Zahav Strategic Plan: 2007 to 2011

1. Zahav Strategic Plan: 2007 to 2011 June 13, 2007

2. SSDS has a rich history and established track record • Founded in 1961 as the first Jewish conservative day school in New England • Over the years, built a strong reputation as a school that: • Delivers a strong secular and Judaic education • Is committed to the values of the conservative movement (egalitarian, discourse based on knowledge of texts) • Supports wide range of students through extensive financial aid program • Pioneers innovative programs (i.e. Israel trip, Hebrew play) • Has fully developed program for the Arts and Athletics • Has an extensive Middle School program including sports teams, student government, Israel trip, dance, choral group • Developed strong foundation for school • Ownership of two modern facilities • $8M endowment • Experienced teacher population • Accredited by AISNE for 23 years • Grew steadily, peaking at 613 students in 1999. Currently serves 490 students from more than 35 communities in the greater Boston area. • Largest independent K-8 school in New England • In 2003, SSDS was granted an extraordinary $10 million grant (Peerless Excellence) to be spent over seven years with the goal of “transforming” the school

3. Outside experts view SSDS as a very good school as well • What is ISM? • ISM is the only comprehensive research based consulting firm serving private independent schools. It has over 3,000 private independent schools in its active client base. ISM Assessment • After a recent institutional assessment, ISM rated SSDS as one of the top 1-2 day schools out of the 32 day schools that they have worked with. They wrote: “In its 5th decade, the founders of the school are/would be very happy with the incredible ways in which the school has developed both in facility, program, leadership and sophistication. What follows, then, is not designed to diminish the achievements that the school is and should be rightfully proud of, but our best advice on how to enhance and sustain those achievements. How does a school move from very good to exceptional?” Confidential

4. SSDS recent trends are positive • SSDS enrollment is stabilizing/increasing after seven years of steady decline • Next year will have more new families than ever before in the school’s history • Operating budget for FY07 is very close to break-even • Development efforts continue to flourish • 80% overall growth in annual campaign over last five years • Students, parents and faculty all give relatively high satisfaction ratings to the school

5. The SSDS Zahav strategy is guided by a clear Mission and Vision VISION Our students will become self-confident, compassionate, practicing Jews and committed citizens who are prepared for the academic and social challenges of the modern world, and who are connected to the Jewish people and the land of Israel. MISSION To provide an outstanding education in English and Hebrew that • Inspires a love of learning • Celebrates the creativity and achievements of our children, and • Nurtures lives rooted in Jewish tradition and Torah.

6. Educating more Jewish children is core to our mission • Based on the 2006 CJP Demographic study, we estimate the available population of K-8 Jewish students in the SSDS primary cachement areas to be 10,500. This implies a 5% market share for SSDS. • We believe that there is room to grow this share based on the segmentation study completed by the Day School Advocacy Forum in 2004. ~ ~ Believers Place importance on Jewish culture and Hebrew language education Secular Academic Trackers (SATs) Most concerned with college track records and standardized test performance. HIGH PRIORITY Best of Both Worlds (BOBs) Want Jewish education, but are not willing to sacrifice quality of other programs HIGH PRIORITY Alternative Communities (A-COMs) Seeking “warm” school environment, with diversity, reasonable hours, and sense of community Jewish Public School Favor ‘public school” benefits such as affordability, convenient transportation and special needs

7. Culture of professional learning community Outstanding educational experience for next generation of committed Jews Strong and sustainable infrastructure Student population growth A virtuous cycle is at the center of our Zahav strategy Confidential

8. The Zahav strategic direction has many key initiatives to be implemented over the next five years • Increase investment in faculty professional development • Foster collaborative problem solving and collegiality • Emphasize proactive and transparent internal professional to professional communications • Adopt Board-level best practices, focusing on governance and strategic oversight Culture of a professional learning community • Attract, develop and retain outstanding teachers • Invest in signature Judaic programs: Hebrew literacy, Israel • Invest in signature secular programs: English literacy, math • Deploy multifaceted MINDS (meeting individual needs of diverse students) program, improving both support and enrichment capabilities • Conduct ongoing curricular reviews beginning with upper school tefilot, menschlikeit and science Outstanding educational experience for next generation of committed Jews • Market aggressively to prospective parents and other external constituents • Engage in proactive, systemic parent communications and community building • Implement strategic tuition increases supported by financial aid and counseling for a broader range of families • Explore Middle school feeder program Growth of our student population • Grow financial resources from charitable giving --annual and endowment • Conduct proactive capital planning for facilities and other investments • Improve cost controls and budget management • Develop and implement a technology strategy for administrative and educational purpose • Refine administrative structure and processes • Rollout revenue enhancement initiatives, pending positive feasibility analysis Strong and sustainable infrastructure for the school Confidential

9. Outstanding education – Overview of strategy Education Based on SSDS strengths and weaknesses the imperatives for enhanced educational excellence are: • Attract, develop and retain ideal teachers • Own five signature educational areas defined as programs which • Distinguish SSDS • Are core to school mission • Build on the passion of school staff and community • Weave across school programs (both grades and disciplines) • Improve select number of other areas to close gaps between current performance and necessary performance to fulfill our mission

10. Signature Educational Programs Education Based on our strengths and opportunities, SSDS will focus on creating and/or enhancing five signature educational programs. Signature programs are those that SSDS can be best in class in and are core to the school mission and can be woven across the school • Signature Program • Connection to Israel • Hebrew Literacy • Rationale • Core to the school mission and vision • Appealing to parents and faculty • Fluency in Hebrew is core to school mission - enables students to engage our historic texts and embrace modern Israel • Most important Judaic area for parents • Overall educational benefit of learning second language • Key Initiatives • Comprehensive vision and plan that links Israel education from K-8 both inside and outside the classroom (plan 2009) • 8th grade Israel seminar (in place) • Israel student exchange (in place) • Faculty Israel seminar (plan 2008, implement 2009) • Hebrew literacy program (2007+) • Sizable segment of Israeli teachers and parents (in place) • Hebrew literacy program in K-8 (2007+) • 8th grade immersion fluency programs • Israel trip • Hebrew d’var torah

11. Signature Educational Programs – (Cont.) Education • Signature Area • English Literacy • Math • Meeting Individual Needs of Diverse Student (MINDS) • Rationale • Historically area of relative weakness based on ERB test (ability vs performance scores) • Strong reading skills foundational for future academic work • Enhanced writing skills correlated with clarity of though and expression and capacity for future academic success • Single most important academic area to parents • Foundation of strong analytical problem solving skills applicable to widest range of academic pursuits • Perceived and actual area of weakness • Critical for reaching full potential of every child in school (includes both support and enrichment) • Critical to enabling school to admit wide range of students yet achieve high academic standards • Key Initiatives • English literacy program K-8 (in-place) • Supporting technology • Complete math curriculum review • Math extracurricular (i.e. Math club) • Supporting Technology • Differentiated learning training for all teachers • Addition of teaching assistants in grades K-5 • Enhanced planning, communication and evaluation processes

12. Critical to each initiative’s success and sustainability is a five step change management process “We can do better” Define problem and access sense of dissatisfaction among stakeholders “There are people who can help us” Identify expertise needed to help leadership and/or staff learn and implement new ways to think about practices “Let’s get organized around this” Alignment of time, energy, and resources to assure learning and sustainability “This is what we’re trying to accomplish” Creation of shared vision of improved practice “Do the work” Implement vision and measure progress through training, coaching and ongoing assessment

13. In summary, where will SSDS be in its 50th (zahav) year? • A school where terrific teachers are learning and collaborating to deliver an outstanding education to each of its students • A school with best-in-nation programs in the areas of English and Hebrew literacy and Math • A school that instills in its students a love of Judaism and a deep and informed connection to Israel • A school that nurtures and grows the entire child through a rich academic, athletic and arts program • A school that is financially strong and poised to impart learning and values for generations to come