SHS Strategic Plan - Lake Worth

NON PROFIT ORG
US POSTAGE
PAID
WEST PALM BCH FL
PERMIT NO. 1677
410 North M Street
Lake Worth, Florida 33460
Just a few short years ago, the future of Sacred Heart School was in danger of closure. As a result, a new vision
was embraced and through strategic planning, a transformation took place which will advance the strong
academic programs, and ensure the financial future, while upholding the Catholic tenets that are at the core of
Sacred Heart School.
Prepare them for college,
prepare them for life,
prepare them for Heaven
Sacred Heart School Mission Statement
As a faith community enthroned in
the Sacred Heart of Jesus our mission is to
provide all our students, of diverse cultures
and abilities, an education of excellence
in a Christ centered environment, encourage
them to live the Gospel values of
love, peace, justice, respect,
and service,
and prepare
them for
success
in high
school
and to
be productive,
responsible and effective members of society
Philosophy
The philosophy of Sacred Heart School is to provide maximum
student development in a Christian atmosphere. Based on the
recognition that the child is multi-dimensional, we profess to use
developmentally appropriate educational practices. We endeavor
to incorporate into our program those authentic activities that
will develop the spiritual, intellectual, social, moral, creative and
physical needs of the students.
The educational process should be a joint effort between parents
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Vigilance is required in our efforts to advance the mission of Sacred Heart School. Therefore, we are implementing
a strategic planning initiative. The final goals and objectives that are the Vision for Sacred Heart School are
outlined in this document.
and school. Since education begins at home, we encourage
parents to assist the faculty in training their children for the
reception of the Sacraments as well as reinforcing all the literary,
math and communication skills taught in school.
We believe that the administrators, faculty and staff receive their
inspiration from the Blessed Trinity. Our guidance and direction
is received from the principles expressed in Scripture… to teach
as Jesus did. We, as educators, believe in the need to exemplify
our philosophy through our words and actions.
Our quest is to guide our students towards God, community and
service. This will enable them to function in the mainstream of
life with sensitivity, responsibility and respect for creation.
We strive to deal with social and moral issues in accordance
with the teachings of Jesus and His Church. This calls for the
formation of values and attitudes demanded for Christian living
in our complex society.
Our commitment is to
academic excellence as
well as to the dignity and
honor of the person. Our
intent is to prepare a child
who, in a joyful spirit, will
responsibly deal with all
aspects of life.
There are 15 members of the Strategic Planning
Committee, which includes school administration,
faculty, donors, Executive Board members, Advisory
Board members, and school parents.
Short-term goals and long term goals are set within
the strategic plan, with some goals requiring minimal
financial resources, while other goals may require longterm financial planning.
Below are the top challenges and priorities identified
through the survey provided to the Sacred Heart
School parents.
1. Continue to develop programs for the gifted
student; including the early childhood
Montessori Academy of Sacred Heart School.
2. Continue to improve facilities by the addition
of an outdoor, open-air pavilion
3. Continue to enhance the Catholic identity with
our parish priests
4. Continue to maintain and grow our academic
programs for 75% of our students who are
on State Scholarships - McKay (Learning
Differences), Step Up For Students (low
income), VPK (Pre School) and SHS AID
Scholarships (school financial assistance).
The result of the parent survey showed an
overwhelming satisfaction with the school. It was
an affirmation that Sacred Heart School is doing a
good job of fully integrating the Gospel values of
our Catholic Faith into every aspect of our school
operation. Parents also noted that they would readily
recommend Sacred Heart School to others.
Goals and Objectives were set:
1. Catholic Identity
2. Ownership, Governance, and Administration
3. School in the Community
4. Enrollment
5. Guidance and Counseling
6. Curriculum and Programs
7. Technology
8. Staffing
9. Facilities
10. Finance
11. Development and Public Relations
Participants developed goals for each of these areas at
several workshops in the Fall and Spring.
Strategic Planning Objectives
Sacred Heart School 2013
Sacred Heart School 2013
Strategic Planning Objectives
Catholic Identity
Development and Public Relations
Goal:
Goal:
At Sacred Heart School our goal will be to continue to live our
Mission ‘Statement’ by being a visible asset to the parish and
surrounding community as ‘evident’ by the School Families and
our Parish community as one of our greatest strengths.
In order to prime Sacred Heart School for continued success, we will integrate a comprehensive
marketing and communication plan. The communication plan will inform and educate our
community about our school and encourage support and participation; the marketing plan
will identify target audiences with a compelling message that encourages recruitment and
development, and includes effective strategies to reach target audiences.
Objectives:
Objectives:
1. Our students and faculty will continue to model
Catholic virtues to our community through the respect
and love they show each other regardless of ethnic,
socioeconomic, or academic ability.
2. We will continue to modify and promote our Mission
Statement to make all members of our community,
faculty, and students fully aware of its credo.
3. We will identify and implement strategies, for
example retreats, that will more fully provide strong
communication and collaboration between our parish
priests and our faculty and students.
Ownership, Governance, and Administration
1. Sacred Heart School will continue to implement a pro-active marketing/ public relations campaign to
promote the value of Catholic education to other parishes and the community through use of free and
paid media, social media, the Internet, and the development director’s contacts. (Little Green Light
software program is key).
2. Sacred Heart School will continue to consistently recognize the generous donors to our school.
3. Sacred Heart School will foster meaningful relationships among all the stakeholders in our community
including parents, alumni, prospective families, employees, and local high schools, and provide
opportunities for them to interact and communicate with our staff and students.
4. Sacred Heart School will create a strategic Personal Development Plan that empowers existing students
and recent graduates to help publicize our school.
5. Sacred Heart School will continue to update its alumni database to keep communication open between
current and past stakeholders.
6. Sacred Heart School will create
a planning committee where
representatives from the School
Board, Home and School
Association, Athletics, Parish
Council, and other internal groups
meet regularly to keep all groups
informed, and to promote the
sharing of information including
best practices, goals, strategies, and
challenges facing each group for
the future.
Goal:
Sacred Heart School shall continue to maintain and
promote a system of governance that encourages active
involvement and communication among parents,
School Boards, parish, principal and staff, students, and
the community.
Objectives:
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1. The various School Boards’ performances need
to be evaluated as needed in order to ensure
that all committees develop tangible, attainable
objectives that support Sacred Heart School’s
vision for the future.
2. Teacher involvement on the various Boards and
committees needs to be actively encouraged.
7. Sacred Heart School will assign a
representative to act as a liaison with
our elected officials to see that our
school’s best interests are kept at the
forefront of any pending
local or state legislation.
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Strategic Planning Objectives
Sacred Heart School 2013
Facilities
Goal:
Sacred Heart School will continue to provide a safe,
attractive, and inviting facility conducive to teaching and
learning.
Due to the success of our prestigous Montessori Academy, we are developing plans to expand our program with an
additional class room for Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten.
Objectives:
1. Sacred Heart School’s maintenance staff will will continue to keep the campus clean and the ongoing
repairs and renovations current.
2. Sacred Heart School will establish and implement long-term facilities maintenance, replacement, and
repair plans from which Administration can plan and budget for major expenses.
3. Sacred Heart School plans to construct an outdoor Pavilion which will provide for additional covered
space outside for sports’ programs and other activities.
Sacred Heart School 2013
School In the Community
Goal:
Sacred Heart School will continue to live it’s Mission Statement by being a visible asset to the parish and
surrounding community as evident by the strong Catholic character of its students who, through the values
learned at Sacred Heart School, become contributing members of their church, and their local, national, and
worldwide communities.
Objectives:
1. Sacred Heart School’s students will continue their presence in the community by being active in music/
band presentations, fine arts displays, Diocesan and county sports events, and Academic competitions.
2. Sacred Heart School will continue its community partnerships with the Norton Museum, the Palm Beach
Arts Council, the South Florida Fair, the Breakers Hotel, the Arthur Marshall Foundation , etc.
3. Sacred Heart School will continue it’s outreach to other Foundations, Theatres’, Museums, Chambers of
Commerce, the Kiwanis
Club, etc. to advance our
presence and good reputation
in the community.
4. Sacred Heart School will
offer community members
the opportunity to volunteer
their time as mentors or in
other needed positions in the
school.
4. Sacred Heart School plans to construct a new main entrance to our school from
Federal Highway including architectural fencing and building accents.
5. Sacred Heart School’s safety plan will be evaluated and updated annually.
Finance
This area of strategic planning has been identified as a weakness according to Sacred Heart School’s evaluation matrix.
Each parish school in the Diocese of Palm Beach must be economically independent of the Diocese and rely upon their
tuition income, fund raising and their parish’s support. As our parish is small and primarily ministers to an under served
community, the support from our parish is less than .05% of a 1.9 million budget. As a result, we have had to formulate
our own plan for fundraising, seeking outside sources of funding via grants and appeals outside of our own community.
Goal:
As responsible stewards, Sacred Heart School will develop a financial plan with a balanced budget to manage its
resources and expenditures and ensure the school’s permanence and affordability.
Objectives:
1. Sacred Heart School will continue an aggressive enrollment plan and maintain tuition and fees at a level
that will provide for a quality Catholic education while keeping the costs at an affordable level.
2. Sacred Heart School will continue to provide a structured tuition assistance program.
3. Administration will continue to work with the School Board’s finance committee to develop contingency
plans to address financial problems and identify needs for operational and capital resources.
4. Sacred Heart School will continue to explore, identify, and implement alternate funding options, such as
grants and endowments, that will provide financial support for the school’s short and long term operations
and reserves. These may come from either the state or local governments or the private sector.
5. Sacred Heart School will foster an atmosphere of increased stewardship by promoting the responsibility of
Catholics to donate their time, talent, and treasure to Sacred Heart School.
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Strategic Planning Objectives
Annual Wildlife Photography field trip for 5th and 8th grade.
Sponsored by The Arthur R. Marshall Foundation.
Enrollment
Goal:
Sacred Heart School will develop and implement a comprehensive recruitment and
retention plan aimed at increasing and maintaining maximum enrollment levels.
Objectives:
1. Sacred Heart School hopes to attract new students from surrounding public schools, CCD classes, other
Catholic schools that have closed, and the local community, by marketing our school through targeted
messaging and advertising campaigns and word of mouth. These campaigns will promote our athletics,
Montessori Academy, Learning Lab, Fine Arts Initiatives, Odyssey of the Mind, and overall strong
academic programs supported by state of the art technology.
2. Sacred Heart School hopes to keep our current students and their families through communication and
programs that foster a sense of pride and loyalty in the Sacred Heart School community emphasizing the
exemplary Catholic education that they receive at our institution, as well as the diversified extracurricular
activities and elective classes which are available for all students.
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Strategic Planning Objectives
Sacred Heart School 2013
Sacred Heart School 2013
Curriculum And Programs
Technology
Goal:
Goal:
Sacred Heart School will continue to provide students with a well-rounded education focusing on the spiritual,
developmental, emotional, cognitive, and physical well being of each child.
Sacred Heart School will ensure that its students
are technologically prepared by the continual
implementation of top tier technology and
instruction, and by providing ongoing professional
development for administrators, faculty, and staff
so they may be proficient with high tech tools and
corresponding programs.
Objectives:
1. Sacred Heart School will pay particular attention to Standards 7 through 9 of the National Standards and
Benchmarks for Effective Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools (2012) and their corresponding
benchmarks which pertain to academic excellence.
2. Sacred Heart School will follow Bishop Gerald Barbarito’s principles for academic excellence in the
Diocese of Palm Beach which include the following:
a. Teaching all subjects within a faith context
b. Providing academic excellence within a safe environment
3. SHS will anticipate and meet needs and surpass contemporary national trends in curriculum,
challenging students to strive for excellence.
4. Sacred Heart School will continue to meet or surpass the strengths as indicated by our evaluation matrix:
a. Low teacher/student ratio
b. Learning Lab meets the academic needs
of struggling students
c. Montessori Academy fully prepares
Pre K and Kindergarten students for
elementary school
d. Excellent Band and Sports programs
5. Sacred Heart School will continue to provide
academic excellence through state of the art
technology which will propel students in the
world of knowledge acquisition.
6. Sacred Heart School hopes
to construct an open air
Pavilion to provide space for
the physical development of
each student, a key piece in
quality education.
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Strategic Planning Objectives
Objectives:
1. Sacred Heart School will continue its 1/1
mobile device program.
2. Sacred Heart School intends to adopt
software and iBooks/eBooks which
meet the highest standards of academic
excellence.
3. Sacred Heart School will continue to
provide teachers with the necessary training
to use the technology at our school (i.e.
iTeach, PD 360-online teacher assessment
and teacher training videos).
4. Sacred Heart School will continue to
update internet - to include installation of
MDM - Mesh Wi-Fi enhancement.
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