HALLADAY EDUCATION GROUP

HALLADAY EDUCATION GROUP
4316 Arthur Drive, Delta, BC, Canada V4K 2W8
P: 604.868.0002 | E: info@halladayeducationgroup.com


Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Private School Strategic Planning 101 - A Guide To School Success



Strategic planning, when done right, does not have to be frustrating, unproductive, costly, or  divert the
energies of your school's leadership. If done properly, the process will stimulate support in your community and focus resources for continued development and provide a clear competitive advantage aligned with your mission. The purpose of your strategic plan is to lay out a concise and practical road map to achieve your mission and vision -- moving away from being "reactive" -- solving today's problems -- towards being "proactive" - eliminating problems in the future and taking advantage of opportunities now.

Your plan should provide a framework that enables your school to focus and coordinate your resources, work towards common goals, assess and adjust as you move forward, and focus your board's priorities, guide your staff, and inspire your community. The planning process addresses a series of questions that examine assumptions, incorporates information about the present, and anticipates the world in which the school will be working in, determines how you will get there, and allows you to measure and adjust and you attain your vision.
Value To Your Board

A school is most effective when the resources of your organization are aligned by a common vision, mission, strategies, goals, and action plans. Simply operating your school by calendar or crisis is not acceptable. You want your organization to move from being reactive to being proactive; rather than responding to unexpected changes, you want to anticipate and plan for them.  

HEG's planning approach provides a practical model for mission-based leadership. Our step-by-step seamless process provides concrete objectives and deliverables that can be implemented and measured to dramatically improve the performance of your school, moving you from good to great. It allows you to accurately gauge the progress of your plan and school performance, as well as linking your governance model to the annual operational plan. Very simply, it's the process by which your board envisions your future, identifies a picture of the future based on current data, and controls forces that affect you from attaining your vision, making adjustments as you move forward. This allows your school to:
  • Identify areas of operation needing consideration now and using it as a springboard to strengthen performance in the future;
  • Identify and reach consensus on issues before they become a crisis (e.g., finance, funding, enrollment, marketing, HR, academic programs, student performance, facilities, educational program, governance);
  • Articulate a uniform, shared vision, providing a clearer focus, producing efficiency, participation, and ownership by your stakeholders;
  • Allocate resources to opportunities and improve finances and projections;
  • Build trust, respect, team-work, and communication amongst all stakeholders;
  • Create a framework to guide decision making and ensure that members are working towards the same goals, even if the environment around the school changes;
  • Gain credibility and identify critical projects to focus your resources;
  • Inspire your community to invest in your goals through focused fundraising campaigns;
  • Ensure that board members understand their roles, responsibilities, and board-wide priorities within their committee structure; and
  • Monitor performance and provide benchmarks from which progress can be measured within your board and senior administration.
Fitting The Pieces Into Your Governance Model

The diagram below clarifies how the pieces come together to develop, implement, and monitor your plan. You can see that your five-year planing document should be used annually by your board to determine your yearly priorities and your senior administration to break-down how they plan to measurably implement the priorities, encompassed within their own evaluation process. This puts all key players on the same page. 
  Strategic Plan Document & Process 2
Planning Approach

HEG's planning approach supports your board and senior administration in the development and implementation of your plan. Our approach typically encompasses a progression of stages over a five to seven month time frame with the development of the strategic plan and action plan for implementation in the coming school year. This is achieved through the following steps that are customized foryour school:
 FLEC Strategic PLan
Our approach results in both the "compass" and "road map" to support your board in the  development and implementation of a measurable plan to focus school improvement - maximizing your school's educational, operational, governance, and financial performance while linking priorities of the board with Senior Administration's Operational Plan.  

Provided here is a link to a recent strategic plan HEG was engaged to develop. Click on the link to open a downloadable copy of their strategic plan for Forest Lake Education Center Strategic Plan. HEG's President has been involved in the development of a variety of strategic plans for a number of schools types (International, US, Canadian, IBO, Faith-Based, Public) globally.
 
Next Step

If you would like to find out more about how we can help your board to develop your school's strategic plan or advise on the review and implementation of your current plan, please contact HEG to find out more by sending an email to info@halladayeducationgroup.com or calling directly at +1-604-868-0002.

To your success, 

Douglas Halladay
President
Halladay Education Group
P: +1-604-868-0002 | E: info@halladayeducationgroup.com  
4316 Arthur Drive, Delta, BC, Canada, V4K 2W8 

P.S. Don't forget to go to our secure Online Store to invest in our Strategic Planning or Start-A-School Toolkits. They're affordable and practical.  
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