"We prepare students to engage in the world that is and to help bring about a world that ought to be."
About
Strategic Plan

The Making of the Plan

The Strategic Planning Committee (SPC) began its work this year by reviewing the charge from the Board of Trustees and reaffirming our commitment to the School’s mission. Members heard from Principal Bo Lauder about the last two strategic plans’ goals and achievements. Much has been accomplished during the span of these previous strategic plans and this year’s committee is energized and inspired to continue that legacy. 

— Matthew Annenberg '83 and Leitzel Schoen, Co-Clerks of the Strategic Planning Committee

Friends Seminary School Committee's Charge to the Strategic Planning Committee

The Strategic Planning Committee shall discern what may be the key priorities for Friends Seminary for the next three to five years, keeping in mind our 228 year history as well as our aspirations for the future. Building on the legacy of our last Plan (Planning for the Future: Celebrating Friends Seminary’s 225th Year 2008-2012), the Committee shall consider the full scope of the School’s program and operations, including: the academic program; technology; our place in a global world; the financial aid program; space needs; our commitment to core values that distinguish us as a Quaker school; the relationship of the School to its faculty and staff including the Friends Seminary Teacher’s Association; athletics; arts; and resources to make these things possible and sustainable. And while it is not expected that recommendations pertaining to all aspects of the School will emerge, this is an opportunity, indeed, to ask timely questions, strategize, recommend priorities, and to dream.

Acting within the short timeframe of the 2013-2014 academic year, the Committee is asked to gather perspectives from a broad range of sources and constituencies and to consult often foundational documents, like our Mission Statement and Faith and Practice. The Committee is asked to make frequent reports to the Board of Trustees with a draft report and update due for the Board of Trustees’ working retreat on April 5th, 2014 with the expectation that the Board of Trustees will act upon and approve time-defined strategic initiatives of a new Strategic Plan no later than October, 2014.

With the leadership of Matthew Annenberg and Leitzel Schoen serving as co-clerks, the Strategic Planning Committee will be constituted of members of the Board of Trustees, parents, and faculty discerned for their breadth and depth of experience by the SC’s Nominations and Governance Committee. The Committee may constitute sub-committees to further the work. 

Friends Seminary Board of Trustees
October 16, 2013

News

  • Entering the Final Phase of Strategic Planning Process

    On Thursday, October 2, the Strategic Planning Committee reconvened to review the outline for an exciting plan that maps the vision and future of our school over the next several years. In October and November, members of the committee will be facilitating six category-specific working groups to review and refine sections of the draft. Faculty and staff will be invited to join these working groups, contributing their insight and feedback during this final stage in the development of the Strategic Plan. To get a sense of where we are headed, take a look at the working group categories: Teachers as Our Core; Innovative Frameworks for Teaching & Learning; Engineering: Applications in Science, Math & Technology; Global Education: Preparing Students for World Citizenship, Leadership & Service; Time to Learn & Do; Space-Learning Environments. The Strategic Planning Committee will provide updates at an All Faculty & Staff Meeting and at the School Committee meeting scheduled for the end of November. The final draft of the Strategic Plan is set to be presented to the School Committee for approval in January.
    Read More

  • Emerging Themes Identified - Outline of a Plan is Formed

    In the late spring, the Strategic Planning Committee was able to assess the aggregated data from the sixteen Focus Group sessions. This data was highly valuable, as it represented the voices of our many stakeholders from facilitated conversations designed to identify strengths, weknesses, opportunities and even potnetial threats to the school. The committee members assessed the emerging themes from this data set and compared it to ones from the survey data. Many overlaps were identified and the committee crafted a framework for a draft of the strategic plan. Members agreed to spend time over the summer months in category-specific research. A shared folder of readings and online videos was created and members were invited to add more resources to it.
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  • First Phase of Strategic Planning Process is Completed

    Last Monday, April 7, members of the Strategic Planning Committee finished assessing the aggregated data from the 834 survey responses. On Thursday, April 10, the last eight Focus Group sessions were held. In total, more than 190 faculty, staff, administrators, students, parents and alumni participated in these sessions. Next week, we will continue the exciting work of identifying emerging themes as we cull through the aggregated data from the sixteen Focus Groups. We are excited that so many from the community have participated in this phase of the process and appreciate having such robust data from which to draw.
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  • The Community Sounds In on Survey

    Over the last two weeks, members of the Friends Seminary community have completed the Strategic Planning Survey. Record numbers were reported by Triangle Associates, the independent contractors administering the survey. While the data is still being processed, we are happy to share our participation numbers. 

    Survey Participation Numbers
    Constituency GroupResponses
    Parent of a Current Student402
    Faculty/Staff Member108
    Administrator10
    Member of the School Committee15
    Current Student (MS/US)167
    Alumni of School132
    TOTAL834

    On February 12 and 13, Judy Schechtman and Marc Frankel from Triangle Associates will be at Friends to facilitate 16 separate Focus Group sessions. Representatives from the student body, parents, faculty, staff, administrators and alumni will participate.
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  • Portrait of a Graduate Exercise

    The Portrait of a Graduate exercise is meant to get our community thinking about the very things we hope our students will embody with regard to their intellectual abilities, their physical and emotional well-being, their social responsibility and spiritual development. 

    What skills and attributes do we wish graduates to have? What do we hope to impart, encourage and develop through their experiences at Friends Seminary?

    The answers to these questions will help form the Portrait of a Friends Seminary Graduate. And, it is this portrait that we shall keep in mind as we answer the charge put before us by the School Committee to form the next Strategic Plan for our school.
     
    Working with Friends Seminary art students, photographs of actual students have been digitally manipulated in the Media Lab to create the outlines of the graduates. The portraits' frames are formed by the words or phrases that the community believes should describe a Friends Seminary graduate. Portraits have already been created by the School Committee, the SPC and Faculty/Staff. During the launch of the survey in January, parents and students will have an opportunity to craft their own portraits of a graduate. All portraits will be on display in the Resenquist Gallery.
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  • Triangle Associates to Serve as Strategic Plan Consultants

    Friends Seminary has selected Triangle Associates to serve as consultants in the 2013-2014 strategic planning process. Principal Bo Lauder and the Co-Clerks of the Strategic Planning Committee felt that Triangle founders Judy Schechtman and Marc Frankel's years of experience, coupled with their deep knowledge of private, independent and international education, were compelling reasons to choose them to help guide Friends in the re-calibration of School goals and strategies to ensure ongoing freshness and relevance. Triangle is one of the founders of the School Leadership Program and the Institute for Aspiring Heads for the National Association of Independent Schools. The firm also comes highly recommended by NYC peer schools and has worked with several other Quaker educational institutions across the country on their strategic plans. Clients have found that their approach is data-rich and adaptive to school needs. We can expect their assistance in trend-tracking, facilitation of focus groups, demographic analyses and strategy making workshops. 


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Strategic Planning Committee

Co-Clerks 
Matthew Annenberg '83 (A, P, SC) 
Leitzel Schoen (Admin)

Committee Members
Laura deMare (P)
Andy Doan (F, Q)
Cella Irvine (A, P, SC) 
Sandra Jelin Plouffe (A, P) 
Ariel Kitch (F)
Jamie Lieberman (F) 
Micah Morris (F)
Audrey Reynolds (Admin) 
Pankti Sevak (Admin)

Ex Officio
Elizabeth Enloe (SC, Q)
Bo Lauder (Admin)
 
Scribe
Gloria Foti (S)

A - Alum
Admin - Administration 
F - Faculty
P – Parent
Q - Quaker
S - Staff
SC - School Committee

Important Calendar Dates

Oct. 8 - Board of Trustees Charge is created.

Oct. 29 - Strategic Planning Committee convenes.

Nov. 18 - Full Faculty/Staff Meeting- Charge and Portrait of a Graduate Exercise introduced.

Jan. 13-27 - Strategic Plan Survey is launched and the school community is invited to participate.

Feb. 12-14 - Focus Group discussions are scheduled.

February 28 - Survey aggregate data reviewed by Strategic Planning Committee.

April 7 - Strategic Planning Committee assesses survey data for emerging themes.

April 10 - Snow Day Focus Group Sessions Rescheduled

April 21 - Strategic Planning Committee assesses focus group data for emerging themes. Identifies categories for plan.

June 5 - Strategic Planning Committee creates an outline of plan and discusses category-specific ideas and identifes next steps for research in drafting strategies and objectives. 

October 2 - Strategic Planning Committee reconvenes and reviews outline of plan. Establishes category-specific working groups.

November 14 - Working Group representatives report to the Strategic Planning Committee with final drafts of assigned sections of plan.

November 19 - Strategic Planning Committee provides update to Board of Trustees.

November 24 - Strategic Planning Committee provides Update during an All Faculty and Staff Meting.

January 14 - Strategic Planning Committee presents final draft to Board of Trustees for approval.
Friends Seminary actively promotes diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism in all its programs and operations, including admissions, financial aid, hiring, and all facets of the educational experience. To form a community which strives to reflect the world’s diversity, we do not discriminate on the basis of race or color, religion, nationality, ethnicity, economic background, physical ability, sex, gender identity or expression, or sexual orientation. Friends Seminary is an equal opportunity employer.
Friends Seminary — the oldest continuously operated, coeducational school in NYC — serves college-bound day students in Kindergarten-Grade 12.
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