Strategic Plan 2023-28
HOW WELL SUITED IS WOODSTOCK TO SUSTAIN AND GROW ITS TRADITIONAL STRENGTHS WHILE ADAPTING TO THE FUTURE OF EDUCATION IN AN EVER-CHANGING WORLD?
HOW CAN WOODSTOCK’S VISION AND MISSION BECOME MORE DEEPLY ROOTED ACROSS ALL STAKEHOLDERS WITH CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT AND AN EYE TO THE FUTURE?
IN 2020, A BOARD-COMMISSIONED STRATEGIC PLAN GUIDING GROUP COMPRISED OF BOARD AND GENERAL BODY (GB) MEMBERS, ALUMNI, AND STAFF CONDUCTED A RIGOROUS PROCESS TO BOTH ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS AND PROVIDE A GUIDING STRUCTURE FOR ALL NECESSARY RELATED WORK.
First, the Strategic Plan Guiding Group (SPGG) wrote and administered a comprehensive survey seeking input from Woodstock stakeholders across the globe that generated hundreds of responses. Core leadership from the Guiding Group then established four working groups to research key areas identified in the survey:
- Teaching & Learning
- Safety & Well-being
- The Woodstock Experience
- Sustainability & Development
The four working groups – which drew in additional team members from associated alumni, faculty, administrators, Board/GB Members, parents, and students – continued engaging and gathering feedback through small group discussions, individual interviews, and follow-up surveys.
This intensive and thorough process clearly delineated eight Woodstock “distinctives” to undergird the strategic plan. These Woodstock School Distinctives capture the school’s long–held values and traditions along with its progressive vision for relevance and transformed young adults ready for life in a global community.
The SPGG developed fourteen Strategic Plan Objectives aligning with the Woodstock School Distinctives. These objectives then informed a fully operationalized 2023-28 strategic plan empowering school personnel to engage with the objectives based on their area-specific expertise. The strategic plan’s goals, timelines, and benchmarks are accompanied by a framework for regular evaluations and progress reports.
As a Council of International Schools (CIS) accredited institution, Woodstock is utilizing CIS’s Global Citizenship and Intercultural Learning accreditation pathway to help drive implementation of the strategic plan. This pathway – drawing on themes including environmental sustainability, diversity, digital learning, and service – ties into the Distinctives and Objectives and ensures that Woodstock retains its distinctive identity as an international school.
The Woodstock Board of Directors reviewed the resulting strategic plan in September 2022 and subsequently approved it in December 2022.
Woodstock School Distinctives
We anticipate implementation of this plan in conjunction with the five-year accreditation cycle from our partners – the Council of International Schools, Middle States Association, and the International Baccalaureate Organization. We look forward to the tremendous comprehensive growth contained in this plan as we look toward Woodstock School’s 175th anniversary in 2029.