HOW PLAN BECOMES ACTION BY MICHAEL DUNN AND KATH TSAKALAKIS, Strategic Plan Co-Chairs, Trustees, and Seventh-Grade Parents
a representative from the SF/Marin Food Bank to visit an all- school chapel during our annual Lenten Food Drive to discuss how we can fight hunger in the Bay Area. “This year we introduced a new partnership with Rise Against Hunger, an organization that is working to eradicate global hunger. Through this program, our students committed to collecting change for a two-week period to help cover the costs associated with a 29-cent basic daily meal. The Upper School boys then packed 10,000 meals to be shipped to countries struggling with hunger. During the packing day, the boys learned that about 70% of these meals will go to schools and that the offer of free meals is enough to encourage fami- lies in these areas to send their children to school. So the act of providing meals to this community serves an even greater purpose beyond hunger by promoting education, improving student health/nutrition, addressing gender inequalities, and fighting child labor. “Through these opportunities, our goal is to engage the boys in meaningful ways so that they can begin to under- stand the connections between themselves and the larger world, and to witness the power of individual and collaborative contributions. Moving forward, our goal is to foster ongoing partnerships with a variety of organizations to engage with different communities through various activities and topics that address our shared humanity.” As Cathedral’s service program expands, the foundation must be laid within the classroom and by the teachers who work with the students day in and day out. As Paul Bertrand pointed out, it can feel daunting to take on such a Herculean project. But Cathedral teachers have been making service meaningful for students for a long time—the second-grade composting program, fourth-graders educating the school about our food waste at lunch, and the Upper School Green Team recycling textiles to name a few. In many ways, well-designed service projects will be no different from any other elegant curricular unit. They will help reinforce students’ reading, writing, math, history, and language skills, teaching them in more experiential ways. Think of Yash using his elementary Mandarin to commu- nicate with a struggling second -grader or a sixth-grade boy writing an email to a community organization after a fire to express his interest in putting together a coat drive to support the survivors. An effective service program can help students identify and develop their personal strengths and shape positive, global citi- zens for our ever-changing world. Cathedral graduates need to be thoughtful, reflective, and critical thinkers who can engage analytically and philosophically in the world; however, none of this will matter if they are not guided by a responsibility to the planet and their fellow people. If the Cathedral community is one “bonded by open-heartedness, hope, compassion, and
A large team of parents, alumni, faculty, staff, and trustees spent the 2016-2017 school year working with the entire Cathedral community to shape the School’s strategic plan. The plan’s three goals—program, people, and place—are centered on the boys. They provide direction for the next five years. Each goal has top-priority initiatives with metrics to assess progress. During implementation, continued involvement from the Cathedral community is imperative, with regular updates and opportunities for feedback. The goals and initiatives form a plan that will guide us as we move forward. PROGRAM
PEOPLE Foster a community that attracts and supports talented educators and remains accessible to all qualified students regardless of background. INITIATIVES: l Attract and retain inspiring teachers by enhancing sala- ries and benefits provided to Cathedral staff. l Strengthen our professional growth program for teachers that includes training, evalua- tion, and observation. l Improve access for socio- economically diverse students of high academic potential.
PLACE Improve use of learning space, both on campus and off, to support new educational approaches and better meet the needs of boys and teachers. INITIATIVES: l Redesign our campus to support both current and emerging educational approaches and the learning needs of boys. l Explore off-site opportunities to enhance our educational program, for example, more field trips, and more space for athletics and team sports. l Design space for teachers that enhances both professional and personal lives, encourages collaboration, and offers high priority basic amenities.
Maintain our leadership in boys’ education so that we prepare boys for success at high school and beyond in an increasingly complicated world. INITIATIVES: l Capitalize on the educational advantages of Cathedral’s size by reducing class sizes in every grade. l Develop an excellent curriculum that provides the information, awareness, and skills for boys to succeed. l Create exemplary service programs that foster a life-long commitment to serving others. l Explore a more modern school calendar that is supported by the community and improves learning.
Upper School boys along with Father Abidari head to Redding Elementary for a day of service.
concern” as our Mission states, we must inspire boys to see the humanity in all people and feel a life-long sense of respon- sibility for the good of their individual selves, their families and communities, and the larger world. They may lead in formal roles, create policy, volunteer, teach, fundraise, or simply show up each day ready to help. Each Cathedral boy has a role to play. For anyone who believes deeply in Cathedral’s Mission, it is exciting to envision how service at the School will continue to grow and mature. While this may require more planning, time, and resources from our entire adult community, it can be truly transformational for all involved. If each Cathedral boy can graduate recognizing the challenges of the world around him, along with a sense of purpose to use and develop his personal strengths to serve and partner with others to meet those chal- lenges, then we will be graduating the open-hearted, hopeful, compassionate change-makers our world so greatly needs.
The Strategic Plan contains details on the research, rationale, and actions for each initiative. As one example, since serving others is so important to Cathedral’s Mission, it is exciting to envision how we might expand service learning for the boys. Existing tutoring programs such as those at Spring Valley School and Redding Elementary School, both in San Francisco, are wonderful examples of how the boys can have an impact locally. One of our Cathedral students, Holden Brown (class of 2018), describes his efforts at Spring Valley, and how the learning goes both ways. The Strategic Plan will help us build on our strong foundation and thoughtfully expand service programs throughout our school.
Please direct comments about this article to Tara Boland at boland@cathedralschool.net.
18 | CATHEDRAL SCHOOL FOR BOYS
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