Strategic Plan

The Meadows School campus with green trees and paved sidewalks in Las Vegas, Nevada

A Look Forward

The Meadows School Board of Trustees, in order to safeguard the School, its financial sustainability, its enrollment, and its physical plant, adopts the following Strategic Plan to be considered for revision annually and updated as necessary. 

 

PROGRAMS

Excellence in a Foundational & Relevant Educational Program

In order to ensure that we deliver on the historic academic mission of our school, interpreted in the light of the current and future needs of our students, we will:
  • Continue to focus on academic excellence as the hallmark of a Meadows education.
  • Continue to work for a balance between the school’s traditional educational approaches and the development of innovative skill sets in our students, including: critical thinking, problem-solving, effective communication skills, and leadership development through a program of experiential, investigatory, and interdisciplinary approaches to learning.
  • Work to better articulate the skillsets, mindsets, and experiences with which Meadows students can expect to graduate.
  • Continue to support the growth of a broad range of top-flight extracurricular programs.
  • Continue to support the development and implementation of social, emotional, and character education initiatives.
 

Best Practices in Governance

In order to ensure that the school conforms to best practices in governance, we will:
  • Continue to ensure that we are in compliance with our own requirements regarding conflicts of interest, confidentiality statements, and good governance practices based on the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) Principles of Good Practice.
  • Review board composition and operations with particular attention to:
    • Balancing terms.
    • Recruiting skill sets.
    • Reflecting and paying attention to the need for the Board to reflect the diversity of The Meadows community.
    • Ensuring a balance of new perspectives and institutional memory.
    • Reviewing and streamlining as appropriate the Board committee structure.
    • Reviewing the size and composition of the Board in view of the work to be done.
    • Considering, as appropriate, potential trustees outside of the current and past parent community.
  • Review, streamline, and update as appropriate Board by-laws.
  • Continue to assure that our new trustee orientation includes information on the roles and responsibilities of trustees, the board, and the administration, along with the challenges of being parent-trustees.
  • Develop and implement a plan to ensure the ongoing growth and professional development of Board members.
  • Continue to evaluate and address risks facing the school and its livelihood.
  • Review, address, and implement as appropriate the recommendations of the 2021 Northwest Association of Independent Schools (NWAIS) visiting team.
 

SPACES

Mission-Driven Facilities

In order to ensure that The Meadows School’s physical facilities fully support our students, our faculty, the community, and the program of the school, we will:
  • Build out a Strategic Campus Master Plan to prioritize and focus our energies on the changing needs of our students and faculty while communicating those needs to the larger community in order to generate excitement and energy around fundraising goals.
  • Be attentive to the needs of students and educators in considering campus enhancements, bearing in mind the health and safety lessons learned during the 2020-21 school year.
  • Bear in mind the need for sustainable growth by modeling construction, maintenance, and operational needs in terms of both finances and environmental impact.
  • Where appropriate, conduct feasibility studies to determine the various means of funding the facilities enhancements we seek.

PEOPLE

Faculty Excellence

In order to assure that our students continue to be led and inspired by the best faculty, we will:
  • Continue the founding aspirational goal of having a master teacher in each and every classroom on campus, as defined in the school’s Faculty Handbook.
  • Continue to fund, and encourage faculty to take advantage of, the best professional development opportunities available.
  • Continue to benchmark salaries both locally and nationally in order to compete for the world’s finest faculty members.
 

Preparation for a Diverse World

In order to give our students the best exposure to the diversity of thought, perspective, and backgrounds that they will encounter for the rest of their lives; in order to deliver on our mission of producing citizens well-suited to find success in an increasingly globalized world, we will:
  • Continue to articulate the imperative of diversity in our school for the academic, social, emotional, and character development of our students.
  • Work to implement The Meadows School’s 2021 D.E.I. Plan in accordance with its principles.
  • Examine the possibility of additional world language instruction and cultural experiences as part of our academic program.
 

STORIES

Telling The Meadows School Story

In order to better differentiate The Meadows School in the Southern Nevada marketplace; replace antiquated and inaccurate perceptions with current and aspirational ones; guide our program with a clear understanding of who we are and our commitment to those whom we serve; and foster continued long-term sustainability in our school population and financial security, we will:
  • Continue to demonstrate our mission to prepare students for success in the world they will inherit and lead by affirming our commitment to academic excellence explicitly paired with our commitment to support social, emotional, character, and physical development.
  • Further identify and articulate the characteristics of The Meadows School’s students and graduates that uniquely prepare them for success in school, work, and life.
  • Better direct our admissions efforts to make sure that families who value what we do have an accurate understanding of the access to and benefits of a Meadows School education.
  • Build admissions infrastructure and processes to support a growing applicant pool of mission-appropriate students of diverse backgrounds.
  • Empower our current parents and alumni with the language and tools to explain “the Meadows difference” to their friends and the external community.
  • Identify and exploit opportunities to raise the profile of The Meadows School locally, regionally, and nationally so that The Meadows might take its rightful place as a recognized leader in the world of independent school education.