Dear Friends of Storm King,

Season’s greetings to you all! The campus is oddly quiet today; the students having just departed for their winter vacation. And as I write this letter from my office overlooking the now-empty campus, I am again struck by the suddenness with which this School—any school—“deflates” when the kids are gone. It’s a bit like the brief pause after a deep exhalation. One hears one’s own heartbeat for the first time in what seems like ages. Quiet afternoons like these are a luxury, of course, and they never last very long. Good. It’s good to take a breath—to have a moment to recall and to process. But it’s also good that in two short weeks our community will be together again. All over the campus I’ll once again hear the kids’ banter and laughter, see the bustle and the horseplay and be in the company of kids being kids. It’s good. It’s energizing. It’s what we do.

These few hours of quiet have afforded me the opportunity to reflect upon all that we have accomplished these past months. In particular, following up on the strategic planning retreat of which I wrote in my last newsletter, much work has been done to finalize our new Strategic Plan. In this edition of “From the Head’s Desk" I will outline the new Plan and explain some of the thinking that went into its creation.

Some Background:

As the name implies, strategic planning is a process that looks at the institution from a long-range, macro perspective. In a typical process, the participants—stakeholders that include trustees, alumni, faculty, parents, students, and administrators:

• reaffirm and/or revise the school’s mission statement and core beliefs
• take a long hard look at the institution in all of its aspects, acknowledging the school’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats
• look ahead to create a Vision Statement of what the school will be at the conclusion of the plan’s implementation, usually five years out
• draft major strategic goals in several priority areas
• draft tactical initiatives needed to accomplish each strategic goal
• identify the costs and the key stakeholders who will be responsible to implement each initiative
• establish an ongoing review process to ensure progress against goals within the established plan timeline

Once drafted, the strategic plan and its attendant funding initiatives are approved by the Board of Trustees and the plan is launched. Monitored by the school’s administration and the strategic planning committee of the board of trustees, the plan remains a living document, driving decision making and being evaluated constantly against benchmarked progress indicators. It’s rare for a good strategic plan to find its way to completion without some revision; successful plans are robust yet adaptable. After all, who can predict five years ahead with absolute certainty? But a long-range focus is essential to deliver any plan to completion. One needs to know where one is going to chart the best course.

Mission and Core Beliefs:

As the SKS planning weekend began, participants discussed the longstanding mission statement as well as beliefs and values that underpin that statement. Much of the conversation affirmed the statements, but the mission statement was revised slightly to better reflect current thinking.

The statement of core beliefs was similarly discussed and reaffirmed.

Over the course of the weekend, much praise was heard for the School’s various educational programs, among them the Mountain Center, The Learning Center, the International Program, the Advanced Placement Program, the Theatre Program, the Creative Arts Center, the Visual Arts Department, the ESL Program, the Behavioral Intervention Program, and the Student Leadership Program. For a school of its size, SKS has developed an inordinately large number of discrete programs over the years to serve the varying and evolving needs of the students.

Acknowledging the incongruity between such a complex organizational structure and Storm King’s small size, many questions and concerns surfaced about inefficiencies and the School’s lack of a readily apparent central organizing principle. What ties all of these programs together? Might it be Storm King’s highly individualized approach, which provides a semi-custom educational experience for every student? This is indeed the glue that binds together so many apparently disparate components and is the core of the SKS identity.

Much consideration was given to the question of the School’s image in the marketplace—its “brand.” And, as conversation continued about this topic, a strong consensus emerged around the following “value proposition,” which has subsequently been adopted by the Board of Trustees:

This statement captures the essence of what makes Storm King unique, special, and consistent with its heritage. It focuses upon that which is held in common school-wide, rather than emphasizing individual programs within the School, some of which have been misunderstood as inconsistent with the School’s mission. The value proposition statement reflects the School’s historic commitment to help kids from a wide variety of backgrounds and ability levels to achieve academic success within a safe, supportive, and values-oriented community. Many alumni from different generations and eras have told me that this was the very nature of their experience at SKS. Our school remains focused today on the success of individual students, encouraging them to dream big, helping them to translate those dreams into goals, and guiding them along the path to achievement. The faces may have changed over the years, but the center of our school remains unchanged.

A Vision for the Future:

In 2017, The Storm King School will celebrate its 150^th birthday—its sesquicentennial. Looking ahead to that important celebration, the School’s leadership has united around an inspiring and challenging vision of what SKS will become during the intervening years.

This Vision Statement speaks of a school working hard to realize its ultimate potential. It is itself a very real analogue for the SKS educational process that guides students to become their “best selves.”

Strategic Goals and Tactical Initiatives:

To achieve this remarkable Vision, the following overarching strategic goals have been drafted, as well as the specific tactical initiatives that address priority needs in several areas.

Facilities

Strategic goal:     Enhance and develop campus buildings and grounds so that they meet the current and emerging needs of the School and also mirror the beauty of our surrounding landscape in the Hudson Highlands.

1. Engage appropriate firms or individuals to complete a Master Plan for the campus and resolve key infrastructure problems.
2. Complete the first major phase of a campus plan by building a new Academic Center.
3. Prepare for the next two building phases: a dormitory and a student center.
4. Improve the general appearance of campus.
5. Look for opportunities to expand faculty housing.

Business and operations

Strategic goal:     Improve business and operations to generate a sustainable and secure future for the School.

1. Create a new business model based on industry research and current best practices.
2. Improve long term revenue and available resources.
3. Develop policies, modernize, and standardize record retention in all phases of operations: academic, business, and personnel.
4. Establish a process of regular evaluation and review of all school policies.

Governance

Strategic goal:     Develop a self-sustaining, strategic, and forward-looking Board of Trustees.

1. Adhere to NAIS Principles of Best Practice
2. Generate and implement a plan to recruit and train new board members.
3. Generate and implement a succession plan to ensure future leadership of the Board.

Program

Strategic goal:     Define and improve The Storm King School’s program so all aspects are marked by a clear focus on mission, unity of purpose, and a student-centered pursuit of excellence.

1. Fully implement the iPad program and upgrades in technology as appropriate and evaluate effectiveness of technology in the School.
2. Survey all key constituents: parents, students, faculty, alumni, and community members regarding value proposition, satisfaction, effectiveness and the appropriateness of curriculum vis-à-vis brand and mission, and other appropriate questions, as a means to improve our delivery of mission and the perception of all stakeholders of the School.
3. Prepare for transition to accreditation with NYSAIS/MSA.
   1. Complete self-study and visitation process.
   2. Fully review and evaluate the effectiveness of the curriculum.
   3. Follow appropriate recommendations of the self-study and visiting team report.
4. Fully develop the outdoor program.
5. Continue to recruit and retain a high caliber and diverse faculty.
6. Study and prudently develop programs in the summer and other times of the year that grow revenue and complement our school year program.

Branding and Marketing

Strategic goal:     Create and disseminate a focused brand and identity.

1. Develop a comprehensive communications plan.
2. Establish a clear and concise statement that clarifies the unified purpose of our program in a common language; disseminate this so all constituents know it and repeat it.
3. Link all communication about The Storm King School to a common language, common symbols, and other iconic representation so as to make The Storm King School readily recognizable and with positive connotations.

Enrollment

Strategic goal:     Grow and stabilize enrollment with mission appropriate domestic and international students, and maximize the number of students in our population for whom Storm King is the first choice.

1. Grow to one hundred and fifty students by our 150th year.
2. Establish waiting lists in all grades.

Alumni and Development

Strategic goal:     To provide adequate ongoing support for the School, its mission, and its programs, establish new links and revitalize existing links to alumni and other constituent groups.

1. Grow and stabilize annual giving to provide 5% of annual operating revenues.
2. Complete the current capital campaign and prepare for the next.
3. Increase the number of opportunities for engaging alumni.
4. Connect to community members and develop relationships with other potential supporters.

Summary:

The 2012 Strategic Plan, outlined above, was adopted by the Storm King Board of Trustees at its November meeting. The product of a large core group of SKS stakeholders, led by the Board’s own Strategic Planning Committee, this Plan represents the group’s best thinking, hundreds of hours of research and discussion, and a considerable amount of follow-up work by Committee members. It boldly looks ahead to five years of ambitious, coordinated efforts, with a clear vision of the end result—a Storm King of which we can all be proud.

Much work has already been done to bring this Strategic Plan to life, and going forward I am confident in our collective success. To that end, I invite every member of the extended Storm King community to consider the ramifications of this ambitious plan and to imagine how you might become personally involved in the good work ahead. Our success will come in direct proportion to our ability to attract new investment in our vision. I encourage your intellectual and philanthropic investment in this vision for an enduringly great school… your school, our school.

With warmest regards for the holidays,

Paul Domingue

Head of School

pdomingue@sks.org