In fall 2015, we convened 55 individuals, representing broad sections of our community, to participate in the process of crafting The Children’s School’s future by identifying our strategic priorities to form the basis of our strategic plan.
The process took almost one year and the board approved the plan recommended by the Vision Team – the group of 55 – in May 2016 at their last meeting of the year. The plan charges the administration and faculty to unapologetically claim TCS’s leadership in Midtown and the city of Atlanta in six distinct and complementary areas:
- Identity and Branding
- Philosophy of Learning
- Beginning and End Points
- Our Role in the Community
- Diversity and Inclusion
- Portrait of a TCS Graduate
We began the implementation in fall 2016 and in the one year since there is much to be proud of for our community. We have thoughtfully and purposefully moved each priority forward, bringing greater alignment across our curriculum, grades, professional development, and student learning. We have also coalesced around a strong identity and brand that firmly roots The Children’s School as the Midtown school for age 3 through grade 8. We launched an elementary school athletics league last year, the first of its kind in Atlanta, and joined the middle school athletics league this year. Our mascot, the Wolf Pack, was unveiled in August 2016 and has since inspired regular displays of school spirit on campus, in classrooms, on our walls, and on the field. Our school is one of the most diverse in Atlanta, however, we are not stopping there. We added a new position this year – Director of Student Life and Inclusion – and expanded last year’s first-grade pilot in anti-bias to cover grades K-2 now. Additionally, we launched our first-ever seventh-grade class this year and are already actively planning for an eighth grade capstone year next fall.
Running parallel to the advancement of our strategic vision, we have also been in the middle of a capital campaign, Fulfilling Our Dream: Campaign for The Children’s School, to give our students more real estate – classrooms and playgrounds – to learn inside and outside. Construction will begin in early November and finish in late July 2018, in time for the start of the 2018-19 school year.
This first edition of Scout’s Report for the 2017-18 school year focuses on sharing just a few of the many updates to our strategic priorities, curricular and capital, that I’ve mentioned above. We’ve achieved so much in just one year, but we still have a lot to do and even more to share with you in the months ahead! And, I couldn’t be more excited.
Go, TCS Wolf Pack!
For the children,
Nishant
