A Letter to the Community

Dear Spartanburg Day School community,

For more than 60 years, Spartanburg Day School has been equipping students to be confident learners prepared to meet the challenges of college and of life. In light of the rapid changes occurring in the world and in education, now is the ideal time to craft a renewed vision for our school's future that identifies new ways to grow and advance as a learning organization focused on offering an unparalleled educational experience.

We're pleased to announce that the Day School has recently launched a strategic planning process, with the expectation that the final plan will be shared this spring. This will become the blueprint to communicate our story and guide leadership decisions over the next few years. 

Our last strategic plan, introduced in May 2010, set forth goals that:

1.  Generated $26 million in facilities improvements

2.  Increased the endowment from $4 million to $19.5 million to date

3.  Brought about a comprehensive marketing study that led to the development of the renewed mission and values, a complete rebrand and common messaging to communicate the value of an SDS education.

Your voice is extremely valuable to us, and we'll be sharing opportunities for you to engage in this important process. Coming together as a community will enable us to understand the challenges ahead and achieve disciplined innovation and growth. We are intentionally using an inclusive process that strengthens the whole organization and our relationships together.

Through a competitive proposal solicitation, we have contracted with the experts from School Growth to guide us along this journey. The School Growth team has a successful track record and a wealth of wisdom to enhance our efforts, and we look forward to walking this path with them.

Over the next few weeks we'll share more details about the schedule and opportunities (e.g, surveys, focus groups, etc.) to connect with this effort. We not only welcome your input, we're counting on it. Thank you in advance for your enthusiastic and thoughtful participation in helping shape our compelling future.
 
Sincerely,
 
Rachel Deems, Head of School

Jaime Wall, Strategic Planning Committee Chair