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Dec. 2009/Jan. 2010
News from the Head of School
The school year is flying by as usual! Thank you to all of our community friends who came and enjoyed our Harvest Feast. We have some really great photos taken by Alisha Clark so if you missed it, you will be able to get a sense of our community’s warmth and connectedness.
The annual report and annual appeal were mailed out over the last few weeks. If you did not receive a copy of the report, you can view it on our website at http://www.taylorschool.org/giving/giving.html I would love to hear any feedback you have regarding the report and the annual appeal.
Our annual fund is used for ongoing operations of the school. It helps to keep tuition low and support the incredible variety of enrichment that we give the children every day. The theme of “innovate and create” symbolizes the spirit of the students and faculty of the Taylor School. This theme will be carried throughout the year, including our annual celebration dinner on May 15th at the Troy Country Club. These are just two of the ways that we reach out to families and friends of the Taylor School to sustain the level of quality education we provide for our students. I am grateful to all of you that give in so many ways to the school.
A best practice of healthy organizations is to engage in periodic strategic planning to ensure that we set goals for the vision of the school in the future. It is vital to take this long view occasionally so that our mission and philosophy stay on track. It is also important to help us to be prepared when opportunities or challenges come our way.
The board of trustees has just approved a strategic plan for the Taylor School. The work took a bit less than a year to complete. Now the work of breaking down goals into smaller steps will begin. This work will fall on the shoulders of the committees. If you are interested in helping out on a committee, please let me know. We can work together to find a match between your skills, interests, and time constraints and the right committee for you.
One piece of the strategic plan is the decision to move forward with the NYSAIS (New York State Association of Independent Schools) accreditation process. Over the next year the trustees, administration and the school community will be engaged in a self study of the operations of the school. This in return is reviewed by a team of visitors from highly regarded schools in New York that audits our self study to see if we do what we say we do. Successfully completing the accreditation allows us to join NAIS (National Association of Independent Schools) which will give us access to best practices of schools across the country. More importantly, it serves as an evaluation tool for the school and validates that we have reached a higher standard of peer review. While this will be an arduous process, I believe it will be extremely valuable to the school’s long term sustainability and maturity.
In order to switch gears and lighten up, I wish you valuable time with your families over winter break. Be healthy, happy and warm!
Wendy
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