It takes a village to raise a child and BCACS is one great village. Now our children need that village to create a vision.
“We all want to set our kids up for success and to do that we have to constantly re-evaluate what we are doing and how we can improve,” said Lisa Thomas, BCACS parent and lead member of the school’s Strategic Planning Committee.
“We are very fortunate to have Lisa’s expertise as a project manager guiding this process,” Enrollment director Cathy Erskine said.
The committee formed this summer to overhaul and update the schools’ strategic plan. This five-year vision will guide our leadership, aid in our accreditation process, and provide security for our children.
Members of the core committee have spent months researching and compiling data, which they used to identify ten focus areas: Academics, Catholic Identity, Diversity, Facilities, Finance, Leadership, Recruitment/Retention, Staffing, Student Life, and Technology. Now they need BCACS stakeholders to turn that research into goals and eventually an action plan.
Who is a BCACS stakeholder?
Well, everyone – parents, staff, administrators, parishioners, donors, YOU.
“Frankly, if you touch BCACS, we would love your opinion,” Mrs. Thomas said.
High on that list are underrepresented groups, like our Burmese, Hispanic and African-American families. The committee also hopes to attract new voices, parents who don’t usually volunteer or are new to the school.
“We are really hoping to branch out and get some fresh perspectives,” Mrs. Thomas said.
The commitment is minimal, just two Saturdays – February 17th and March 10th – from 9 am to 1 pm. The location is Pasches Lakeside Restaurant at 315 West Columbia Avenue, and lunch will be provided.
The purpose of the February 17th workshop is to set goals.
After a brief introduction, stakeholders will break into their designated focus areas, where they will receive the committee’s research.
“We want to make sure people are making recommendations not just based on their personal subjective experience but also based on objective data,” Mrs. Thomas said.
Everyone will be given 30 minutes to read and reflect, before starting the collaboration process. As a group, they will identify critical items for their area and turn them into long-term goals. When the workshop ends, the committee will present these goals to school leadership for feedback.
“We can come up with some great dreams, but it also has to be something we can work with,” Mrs. Thomas said. “We don’t want to get so far down a path that we can’t adjust.”
At the March 10th workshop, these focus groups will get back to work, turning those goals into concrete action plans.
How important is it for stakeholders to make both meetings?
“Pretty darn important,” Mrs. Thomas said. “If you don’t understand the ‘why’ you might not be working toward the right ‘what’.”
Once the school leadership signs off, our strategic plan will be in place – one vision created by our BCACS village.
“Let’s take ownership of this,” Mrs. Thomas said. “Let’s recognize how important we all are, what a critical role we all play, whether we are a parent or a teacher or a parishioner. This is a great opportunity for our BCACS community to guide our students to a successful future.”
Ready to help?
Contact Cathy Erskine at cerskine@bcacs.org or 269-963-1131 with your preferred focus areas.