculty success in order to broaden our view of what excellence looks like, and increase opportunities for all
  • Curriculum maps and guides to ensure intentional scope and sequence
  • Honors and advanced course tracking and any other proposed curricular changes
  • Appropriate incorporation of social-emotional learning and health and wellness into the curriculum
  • School calendar and daily schedules to best support student-centered learning outcomes
  • Approaches to homework, assessments, and teacher feedback, including report card format, content, delivery methods, and timing, as well as Upper School transcript format

The bedrock of an outstanding school is its faculty and staff. Inspirational and knowledgeable teachers recognize that our students are multifaceted, with talents across many domains. Our faculty and staff promote, inspire, and foster the growth and success of each student, motivating students to engage in learning, to follow their passions, and to achieve their maximum potential. Lifelong learners themselves, outstanding faculty and staff have a diverse range of talents and experiences. They deliver the School’s mission to our students.

Select Action Steps

• Ensure a smooth transition with respect to upcoming leadership changes.

• Ensure total compensation packages are highly competitive in our market, including consideration of affordability for employees whose children attend or would like to attend RCDS.

• Develop an RCDS “Portrait of a Teacher,” outlining the skills, values, attitudes, and behaviors that define faculty excellence.

• With the assistance of the new Dean of Faculty and Employees, nurture a strong, positive employee culture.

• Leverage the planned “Portrait of a Teacher” to critically evaluate and modify, as necessary:

  • Hiring profiles

  • Formal roles and responsibilities

  • Performance expectations and review processes

  • Internal and external professional growth and development opportunities

  • Opportunities to exchange ideas and develop relationships across departments, divisions, and beyond that foster professional growth

We aspire to foster a community characterized by deep empathy and kindness among our students, faculty and staff, administration, families, and alumni. We believe that individuals who feel they belong, who feel supported in pursuing their passions, who develop resilience and coping skills, and who compassionately support others doing the same achieve the greatest success. Members of an inclusive, balanced, and meaningfully engaged community are happy, thriving, and productive. We want to celebrate what makes each of us unique while also fostering a shared, unified identity as productive and proud members of the RCDS community.

Select Action Steps

• Create opportunities for all constituencies to transition back to a steady, post-COVID school environment in safe, supportive, and joyful ways.
• Support the work of the Parents Association to engage and build community; and consider staff and volunteer support to assist the Parents Association with engagement and community building initiatives.
• Continue to implement, evaluate, and continually reassess the recommendations of the School’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Plan to actively foster a sense of belonging, authentic connection, and community building.
• Develop and implement a comprehensive branding, marketing, and communications plan that increases opportunities for community feedback, enhances transparency of communications, and encourages and facilitates community building.
• Make explicit the School’s messaging and expectations around kindness and actively reinforce them at all levels, from the Board to the students in the classrooms.
• Ensure exemplary vertical coordination of student support services across grade levels and divisions.
• Make the RCDS alumni network our graduates’ strongest network connection.

Technology is critically important to schools today in at least five ways:

• As teaching and learning support for non-computing disciplines (e.g. iPads/Chromebooks and laptops in the Lower School; Chromebooks/laptops in Grades 5-12; SmartBoards, projectors, and other classroom technology for all grades)
• As an academic discipline in itself (e.g. Computer Science)
• As the backbone of efficient school operations, including hardware, software, and other infrastructure
• As an important communication channel among faculty, students, and families (e.g. Learning Management System, Student Information System, and Parent/Guardian Portals)
• As a crucial delivery channel for education, as experienced in the spring of 2020, and possibly as part of a long-term blended education delivery model

As our use of and reliance on technology grow, so do the resources required to diligently keep up-to-date and secure. We will adopt a proactive, systematic approach to managing technology in all five areas, ensuring the School is aligned with best practices and always prepared to pivot to what is new when circumstances warrant it.

Select Action Steps

• Evaluate how we can best leverage the recent significant investment the School has made in technology.

• Regularly evaluate and upgrade, as necessary, the School’s technology to ensure it:

  • Serves intended audiences well

  • Represents best practices among peer schools

  • Provides full security

  • Integrates well with other systems

  • Provide ample training for faculty, staff, and students, so we can implement the most up-to-date approaches, encouraging sharing of best practices among employees.

• Articulate a baseline level of technology competency for employees.

• Ensure that we have adequate staffing to support academic and institutional technology.

• Follow up on the cyber security audit recommendations.

• Leverage technology to enhance the efficiency of administrative tasks.

• Continue to use technology to increase the engagement of employees, parents and guardians, and alumni in school-sponsored programs.

• Develop ways to connect Computer Science courses to applications and networks beyond RCDS.

As a comprehensive, Pre-K through Grade 12 college preparatory school, we require many different types of specialized and flexible spaces to deliver an exceptional student experience. The importance of in-person learning emphasizes the need to continue to invest in new real estate and to renovate existing facilities.

Select Action Steps

• Conduct a space utilization study, identifying needs and options for meeting them with existing facilities, including community gathering and revenue-generating areas.

• Develop a dynamic real estate plan that mixes acquisition of new property with the repurposing of existing spaces.

• Build and/or renovate athletic facilities either by acquiring land and/or renovating the existing Athletic Center and Field House.

• Develop flexible outdoor spaces that can accommodate academic, dining, and social functions.

• Review how spaces were repurposed and reimagined for COVID-19, and keep best practices.

Strong financial health provides the resources required for the School to deliver on its mission. It also helps ensure operational excellence during unforeseeable economic fluctuations. Our goal is to continue to provide competitive salaries and benefits, and maintain the Financial Aid program through strong fiscal management, endowment stewardship, and non-tuition revenue growth.

Select Action Steps

• Grow the endowment through additional contributions and careful oversight to reach 2.5 times annual operating expenses.

• Continue to support existing summer programs and explore new auxiliary programs to generate non-tuition revenue, including summer academic and camp programs, adult evening and weekend courses, and/or community gathering opportunities.

• Raise incremental funds for major capital investments, including endowment contributions earmarked for additional operating expenses related to investment.

• Explore creating emergency funds to prepare for potential future unforeseen events, such as another pandemic.

• Continue to prioritize our Financial Aid program to ensure we remain competitive with the top schools in our marketplace.