Strategic Plan

Adopted by the Board of Trustees on September 6, 2024

With a focus on nurturing creativity, critical thinking, and social responsibility, Emerson School encourages students to realize their full potential in a personalized, caring, and supportive environment.

This strategic plan reflects Emerson’s commitment to innovative, student-centered education, inclusivity, and leadership development. By strengthening academic programs, supporting faculty and staff excellence, fostering diversity, advancing infrastructure, and stewarding the sustainability of our long-term resources for future generations of Emerson students, this three-to-five year plan highlights where Emerson is as a school after its first 50 years and where it wants to be moving into its next 50 years.

Our Mission

The mission of Emerson School is to provide a dynamic and nurturing learning environment that fosters empathy, communication, creativity, leadership, and above all, a lifelong love of learning. We fulfill our mission with small class sizes, by providing individualized attention across a broad and rich, student-centered curriculum and through a committed, talented team of educators who help children achieve sustained academic success. At Emerson, students develop the confidence and skills to become their best selves.

The Strategic Planning Process

Dear Emerson Community,

One of the most important obligations of the Board of Trustees is to develop and adopt a strategic plan. This document presents a shared vision of the future for Emerson School, including a broad framework of how to make that vision a reality.

This three-to-five-year plan highlights where Emerson is as a school after its first 50 years and where it seeks to be in its next 50 years. It is the result of a year-long deliberative process that engaged our entire community and I am grateful to the support of everyone who participated.

Our deliberate and systematic work encompassed five phases as the Board sought to ensure a community voice in the process and a shared ownership of the priorities that came from the work.

In September 2023, the Board of Trustees began the planning phase of our work, a process that centered on creating a Task Force and hiring a consultant to guide our research and planning. Once our leadership team was in place we spent the next four months gathering data from the Emerson community. This included surveying all constituency groups and holding listening sessions to gather insight and priorities from the community. It was this data that shaped the work of the next four months, highlighted by a Board Retreat led by our consultants to distill the data into our five-pillar plan. Finally, after a summer of writing, revising, and editing, the Board of Trustees unanimously voted to adopt the Strategic Plan on September 26, 2024.

The Strategic Plan is not intended to detail a prescriptive list of actions to be taken, but rather to be an aspirational, living document of strategic priorities that can continue to evolve as Emerson School continues to evolve. Work is already underway to identify and implement measurable action items under the five strategic priorities. This work will continue for the next three to five years. During this time, the Head of School and the Board of Trustees will share the progress that we, as a community, have made to achieve these goals.

The Strategic Plan could not have been developed without the hard work of the Strategic Task Force, David Feldman, his administrative team, and most importantly, all of you in the Emerson community. We are immensely grateful for the thoughtful input you shared. Our strategic priorities will guide the work of Emerson School for the next three to five years and I am excited to see where it takes us.

Sincerely,

Patty Petrowski
Strategic Planning Task Force Chair and
Emerson Board of Trustees Vice Chair

Strategic Planning Taskforce

Smriti Mohan (Trustee)
Cindy Woo (Trustee)
Tamara Faber (Parent Representative)
Katie Tilton (Faculty)

Matt Papadopoulos (Trustee)
Maya Curtis (Parent Representative)
Beth Nazario (Faculty)
Patty Petrowski (Trustee and Task Force Chair)

STRATEGIC PLANNING TIMELINE

Phase I: Planning to Plan
September–December 2023

The Board created a strategic planning task force. The task force was comprised of four members of the Board, two faculty members, and two parent representatives.
The Board engaged Triangle Associates, a consulting firm specializing in helping independent schools develop strategic plans.

Phase II: Gathering Information
January–April 2024

Triangle Associates gathered and reviewed our mission statement, prior survey information, accreditation report, and financial statements and budget.
The Strategic Task Force achieved a nearly 59% response rate in response to a survey of roughly 525 parents, faculty, staff, and alumni. More information regarding the survey can be found here.
Triangle Associates held listening sessions with over 70 faculty, 65 parents, and 18 students.
The Strategic Task Force and David Feldman and his administrative team each met to discuss and distill overarching themes from the survey results and listening sessions. Five central pillars emerged: Academic Programs; Faculty and Staff; Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging; Space and Facilities; and Finances.

Phase III: Setting Strategic Goals
May–August 2024

The Board of Trustees, the Strategic Task Force, and David Feldman and members of his administrative team, participated in a half-day session with Triangle Associates to discuss what success under each of the five strategic pillars would look like.
Triangle Associates worked on the initial draft of a strategic plan, which was further refined by the Strategic Task Force, the Board, and David Feldman.

Phase IV: Approving and Sharing the Plan
September 2024

On September 6, 2024, the Board of Trustees voted to adopted the strategic plan.
On September 23, 2024, the Board of Trustees shared the plan with the community.

Phase V: Formulating the Future
2024-2029

Work is already underway to identify and implement measurable action items under the five strategic priorities. This work will continue for the next three to five years.
During this time, the Head of School and the Board of Trustees will share the progress that we, as a community, have made to achieve these goals.

#1 Academic Program

Be a leader of best practices among academically rigorous, progressive, Young Fives through 8th Grade independent schools.

DOCUMENT and evaluate the program of study as a continuous Young Fives to 8th Grade experience with a well-articulated overview of each content area at each grade level to highlight the depth of study.

GROW Emerson’s commitment to experiential, hands-on learning as a factor that leads to a more personalized education and differentiates Emerson from other schools.

CONSTRUCT a portrait of an Emerson alumnus to highlight the richness of the academic experience, the focus on social and emotional maturity, and how students live the mission and values of the school during and after graduation.

#2 FACULTY & Staff

Recruit, develop, reward, and retain an exemplary faculty, staff and administration who fully embrace the mission and values of Emerson.

REIMAGINE the compensation and benefits scheme to meet the needs of today’s faculty, staff, and administrators.

DEVELOP best-in-class professional development programs that incentivize collegial cooperation and collaboration; and incorporate peer observation and feedback.

CREATE vehicles to showcase the excellence of Emerson faculty and staff, both within the school and to the outside community.

#3 Diversity, Equity,

Inclusion & Belonging

Enhance programs, processes, and policies to increase diversity and build an equitable, inclusive community at Emerson.

INVEST in a revamped approach to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging leadership.

INTEGRATE the principles of equity and inclusion into school operations and policies.

ACTIVELY SEEK greater diversity in student and faculty recruitment.

#4 Space and Facilities

Align current and future facilities to deliver on all of Emerson’s programs and provide it with room for future growth.

BUILD AND REFRESH the indoor and outdoor spaces to support optimal enrollment.

UPDATE AND EXPAND ancillary spaces that support students and faculty (e.g., cafeteria/kitchen, faculty lounge, gathering spaces, and commons areas).

CREATE SPACES that visually showcase programs that highlight school strengths and are unique to Emerson (e.g., Robotics, QUEST, etc.).

DEVELOP A STRATEGY for space at Emerson School that ensures its long-term success.

#5 FINANCES

Steward the long-term sustainability of Emerson through intentional financial planning, thoughtful operational systems, and a community-wide focus on philanthropic education and growth.

DEVELOP systems and structures that facilitate greater efficiency in our financial operations and prepares the School for long-term growth and stability.

ADVANCE a stronger culture of philanthropy and cultivate donor participation with a focus on developing increased opportunities to support Emerson for a sustainable future.

EXPLORE new opportunities for innovative programs and services that will broaden and diversify the School’s revenue stream.