The State of Our School: Long-Range Plan and North Campus Project in Detail

Margaret Hodson

February 9, 2016

Leonard Aquatic Center

By Margaret Hodson ’16, Editor-in-Chief

Within the month of February, Upper School students will be given a chance to provide feedback on the five main pillars of the school’s long-range plan (LRP). Construction of the amphitheater has been fast-tracked; administrators hope it will be complete in time to host the graduation ceremony for the class of 2016. The tentative start date for construction of the new Leonard Athletic Center is this March. Head of School Tony Jaccaci commented on his first 208 days along with ways the school is living up to its mission statement. These topics and others made up Mr. Jaccaci’s “State of Our School” address on Tuesday, January 26^th.

The “State of Our School” began with a dinner at 5:30 p.m. provided by Sage Dining. Attendees then transitioned to Keeler Theater for a speech beginning at 6:30 p.m. The event opened up with the US choir singing “Winter Song” by Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson. Mr. Jaccaci commented that although he spoke at last year’s State of the School, “last January it was your school, now it’s our school.” Mr. Jaccaci spoke of his first 208 days at Country Day and the ways in which he has been getting to know the community. He highlighted his “listening tour,” which has allowed him to learn about the traditions, hopes, and dreams of our students through “Country Day conversations.” He has also shadowed students in various divisions, rode the Mason bus to campus, and held about 250 one-on-one meeting with faculty, parents, and alumni. He has remote offices in the LS and MS, goes on field trips, and conducts classroom observations.

After speaking about his efforts to immerse himself in the Country Day community, Mr. Jaccaci transitioned to the mission statement of our school:

Cincinnati Country Day School provides each student with superior preparation for success in college and life. We inspire a passion for learning and independent thinking through a steadfast commitment to academic excellence, personal integrity, and service to others.

Mr. Jaccaci noted that part of this statement is related to outcomes, while others parts are methods. The outcomes are preparation for college and life. The methods are academic excellence, personal integrity, and service to others. Throughout all these categories, Mr. Jaccaci stressed the importance of visible learning, a concept by way of John Hattie. He emphasized the importance of “making the mission visible.”

In the academic realm, the mission is visible through National Merit Scholars, Presidential Scholars, academic competitions, co-curricular opportunities, and a variety of other metrics. 27% of the senior class are national Merit Scholars. Country Day had 54 AP scholars in 2015. In other divisions, visible learning can be seen in sensory exploration and experiential learning.

Examples of making the mission visible with respect to personal integrity are representing the school off campus, climate of school surveys, mission skills assessment, and the diversity committee. Country Day students fulfill the “service to others” part of our mission through stewardship of the campus, the Turkey Train, days of service, and the Wrap-In amongst other things. Superior preparation for college can be seen in the college lists and acceptances of our students, along with the immense amount of merit and financial aid received. 33 members of the class of 2015 alone brought in $7.8 million in aid and merit. With respects to preparation for life, this can be seen in senior seminars, Connections magazine, and conversations with Country Day alumni.

12^th Grade Rep Susan Rust concurred with Mr. Jaccaci’s conclusion that Country Day students are making the mission visible. “My excitement regarding the current state of Country Day is seeing the faculty and students learning and living the CCDS Mission. The students are provided a superior preparation for success beyond their days within the Country Day walls. I see our students’ passion for learning, from the art exhibitions to the math competitions; to the sport fields and courts and of course, the classrooms. I see meaningful dialogue going on between teachers and students in the halls as well as the classroom. I am excited about the strong commitment to academic excellence, personal integrity consistent with the honor code, and service to others,” said Mrs. Rust.

After explaining how Country Day is living up to its mission statement, Mr. Jaccaci spoke briefly about fundraising, endowment growth, enrollment growth, and recommendations from the Independent Schools Association of the Central States (ISACS). He presented to the community a new logo to help increase awareness of the Annual Fund’s importance in the school’s day-to-day operations. He also spoke about Match Day, which is May 12^th. On May 12^th, Country Day hopes to raise $200,000 in twenty-four hours. Endowment and enrollment growth have both been steadily increasing. Mr. Jaccaci stressed that healthy finances are a key focus for the school in the future. He also spoke of four major recommendations for improvement from ISACS. ISACS recommended that Country Day develop a long range plan for the school and its finances. It also recommended that the school make better use of data and align its curriculum so there is a logical progression of knowledge and learning from 18 months to 18 years. Country Day has responded to these critiques and is making progress, as seen by the long range planning process. The curriculum committee is shifting its focus to help map out Country Day’s academic program, based “not [on] how we teach, but how kids learn.”

At this point, President of the Board of Trustees Jon Hall came on stage to speak about the long range plan. He cited Will Rodgers, who said “even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” He stressed that Country Day must constantly evolve to ensure the school continues to build upon its legacy of excellence. The future is unpredictable, yet Country Day must plan for the graduates of the future, so they are prepared to enter an increasingly-complex world. Mr. Jaccaci echoed these sentiments, noting that although we don’t know much about the future, we know it’s going to be a “very ambiguous place…never before has thinking about education been as important as it is now.”

Some new information was presented to the community about the long range plan at the State of Our School address. The pillars had been tentatively set out previously, but now they are continuing to solidify:

Global engagement
Entrepreneurship and creative thinking
Environmental commitment
Innovative learning and teaching
Financial vitality

Although the pillars are set, the work is far from done. In February, the LRP planning committee will be taking input from students. Vincent DiFrancesco ’18 commented, “I was impressed to hear that Mr. Jaccaci would like to conduct more student surveys. I was also assured that the headmaster had put together a good team to handle the long range plan and pleased to hear that he is so eager to become part of the school community.” Input was also received from attendees at the State of the School. Each attendee was given a jotter and encouraged to drop their ideas into one of five LRP pillars as a social engineering activity. After student input is gathered, in March the pillar assessments will be completed. Eventually each pillar will have 3-4 corresponding initiatives. In April or May the complete long range plan will be recommended to the Board of Trustees/ Cabinet. The plan is slated to roll out to the Country Day community in June.

After discussing the long range plan, Mr. Jaccaci moved on to update the community on the North Campus project. The foundation for the 10,380 square foot Early Childhood Center (ECC) is currently being dug. A tentative date for completion is the Fall of 2016. The ECC will serve youngsters from 18 months to 3 years. The ECC borders the playscape and will feature four classrooms with natural light, a kitchen, meeting space, faculty workroom, and multi-purpose activity room.

The Leonard Athletic Center will feature a new entryway, a hall of fame gallery, a wet classroom, a space to wait for parents, and even a snack bar. The tentative date for completion is winter of 2016/2017.

Leonard Aquatic Center — Leonard Athletic Center

Leonard Athletic Center

The Amphiteather/ Outdoor Performance Area will be located on the North Lawn. It is an outdoor venue that will host many events, including hopefully graduation for the class of 2016. The completion date of spring 2016, however, is very tentative due to possible complications from poor weather.