Introduction
Committee Members
Mission
Core Values
Academic Excellence
Access & Affordability
Parent & Community Relations
Assets Advancement & Facility Improvements
Environmental Sustainability
Wellness & Student Life
Conclusion

INTRODUCTION
Our global society is changing at an unprecedented speed. Futurists tell us change will become exponentially quicker, impediments caused by distance will be minimized, and the intensity of global competition will exceed what we have experienced in the last 15 years. Some even say we are evolving beyond the “Information Age” to the newly coined “Conceptual Age.”

How will Harrisburg Academy prepare students adequately to meet the challenges we face now and later? This five-year strategic plan, Challenge 2013, which builds on the success of its predecessor, Academy 2008, is our blueprint for the future. 

At the core of the Academy’s success for more than two centuries are the values that define and sustain us. These values, which are stated in this plan, will not change; neither will the faculty’s commitment to fostering a love of learning as well as challenging and nurturing students to actively explore, discover, and become responsible world citizens.
Our challenge for the next five years is to maintain the values we hold dear, while steadily evolving into a school of the future.

A diverse group of parents, students, faculty, staff, alumni, and alumni parents discussed and debated the future of our school at a series of committee and town hall meetings over the course of 10 months. They asked complex but key questions, such as: How do we modify instruction to provide students with the essential skills and opportunities they need for future success? How do we provide the facilities and infrastructure to achieve our academic goals? How do we sustain ourselves financially? How do we continue to attract students of high academic ability and potential? How do we make a Harrisburg Academy education as affordable and accessible as possible? How do we conserve resources and lessen our environmental footprint?

In developing Challenge 2013, our committees used certain criteria to guide their thinking – specifically, the five keys of sustainability and best operational practices endorsed by the National Association of Independent Schools, the mission and core values of the International Baccalaureate Organization, and current research on curricular design and instruction. This guidance will ensure a solid foundation and direction for the Academy as it meets the demands of a rapidly changing world.

Our deep appreciation goes to everyone who helped to design Challenge 2013, especially the following committee members:

 

COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Steering Committee
Linda A. Goldstein, chair
Dr. Thomas J. Banks
Robert E. Caplan
Dr. W. Christopher Ehmann
Lawrence Kluger
Terry L. Lehman
Dr. James Newman
Dr. Karl Qualls
Renee Regal
Thomas Schmidt III

Academic Excellence
Thomas Schmidt III, chair
Bob Bell
Helen McVey Colvin ’60
Magali Furey
Jennifer Klemunes
Kevin J. Muirhead
Marlynn Meyer
Elaine Price
Rachel Tillison '08
Gene R. Trindell

Access & Affordability
Dr. Karl Qualls, chair
Terry Bowie
Jill E. Kusic
Robert C. May
Stephen R. Pedersen
David H. Stone '75
Addison E. Taliaferro
Jessica A. Warren
Sharon Webb

Parent & Community Relations
Lawrence Kluger, chair
Linda G. Clark
George Gonzales
Cynthia D. Lester-Moody
Edward A. Novak III
Shelley Winer-Remmel
Linda B. Whipple

Assets Advancement & Facility Improvements
Terry L. Lehman, chair
Marilynn Abrams
Drew Bitner
Travis M. Krieder
Dr. Shelly S. Myers
Jean Woodworth-Sorem
David C. Zett

Environmental Sustainability          
Renee Regal, chair
Craig Bachik
Michael Bitner '10
James Harding
David Herman
Robyn J. Katzman Bowman
Emily Marcello '09
Steve Preston

Wellness & Student Life
Dr. W. Christopher Ehmann, chair
Jessica C. Bainbridge
Douglas Caplan '11
John Robert Martin, Jr.
Reuben Mitrani '10
Steven B. Stewart

MISSION
Harrisburg Academy offers an academically challenging and globally minded liberal arts education that encourages each student to reach his or her full potential. In our commitment to excellence, we provide tools and teach skills that will prepare students to thrive and succeed in college and in their future endeavors.

CORE VALUES

• We aspire to set a standard for academic excellence and to be an educational leader in Central Pennsylvania. 

• We teach our students to use their minds well and encourage them to actively pursue learning for the sake of learning by developing a healthy curiosity for the world around them.

• We are committed to teaching the most up-to-date content in our respective curricular areas, using current instructional methods and technologies.

• We instill the values of respect and responsibility for others that will lead our students to become productive and caring members of their communities.

• We aspire to know our students well as learners and to acknowledge, appreciate, and validate them as individuals.

• We promote each student’s growth in integrity, creativity, self-worth, resilience, leadership, global awareness, and critical thinking skills.

• We believe a well-grounded sense of self-worth is the foundation for academic excellence and can only be achieved in an environment where children feel safe — socially, physically, and emotionally.

• We are committed to an inclusive culture that celebrates diversity, multiculturalism, and mutual respect.

• We are committed to a caring and supportive workplace where faculty and staff members are encouraged to pursue and achieve their professional and personal goals.

• We recognize that close working partnerships among students, parents, alumni, faculty, staff members, trustees, and the greater Harrisburg community are vitally important to achieving our mission.

 

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE
Goal
To provide a challenging and well-rounded liberal arts education in an environment that nurtures personal growth and discovery. To develop critical thinkers and lifelong learners who are inquisitive, creative, tolerant, and principled. To set a standard for academic excellence and educational leadership in Central Pennsylvania.

Rationale
Education is a transformational process that occurs within each person and differs from student to student. Harrisburg Academy already facilitates this process because low teacher-to-student ratios allow for the personal attention that enables students to identify and build on their own strengths. We will continue to emphasize an educational model that recognizes how students learn best – through active, hands-on experiences and collaboration within small groups. This educational model calls for faculty members to serve as facilitators who engage their students in learning and discovery.

Implementation Points
Curriculum & Instruction

• Further the coordination of a preschool through grade 12 curricular design that allows for flexible implementation across traditional academic disciplines. Continue to shape the curriculum based on considerations of “whole child” development, active and hands-on learning, global perspectives, science, the arts, and physical education. 

• Ensure the curriculum – especially science, mathematics, and technology – is current and applicable to 21st century competitive standards.

• Continuously assess the Upper School’s International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum and review other IB programs for implementation in either the Middle School or Lower School.

• Broaden opportunities for students to gain global perspectives through use of technology and through partnerships with members of our own community and communities abroad. Establish relationships with other educational institutions and create opportunities for study overseas. Evaluate the scope and sequence of the world languages curriculum throughout all divisions.

• Add faculty positions to enhance science instruction in Early Childhood/Lower School and Upper School, as well as in art and a non-western world language.

• Ensure the best instructional methods are used to promote reading, computing, written and oral articulation skills, and technological fluency. Increase opportunities for students to inquire, produce, perform, synthesize, and otherwise express themselves creatively.

• Use the most effective technology to support student-centered teaching and active learning in all school divisions. Continue to employ the best instructional practices to integrate technology and maximize learning.

• Improve the integration of learning support with classroom instruction.

• Review the current daily schedule of instruction in each division and modify it appropriately to support evolving curricular and instructional goals.

Professional Development 

• Recruit, develop, and retain a diverse faculty and staff with the personal qualities and commitment to ensure a consistent program of academic excellence and to maximize student achievement. 

• Further develop a coordinated and continuous program of professional development that promotes student-centered teaching and active learning. The program will be informed by current research on curriculum, instruction, and educational psychology. 

• Ensure that the professional development program provides faculty members with training in best instructional practices and integration of technology. Allow time for faculty to implement these best teaching practices and to increase their knowledge of curricular content.

ACCESS & AFFORDABILITY
Goal
To attract and retain students with high academic ability and potential who have a broad range of talents. To foster a diverse and international school community consisting of students, faculty, and staff from various cultural, geographic, and socio-economic backgrounds.

Rationale
Harrisburg Academy seeks to ensure an accessible education for students who have the potential to thrive in a challenging academic environment and in a culture that reflects our core values. Students who have the ability and talent to achieve success at the Academy come from diverse backgrounds. Diversity enriches and deepens the educational experience for all members of the community and provides the foundation for appreciating individual differences in an increasingly global society. The values inherent in providing an excellent education include learning from one another as part of the lived experience of everyday school life. To foster diversity and ensure accessibility for all students, the Academy will need to reach out to the community and look beyond traditional sources of support for new scholarship opportunities. 

Implementation Points
Find a variety of options for increasing scholarship funds to ensure a diverse student body.

Identify non-tuition sources to offset the additional costs of IB and other fee-based programs.

Search proactively for highly qualified and committed faculty and staff applicants from diverse backgrounds.

Research demographic trends and find marketing and transportation options beyond our current geographic boundaries to sustain enrollment.

Research and implement marketing and advertising to focus on access and affordability.

Enhance, and promote the Early Childhood/Lower School Extended Day Program and Middle School Homework Club as forms of support for Academy families.

 

PARENT & COMMUNITY RELATIONS
Goal
To strengthen partnerships between the school community and its constituents, including students, parents, alumni, friends, local governments, businesses, and the community at large, and to build on those relationships for the betterment of all stakeholders. Strengthen the position of our school as a “regional resource” to have a positive impact on the educational quality and economic vitality of the greater Harrisburg area.

Rationale
Strong partnerships between Harrisburg Academy and its various constituencies will result in improved student attraction and retention, academic enrichment, community awareness, and enhanced development opportunities. To be successful, every independent school needs and expects the cooperation of its parents, who must understand and embrace the mission, share the core values, and fully support the faculty and staff. When joined together by a common purpose, the Academy and its parents form a team that has a lasting positive effect on our entire school community.

Implementation Points
Parents & Alumni
Implement more effective methods of communication and interaction among parents, faculty, and school leaders.

Strengthen the Parents Association’s involvement in the school community to further the mission and support the strategic goals.

Provide a welcoming environment in which all parents feel valued and included.

Engage alumni in becoming more effective ambassadors of the school.

Re-establish an active Alumni Council to support the mission and to increase alumni participation in school activities.

Community
Expand community service opportunities for students by seeking additional business and community partners.

In addition to partnering with Dickinson College, explore partnerships with other institutions of higher education in the region to enhance the academic enrichment opportunities for students at Harrisburg Academy.

Collaborate on programs of mutual benefit with local governments in East Pennsboro, Lemoyne, Wormleysburg, Camp Hill, and the City of Harrisburg.

Marketing & Public Relations
Increase community awareness of the value of an Academy education.

Implement next stages of the marketing plan to strengthen the “branding” of the Academy.

Improve outreach of the admission program to increase inquiries from families with students of high academic ability and potential who have a broad range of talents and to meet enrollment goals.

Develop a challenging summer school program that will attract new students to the school, provide new learning opportunities for all students in the greater Harrisburg region, build community awareness of the Academy, and better utilize our facilities.

Leverage major events, such as the Academy’s 2009-10 Triple Anniversaries, to broaden awareness of our school in the greater Harrisburg region.

 

ASSETS ADVANCEMENT & FACILITY IMPROVEMENTS
Goal
To secure the resources necessary to sustain financial equilibrium and to provide a foundation for facility improvements, while continuing to build the endowment as the long-term foundation for existing and new program initiatives.

Rationale
Harrisburg Academy is committed to meeting the facility needs of our instructional program. Enhanced infrastructure improvements will support our emphasis on academic excellence. Harrisburg Academy is also committed to identifying ways of utilizing “green” technology to renovate existing facilities and construct new, improved facilities. We recognize that increasing the endowment is necessary for guaranteeing the long-term viability and institutional sustainability of the school. Harrisburg Academy is the grateful beneficiary of endowments created by members of the Academy community to support scholarship, faculty compensation, academic programs, and building projects. The Harrisburg Academy Foundation manages these funds, with investment services provided by The Foundation for Enhancing Communities. Our endowment grows as a result of new contributions and investment earnings.

Implementation Points
Assets Advancement
Retain campaign counsel to advise the Board of Trustees in preparation for combined capital and scholarship endowment campaigns. Capitalize on the celebration of the 2009-10 Triple Anniversaries to secure funding.
 
Add $150,000 annually to the Academy endowment through major and planned gifts (amount to increase when scholarship campaign goal is established), with $25,000 restricted for scholarship.

Identify and cultivate community partners and actively pursue local, regional, and national foundations and corporations to endow chairs and named scholarships. Secure $80,000 annually in grants from private and corporate foundations.

Achieve successive Annual Fund campaign increases of 10%; meet or exceed National Association of Independent Schools and comparison group benchmark rates of participation for all constituencies.

Secure $250,000 annually in EITC contributions; continue to identify and cultivate new business prospects while retaining current donors.

Increase focus on planned giving efforts. Add five to 10 new members annually to the Seiler Society (individuals and families who support the Academy through a bequest or other planned gift vehicle).

Actively engage and utilize alumni, alumni parents, and current students in marketing and fund-raising efforts.

Facility Improvements
(Undertaking of the following implementation points will depend on the outcome of the feasibility study and the success of the capital campaign.)

• Create a comprehensive master plan to guide long-term facility improvements to the school and ensure physical accessibility for everyone in the Academy community.

• Upgrade all science labs, replacing modular units and building vertically to increase classroom and general use space.

• Build an additional athletic facility. Work with private and public entities to enhance the quality of the Academy’s facilities and amenities (including parking) at the John Crain Kunkel Field.

• Increase opportunities for students to use technology inside and outside of the classroom.

• Continue with the consolidation and integration of the new school information system, with additions for Admissions, Development, Online Community, and the Business Office.

• Expand and upgrade the arts facilities to meet program needs.

• Create new multi-purpose spaces to accommodate the Extended Day Program, as well as meeting, office, and storage needs.

• Expand and upgrade space for maintenance of the data storage system.

 

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
Goal
To develop strategies for “greening” Harrisburg Academy by incorporating energy efficiency and environmental sustainability into programs and operations.

Rationale
A “green” school is a building or facility that creates a healthy environment that is conducive to learning while saving energy, resources and money. “Green” schools are healthy for students, faculty, and staff by providing ample natural light, high-quality acoustics, and safe air to breathe, which in turn makes for a more productive learning environment. “Green” schools provide an educational opportunity for students to gain an understanding of the effect that ecology resource management and design and construction decisions have on the environment, society, and the planet as a whole. “Greening” the Academy further strengthens the Academy’s commitment to a global perspective central to being an IB World School.

Implementation Points

• Conduct an energy audit, benchmarking exercises, and sustainability assessment of our facility.

• Create a knowledgeable committee consisting of students, parents, faculty, and external community representatives to create a Sustainable Energy Maintenance Plan, to monitor energy-efficiency goals, and to reduce annual aggregate energy consumption by 10% within five years.<

• Become an EPA Energy Star partner, a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy, to save money and protect the environment through energy-efficient products and practices.

• Institute feasible “green” policies for purchasing consumable and durable goods, janitorial services, pest management, landscaping, snow removal, and transportation alternatives in accordance with the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Existing Buildings (LEED-EB) nationally accepted certification program.

• Encourage a student-driven initiative focusing on reducing, re-using, and recycling consumable and durable goods in accordance with LEED-EB criteria.

• Continue to develop and expand an environmental education component in the existing curriculum across all four school divisions.

• Develop a mechanism for encouraging parent and student carpooling.

• Consider incorporating LEED-EB criteria in facility renovation master planning and new construction projects.

 

WELLNESS & STUDENT LIFE
Goal
Wellness is a gradually incorporated perspective, consisting of a strong and well-grounded sense of self-worth, respect for others in all regards, a broadly curious mind prepared to enjoy learning, and the best physical, social, and emotional health possible for each student. Harrisburg Academy seeks to foster an inclusive, just, and equitable independent school community that enhances each person’s quality of life and develops students as active stakeholders in their own education.

Rationale
The Academy is a diverse and inclusive school committed to developing the social skills – such as cooperation, assertion, responsibility, empathy, and self-control – that will lead to academic success and enable students to develop the resilience to lead balanced, fulfilling, and successful lives. Creating and sustaining an inclusive, just, and equitable environment will require deliberate action.

Implementation Points
Establish a Wellness Department to address curricular and co-curricular programs in physical education, nutrition, health education, counseling, and athletics.

Ensure a smooth transition for families entering the Academy.

Provide the appropriate training and tools necessary for designated advisors, while determining how to incorporate best practices from existing classroom management programs.
 
Develop an athletics program that is integral to the school’s curriculum and competitive, while remaining consistent with the school’s longstanding commitment to a no-cut policy.

Provide age-appropriate diversity training for students as well as appropriate training for faculty and staff.

 

CONCLUSION
Reaching the ambitious goals of Challenge 2013 will require the time, talents, and financial support of all stakeholders in the Harrisburg Academy family. Students, faculty, staff, trustees, alumni, and alumni parents have consistently demonstrated their commitment and loyalty to the mission of this outstanding school. To achieve the goals of Challenge 2013 – and continue to be regarded as a regional resource and educational leader in Central Pennsylvania – will require even greater levels of support. Now and always, the future of Harrisburg Academy depends on those who, recognizing the enduring value of excellence, commit themselves to the vision set forth in this plan and will work to further its goals.