Strategic Plan 2020
- Our Plan
- Portrait of a VMS Graduate
- Portrait of a VMS Teacher
- Portrait of a VMS Parent
This strategic plan puts forth an overall aspiration for Vail Mountain School to be widely recognized as a top tier independent school and a model for the interweaving of:
- A robust experiential and global education program
- The rigor of a high quality college preparatory curriculum combined with a rapport driven environment that inspires character development
- An unparalleled collaborative relationship with our community and our mountain environment
- The flexibility to support our athletes, thespians, musicians, artists, and diverse learners, in and outside of school
TEACHERS
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Recruit and Reward
- Attract and retain a diverse group of top educators aligned with the Portrait of a VMS Teacher.
- Benchmark faculty and staff total compensation against Colorado and mountain resort schools, and strive to offer competitive packages in the Colorado market.
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Encourage and Expand Professional Development
- Provide more support for teachers to enhance their abilities to maintain a healthy work/life balance.
- Help our teachers continue to meet the needs of diverse learners within their classroom.
- Support Project Based Learning professional development.
- Contribute up to 2% of the operating budget to promote continuous learning, self-discovery, and improvement.
STUDENTS
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Diversify Student Body
- Expand enrollment of students from different socio-economic, racial, and ethnic backgrounds.
- Continue to welcome and provide a climate of acceptance for a diverse student body in accordance with NAIS definitions of diversity.
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Develop our students as defined by The Portrait of a VMS Graduate
- Develop and foster the qualities of resilience and grit.
- Promote self-reliance and accountability.
- Improve executive functioning skills.
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Attract and retain the most mission appropriate students
- Evaluate and enhance our entry and retention strategies.
- Provide a Taft Conlin Scholarship for each upper school grade.
PARENTS
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Become the community thought leaders in parenting and education
- Introduce the VMS Speaker Series.
- Create permanent funding for the VMS Speaker Series.
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Encourage parent attendance at VMS Speaker Series events
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Educate our parents as defined by The Portrait of a VMS Parent
ACADEMICS
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Curriculum Review
- Design a process to ensure vertical integration of scope and sequence across divisions and K-12.
- Create a product to communicate the vertical integration of scope and sequence across divisions and K-12.
- Review at least two disciplines per year.
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Pursue Innovative Ideas in Education
- Empower students to own their own learning by participating in self-paced, project based learning investigating and responding to authentic, engaging, and complex questions, problems, or challenges.
- Connect VMS students to the outside world (local, domestic, international) showcasing research, writing, and creativity through extended capstone projects, internships, and community partnerships.
- Research and create funding for an Entrepreneurship Program.
- Explore daily schedule flexibility and options in order to enhance and support innovations in education
- Explore global education opportunities
- Research student exchange/global education program options.
- Research student exchange/global education program options.
ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY
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Grow the VMS Endowment
- Add at least $10M to our existing endowment in order to support the legacy of VMS in perpetuity.
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Measure our sustainability using the ISM Stability Markers
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Update our Rolling 5-Year Financial Plan
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Launch our Rolling 5-Year Facility Maintenance Schedule
DEVELOP CHARACTER
- VMS graduates speak articulately, respectfully, and confidently to all members of the community.
- VMS graduates understand and employ empathy, recognize different perspectives, and see the value of diversity in the world.
- VMS graduates are guided by an ethical framework and a strong ethical code, providing them with integrity in the face of challenges and injustices.
- VMS graduates possess strong self-advocacy skills and have the courage to ask for help, not for the answer.
- VMS graduates take responsibility for the consequences of their actions and behaviors both in and out of school.
- VMS graduates approach life’s challenges with perseverance and grit.
SEEK KNOWLEDGE
- VMS graduates find joy in learning, in thinking open mindedly, and in exploring areas that are important to them.
- VMS graduates respect knowledge; however, they also question doctrine in order to find their own answers to life’s questions.
- VMS graduates work well both independently and collaboratively in order to achieve personal and group success.
- VMS graduates utilize strong executive functioning skills.
BUILD COMMUNITY
- VMS graduates appreciate the natural world around them as they thrive in the surrounding mountain environment.
- VMS graduates are kind and considerate to people of all ages, exemplified by relationships with their younger peers.
- VMS graduates recognize that their education provides them the opportunity and skills to serve a public purpose both locally and globally.
DEVELOP CHARACTER
- VMS teachers model the school’s mission in an exemplary fashion and truly understand their role as positive and proactive ambassadors in all public and private interactions.
- VMS teachers willingly take on leadership roles in the school culture and perform these roles with honesty and integrity.
- VMS teachers believe that social-emotional and physical well-being are the foundation for all learning.
SEEK KNOWLEDGE
- VMS teachers strive to become masters of their subjects. They are passionate about the subject matter and secure in their knowledge of the content.
- VMS teachers’ pedagogical skills serve every student in the class, and they possess the flexibility to support our athletes, thespians, musicians, artists, and diverse learners, in and outside of school.
- VMS teachers love working with other teachers, sharing ideas, and collaborating on projects in a positive and proactive manner.
- VMS teachers bring joy into the classroom every day–inspiring, engaging, enriching and empowering their students with creative and innovative lessons. Excellence and joy are not mutually exclusive.
BUILD COMMUNITY
- VMS teachers are deeply committed to their students and treat them all equitably at all times. They are always by the student’s side - student centered
not self-centered. - VMS teachers give their best to their students when they have a healthywork life
balance. - VMS teachers form educational partnerships with their students, parents, their colleagues, and their administration. A key to this partnership is consistent, open communication based on trust and mutually understood expectations.
- VMS teachers embrace an unparalleled collaborative relationship with our community and mountain environment.
DEVELOP CHARACTER
- VMS parents foster perseverance and grit and recognize that making mistakes is a part of learning.
- VMS parents model the school’s mission and understand their role as positive and proactive ambassadors in all public and private interactions.
- VMS parents encourage ownership and independence in their children and their learning.
SEEK KNOWLEDGE
- VMS parents respect the core curriculum at VMS including outdoor education,
and understand the value of full participation not only for their own child but for all the children involved. - VMS parents have carefully chosen VMS as the right school for their children and entrust VMS with their children’s education because they understand and support the school’s mission.
- VMS parents respect the expertise, knowledge, and professionalism of the faculty and staff
- VMS parents attend parent education opportunities offered by the school.
BUILD COMMUNITY
- VMS parents participate in fundraisers because they understand the importance of investing in their children’s education.
- VMS parents regularly attend school events to support their children and to be fully informed members of the community.
- VMS parents see diversity as a positive and desirable component of the VMS community.
- VMS parents are respectful and considerate to all members of the community including faculty, staff, students, and fellow parents.