Stone Ridge Strategic Plan

Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart delivers the finest Catholic independent education in an era of changing pedagogies and emerging trends.

• Ensure accountability for the delivery of curricular and co-curricular programs.
• Ensure curricular and co-curricular communication institutionally.
• Optimize learning by assessing and implementing emerging trends, pedagogies and curricula (experiential learning, field trips, project approach, and field trips).
• Evaluate and utilize emerging markets and technologies to optimize student learning.
• Eliminate practices that do not ensure mission-based, optimal student learning.

Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart’s diverse and inclusive community is a model of the Goals and Criteria of Sacred Heart education locally and nationally.

• Articulate the scope and sequence of DEI in PS-12.
• Ensure Catholic and Sacred Heart identity.
• Optimize Social Action throughout all divisions.
• Align the principles and practices within the Catholic and Sacred Heart identity of the School.
• Establish targeted outreach programs and services for all stakeholder groups.
• Promote a culture of health and wellness in the Stone Ridge community.
• Increase programs to develop cross-cultural competencies. Increase opportunities for global education.
• Evaluate and improve the inclusiveness, accessibility, and mission-related value of calendared events.

Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart’s exemplary spaces inspire, engage, and promote community members’ faith, imaginations, talents, and confidence.

• Continue to assess and prioritize campus needs according to the approved Master Plan.
• Design, create and optimize use of all student life and learning spaces, in particular extending experiential and place-based learning.
• Analyze/Optimize the School's rental services and opportunities.
• Review and take action according to the approved Master Plan.

Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart’s financial resources fulfill its aspirations.

• Optimize financial aid programming to extend its impact. Ensure a sustainable revenue model.
• Ensure a sustainable cost model.
• Optimize the organizational structure for long-term sustainability.
• Increase access to a broader range of socio-economically diverse families.
• Build brand awareness, preference and loyalty.
• Eliminate events, activities and programs with poor financial and mission-based ROI.

Strategic Pillar I: Curriculum

• Showcase educational technology and innovation at Stone Ridge.
• Implement the Upper School computer science program of courses.
• Research and select a new Math Curriculum, and conduct professional development prior to year of implementation.
• Implement a new Math curriculum, Bridges, and conduct study groups with teachers in grades PK–4.

Strategic Pillar II: Community

• In collaboration with the Head of School office, Communications and Marketing team, and Centennial Committee of volunteers, organize and execute a year-long Centennial Celebration to mark the School’s 100th anniversary.
• Continue to work with the Health and Wellness committee with a focus on promoting the well-being of all our faculty and staff through diverse programming.
• Develop and implement an all-school Espacio time to allow for an extended period of personal quiet and contemplation.
• Articulate and communicate the connection between DEIJB work and the identity of a Catholic Sacred Heart school.

Strategic Pillar III: Campus

• Improve overall campus security to provide a safer learning environment.
• To enhance the Lower School Library - Complete remodel of LS library to make it a media center for our lower school girls and faculty. Use space as a multi-purpose area for LS events such as admissions, study groups, meetings, gatherings for parents, extended day, etc.
• Design and create a sacred contemplative space closer to the heart of campus that is open to all members of the community, targeted to our Upper School students, and is interfaith in design and usage. The Eliza Nesbit Contemplative Center opened through a generous donation from the SRPA.
• Promote student reading and research endeavors through the remodeling and design of a new Middle School library space.
• Build student capacity for innovation and design thinking through the design creation of a Middle School Maker Space.

Strategic Pillar IV: Capital

• Extend geographic reach beyond the Bethesda area to increase socio-economic diverse families.
• Build a team that has the technical and interpersonal competencies to support the institution as it grows and our students as they learn and develop.

Strategic Pillar I: Curriculum

• Design and continue to optimize the Middle School academic schedule to align with best practices for adolescent student learning and wellness, and–in 2022-23– to bolster pandemic-related learning loss recovery.
• Develop and implement Project Approach study groups with teachers in grades Pre-K-4. Teachers read articles, participated in conversations, and worked to implement positive changes into their program.
• Implement Project Approach in Grades PK-4 through our new Social Studies curriculum, Houghton Mifflin Social Studies.
• Increase field trips/field experiences/experiential learning by using the resources of the Washington metro area to extend the curriculum beyond the classroom.

Strategic Pillar II: Community

• Create an atmosphere of belonging that encourages students to actively engage in brave conversations, foster deeper relationships with their peers, and serve as role models that reflect the Goals and Criteria of a Sacred Heart education.
• Develop and implement required mission-aligned DEI training for all employees on a consistent basis throughout the academic school year.
• Bolster initiatives to enhance student wellness in the Middle School through creating a dedicated slot for Health in Wellness classes in the students’ schedule, and by designing and implementing a CASEL-aligned Advisory Program.

Strategic Pillar III: Campus

• Audit, edit, and update the religious iconography in the building to be more inclusive.
• Open the Manfuso Innovation Lab space for Upper School making/construction/high-tech projects that effectively demonstrate our maker-centered pedagogy to stakeholders.

Strategic Pillar IV: Capital

• Develop and implement a robust long-term staffing and compensation plan.
• Create and Implement a Retention Committee.