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• July, 1999 Cary Academy Board of Directors  
• Long Range Plan Steering Committee  
• Long Range Planning Participants

Introduction

Founded in 1996, Cary Academy, Cary, NC opened its doors in 1997 to 235 students in grades 6-10 from across the Triangle area. Located on 52 acres donated by SAS Institute Inc., the Academy consists of six stately buildings - an Upper School, Middle School, Fine Arts Building, Sports and Fitness Building, Student Center, and Administrative Building - built by Founders Jim and Ann Goodnight and John and Ginger Sall. Cary Academy has quickly established itself as a high-caliber, technologically-innovative college preparatory school.

In its second year the student population increased to 430 with the addition of grade 11. Now, as Cary Academy prepares for its first class of graduating students in the June of 2000, it will welcome 580 students and 100 faculty and staff members as it continues to build a tradition of excellence.

In February 1999, Board members and representatives of Cary Academy's major constituencies - parents, faculty, students, and staff - participated in a three-day long-range planning session - the first for the school. Facilitated by Susan C. Stone, a leading strategic planning consultant who has worked with many National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), the workshop involved a progression from expansive and wide-ranging issues discussed by the entire group to a refined and specific focus on more clearly articulated issues identified by smaller groups. The three-day workshop's major goal was to envision Cary Academy three to ten years in the future.

Issues in nine areas were identified: Program, Students, Faculty and Staff, Families, Alumni, Governance, Finance, Public Relations and Marketing, and Physical Plant. Based on the work of the committee, a Long Range Plan was drafted and distributed to the Cary Academy community for review. Throughout April and May, listening groups were scheduled for members of the Long Range Planning committee to meet with our major constituencies to hear feedback, along with suggestions on the Plan. The Plan was revised by the Long Range Planning Steering Committee on May 28 and presented to the Board of Directors on June 3. The Board of Directors unanimously approved Cary Academy's first Long Range Plan. The order of goals and strategies given in the Plan is not meant to imply any priority. Questions should be directed to the Head of School.

Mission: Cary Academy is a Learning Community Committed to Discovery, Innovation, Collaboration, and Excellence.

Learning Community - Cary Academy is a college preparatory school that fosters a commitment to continued learning, mutual respect and support, strong interpersonal relationships, and shared interests and goals among a diverse population.

Discovery - Cary Academy offers boundless opportunities to explore, uncover, and pursue interests while building on existing knowledge. This ignites creative thinking and sustains an ongoing exchange of ideas.

Innovation - Cary Academy provides a challenging, dynamic academic program that integrates the best of traditional education with new and emerging technologies. Creative teaching strategies empower students and teachers to reach the highest standards of educational excellence.

Collaboration - Cary Academy's team approach to learning emphasizes and values interactions among students, faculty, staff, and parents, while building educational partnerships with individuals, community groups, schools, foundations, and corporations.

Excellence - Cary Academy motivates students to identify and achieve their potential for academic accomplishment, co-curricular achievement, global awareness, and responsible citizenship. Cary Academy supports the pursuit of life long learning and the sharing of knowledge through teaching and mentoring.

PROGRAM

Policy Goal 1: Cary Academy will provide a collaborative community where students can strive to develop their intellectual, artistic, emotional, physical, and ethical potential to the fullest.

Rationale: A well-educated person must balance these five interdependent facets of character, and Cary Academy will strive to help each student achieve an appropriate balance. Students learn from each other as well as from teachers, and must learn how to value their own and each other's contributions. By collaborating, students test their own understanding, get new perspectives, solve problems, and discover their strengths.

Suggested Strategies:

• Collaborative Community
  •   Develop guidelines and appropriate expectations for student collaborative work
  • Explore curriculum, scheduling, and other appropriate areas for new opportunities to foster faculty collaboration
  • Encourage and support partnerships with schools and universities
• Intellectual, Artistic, and Physical Development
  •  Develop strategies to meet the individual needs of students in the classroom
  •    Increase elective offerings in junior/senior year
  •  Consider offering electives in grades 6-10
  •  Strengthen the advisory program to better guide students in their course selections
  •  Build an environment that recognizes and values excellence and academic achievement
  •  Foster excellence in and appreciation for the arts
  •  Explore expanded options for meeting the athletic needs of our students
• Ethical and Emotional Development
  •   Develop a comprehensive, integrated community service program for grades 6-12
  • Establish a community-wide approach to character development
  • Promote emotional growth through the advisory program
  •   Adopt and implement an Honor Code
  •   Establish a student judiciary board for the Upper School
  • Encourage student-to-student mentoring

Policy Goal 2: Cary Academy will prepare students for global citizenship.

Rationale: We have the potential to interact with everyone - from those who live around us in our local community to people in communities around the world. Our increasing interdependence on those around us has implications for our personal actions. Through awareness and understanding of other cultures as well as our own, we can make a positive contribution in an interdependent world.

Suggested Strategies:

• Examine how our curricula exposes students to world cultures and determine if a more coordinated, developed approach is needed
• Teach students strategies to deal with our ever changing world
• Develop a plan for having foreign exchange students and faculty at Cary Academy each year

Policy Goal 3: Cary Academy will develop strong interdisciplinary studies as part of its challenging academic program.

Rationale: Interdisciplinary learning allows students to approach issues as a whole, synthesizing information from different sources and academic disciplines. Students will need to be able to make connections between disparate subjects and understand that complex problems require innovative solutions.

Suggested Strategies:

• Develop strategies for assessing the grade level effectiveness and appropriateness of interdisciplinary learning

Policy Goal 4: Cary Academy will enhance student learning through the effective use of technology.

Rationale: The effective use of technology helps Cary Academy achieve its program goals. Technology lets teachers reinvent the classroom by drawing upon a multitude of resources in many forms. Teachers are able to empower students to make important decisions affecting what they learn and how they demonstrate their learning, thereby fostering discovery, exploration and independent learning. Furthermore, technology allows members of the Cary Academy community to interact and share information more efficiently to help meet students' needs.

Suggested Strategies:

•  Develop an on-going, systematic evaluation of the use of technology
• Develop a program for teaching students responsible and ethical use of technology
• Evaluate the technology training of faculty, staff, and students
• Model for other schools the successful integration of technology in the classroom

Policy Goal 5: Cary Academy will develop a program to help students identify and be accepted in colleges, universities or other post-Academy experiences appropriate to their interest and abilities.

Rationale: An essential part of preparing students for citizenship is assisting them in their transition to post-Cary Academy education and experiences. Cary Academy can be their counsel and support in assuring the best range of choices upon graduation.

Suggested Strategies:

•   Support a staff position for college placement
• Develop counseling expertise for appropriate post-Cary Academy learning

STUDENTS

Policy Goal 1: Cary Academy students will embody our mission and demonstrate motivation to learn.

Rationale: Cary Academy recognizes that for an academic community to thrive, the student body must share a unified mission and take an active role in its education.

Suggested Strategies:

•   Explore requirements for re-enrollment
• Develop opportunities for student input into programs
• Evaluate and examine the causes of individual students' difficulties with academic achievement and meeting behavioral expectations

Policy Goal 2: Cary Academy will recruit and retain diverse students who will benefit from our challenging college preparatory environment and contribute to our community.

Rationale: The Cary Academy student community will include many voices, talents, and interests, so that students learn to appreciate and take pride in each other's particular gifts. Because students learn from each other, Cary Academy will create dynamic classrooms of engaged students who share their experiences and histories.

Suggested Strategies:

• Maintain an innovative, challenging, college preparatory curriculum
• Increase the number of need based scholarships
• Develop and implement programs to ensure a racially-,socioeconomically-, and geographically- diverse student body that exhibits academic and extracurricular talents that complement our programs
•   Nurture progress and growth of all students by providing support services
•   Clarify student profile for admission guidance

FACULTY AND STAFF

Policy Goal 1: The faculty and staff of Cary Academy will commit to the intellectual, artistic, physical, emotional, and ethical growth of all students.

Rationale: Faculty and staff serve as guides, models, and mentors, influencing student thinking and behavior inside and outside the classroom.

Suggested Strategies:

• Train faculty to address students' different learning styles
• Strengthen faculty and staff as student mentors
• Ensure that faculty and staff will uphold Cary Academy's highest expectations for character and behavior
• Prepare faculty and staff to work effectively with a diverse population

Policy Goal 2: Cary Academy will establish clearly defined lines of responsibility and decision-making authority.

Rationale: For faculty and staff to work together effectively and to communicate efficiently, Cary Academy must provide consistency and predictability throughout the school's organization.

Suggested Strategies:

•   Create written job descriptions for all positions
•   Design an organizational chart
•   Define clear pathways and procedures for communication

Policy Goal 3: Cary Academy will attract, retain, and develop outstanding personnel who can best help us achieve our mission.

Rationale: An education characterized by high academic and ethical standards begins with an administration, faculty, and staff representing these qualities.

Suggested Strategies: 

• Develop and implement an innovative compensation package by 2002
•   Provide opportunities for professional development, including sabbaticals for faculty/staff
•   Establish evaluation programs based on clear goals and expectations by 2000
• Provide time and resources for faculty and staff to plan, reflect, and collaborate
•   Establish faculty growth programs based on clear goals and expectations by 2000

FAMILIES

Policy Goal: Cary Academy will promote an active partnership among families, faculty, and administration to facilitate understanding and support of the school's mission, to support each student's well-being, and to enhance school pride and community spirit.

Rationale: Students thrive and grow in a school where parents and educators value each other's contributions to student development and work together in students' best interests. Increased family involvement enriches the school community and strengthens relationships among students, families, and the school.

Suggested Strategies:

• Encourage more family involvement in school life
•  Define clear pathways and procedures for communication between parents and the school
• Develop and maintain a confidential database on parent and grandparent skills and expertise
• Improve and increase communication and understanding between families and school
•  Establish a clearly-defined process for issue resolution, leading to improved relations, increased family satisfaction, and student retention
• Develop a forum for feedback from parents regarding school programs and policy
• Continue a collaborative process between the administration, faculty, staff, and the Alliance
•   Develop an agreement between the school and each family to support school mission and policies

ALUMNI

Policy Goal: Cary Academy will foster Alumni who will be lifelong members of the Cary Academy community.

Rationale: While supporting the school's continual improvement, Alumni play a critical role in providing a connection to the school's history and traditions. Alumni manifest the enduring value of a Cary Academy education.

Suggested Strategies:

•   Designate a Coordinator of Alumni Relations
•   Charter an Alumni Association
•   Establish an Alumni web site with events and Alumni information
•   Establish and maintain a gallery of class pictures and accomplishments
•   Sponsor an Annual Homecoming
• Encourage Alumni to contribute their time, talents, and expertise to help the school fulfill its mission
  1. Provide a position on the Board of Directors for Alumni representation
  2.   Survey Alumni to determine the effectiveness of their college preparation at Cary Academy
  3. Track the performance of Alumni in college
  4. Encourage Alumni to serve as Career and College Mentors

GOVERNANCE

Policy Goal: Cary Academy will maintain an active, well-informed, diverse Board of Directors.

Rationale: The Board of Directors develops and communicates comprehensive school policies. It ensures that the people, facilities, and resources are available to accomplish the school's mission.

Suggested Strategies:

• Create mechanisms for communication between the Board and the community
•   Review Board size, recruitment, selection, and evaluation
• Communicate the role of the Board to the school community

FINANCE

Policy Goal: Cary Academy will operate in an innovative and fiscally responsible manner to ensure sustainability of its mission.

Rationale: Operating from a position of financial strength and stability enables the school to perform its mission and remain accessible to all qualified students. We recognize the need to establish and maintain reliable and innovative methods of support.

Suggested Strategies:

• Develop a long-range financial plan that establishes an endowment and balances the budget
• Nurture program-driven partnerships with public and private sector funding sources
• Develop non-traditional funding sources
• Educate the school community on the school's pertinent financial issues

MARKETING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS

Policy Goal: Cary Academy will uphold and promote its mission and accomplishments throughout and beyond the school community.

Rationale: For Cary Academy to attract and retain students, faculty and staff; receive family and community support; and collaborate with schools and universities, its mission and accomplishments must be understood by the internal and external community.

Suggested Strategies:

• Design a communications plan
•   Establish a Public Relations Coordinator position
•   Promote and publicize Cary Academy achievements in all programmatic areas
• Develop community outreach

PHYSICAL PLANT

Policy Goal 1: Cary Academy will have the necessary facilities to promote and enhance the program needs and mission of the school.

Rationale: The school's facilities should be maintained and used as effectively and efficiently as possible.

Suggested Strategies:

•  Develop a master plan for facilities
•  Develop a maintenance plan (preventative and deferred)
• Develop a safety master plan

Policy Goal 2: To create a nurturing environment, the facility must be inviting and promote community interaction.

Rationale: We believe that members of our school community need to feel comfortable on campus to better focus on their learning and feel connected to their school.

Suggested Strategies:

• Develop a physical master plan that provides for places of interaction and a pedestrian-friendly environment
• Create gathering places throughout campus
• Explore possibilities for making buildings even more inviting to enter
• Instill a sense of stewardship toward facilities in all members of community
•   Display more art around the school

July 1999 CARY ACADEMY BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Dr. Robert E. Bridges
Mr. Jeff J. Eakes
William C. Friday
Dr. James H. Goodnight
Mrs. Ann B. Goodnight
Mr. Robert A. Ingram
Mr. Hugh D. Little
Ms. Laurie L. Mesibov
Mr. John P. Sall
Mrs. Ginger B. Sall
Dr. LeRoy T. Walker
Mr. J. Bradley Wilson
Dr. Margaret A. Zahn

LONG RANGE PLANNING STEERING COMMITTEE

Donald Berger, Head of School
Lynne Fountain, Co-Chair, Director, Advancement
Ann Goodnight, Founder, Board of Director
Hugh Little, Co-Chair, Board of Director
Marcia Rogat, School Counselor

LONG RANGE PLANNING PARTICIPANTS