Recommendations and Strategies
Recommendations, Rationales, Strategy
Overall Strategy
Overall strategy is the particular means by which Maris Stella School seeks to move toward our vision and fulfillment of our mission within the context of our values. Overall strategy recognizes the dominant forces that drive the decision making process. Dominant forces are as follow:
- Maintaining healthy student enrollment levels;
- Raising sufficient operating and capital funds from multiple sources;
- Hiring quality school staff and teachers;
- Securing meaningful involvement from parents, volunteers, and pastors;
- Maintaining the condition/appearance of facility and capital equipment;
- Providing quality educational programs;
- Maintaining current in technology;
- Providing quality communication;
- Keeping expenses under budget;
- Obtaining grants and aids;
- Promoting our school community.
Maris Stella’s Overall Strategy is:
To provide a quality, Catholic education to K to 8th grade student population through outstanding academic instruction, inspirational religious teaching, and the use of premier facilities enabled by sufficient financial resources, highly qualified teachers and staff, and active, and active support from parents and pastors.
Goals
Upon review of the driving forces, we identified goals that must be met in order to achieve Maris Stella’s vision. They are:
- Maintain a healthy enrollment at Maris Stella School;
- Increase and broaden Maris Stella’s financial resources;
- Ensure that technology and school facilities support optimal learning;
- Maintain and strengthen the quality of Maris Stella’s learning environment to achieve academic excellence and reinforce Catholic values.
Recommendations, Rationales, and Strategies
GOAL # 1:
INCREASE K-8 ENROLLMENT BY 7 STUDENTS PER YEAR IN 5 YEARS.
Strategic objective 1:
Develop and implement a plan to increase the student enrollment at Maris Stella by 3% to 5%__
Actions:
- Develop a plan to capitalize on social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter
- Develop a plan to increase the school’s presence at local community events.
- Establish a formal procedure for assessing progress toward these objectives.
Strategic objective 2:
Develop and implement a plan to collaborate with parish pastors and churches to recruit new students.__
Actions:
- Develop and implement a process to identify and recruit prospective students in parish churches.
- Develop and implement a plan for a parish to sponsor a student per school year.
- Explore the possibility of placing MSS school information in church offices and churches.
- Establish a presence at parish festivals.
- Explore the possibility of making pulpit announcements at Mass in order to promote the school.
GOAL # 2:
IMPLEMENT AN EFFECTIVE PLAN TO MARKET MARIS STELLA TO FAMILIES IN OUR REGION
Strategic objective 1:
Develop an advertising/media plan to publicize Maris Stella School.
Actions:
- Update the school website to make 1t more informative and user friendly.
- Ensure that advertising materials publicize the strengths of Maris Stella School.
How will it be evaluated? How will we know we are successful?
Increased enrollment between 3% and 5%: If we can increase enrollment by at least 7 students per year, we will know we are successful.
When will it be accomplished?
5 years
GOAL # 3:
INCREASE AND BROADEN THE SCHOOL’S FINANCIAL RESOURCES
Strategic objective 1:
Develop financial plans that keep Maris Stella School fiscally responsible.
Actions:
- Annually develop and implement a balanced operating budget.
- Develop procedures to regularly monitor, analyze, and compare budgeted revenues and expenditures to actual revenues and expenditures.
- Develop procedures that ensure efficient and timely collection of revenues and decreases the number of delinquencies per academic year to less than 1% of total revenue.
Who will be responsible? Financial Officer
When will it be accomplished? Three years — 2021-2022
Strategic objective 2:
Develop plans to increase the school’s financial resources.
Actions:
A. Develop and implement a plan to increase annual fund giving.
- Develop and implement a plan to increase parent participation in the annual fund by 10% annually.
- Research, develop, and implement best practices that will help increase annual fund giving by 10% annually.
B. Develop and implement a plan to increase grant and foundation funds
- Provide training and resources to members of the school community who express an interest in grant writing.
C. Develop an improved strategy for fundraiser events that will increase this source of revenue by 10% annually.
- Identify dates and event/activities for annual fundraising by July of each year.
- Research, develop, and implement best practices regarding fundraising.
D. Develop a plan to build business support for the school.
- Identify and build relationships with local businesses that would be open to providing financial and/or material support for the school.
What are the needed resources? Staff to organize alumni data to make contacts and plan events Staff to develop grants
How will it be evaluated? How will we know we are successful? Met budgeted and fundraising goals
When will it be accomplished? Alumni: Year |-data entry Year 2- contact/events newsletter Year 3- raise money Grants: Year 1- sources Year 2- form committee Year 3- move toward development director
GOAL # 4:
MAINTAIN AND STRENGTHEN THE QUALITY OF MSS’ LEARNING ENVIRONMENT TO ACHIEVE ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE
Strategic objective 1:
Develop and implement a strategy to recruit and retain best school staff and teachers.
Actions:
- Provide regular opportunities for comprehensive and relevant professional development.
- Develop and implement a plan for faculty and staff appreciation events.
- Conduct a regular faculty and staff evaluations and provide feedback and assistance to help improve performance.
- Develop and implement a plan to ensure that faculty and staff have access to appropriate and necessary resources.
Strategic objective 2:
Develop a strategy to build a school-wide culture that promotes academic excellence and Catholic values.
Actions:
- Develop and implement a plan to increase student performance in areas of relative weakness as determined by academic and standardized assessments and other relevant data.
- Develop and implement a peer tutoring program.
- Develop and implement a plan to ensure that faculty and staff have access to appropriate and necessary resources.