The following actions were taken during the first year of implementation of the 2003 Strategic Plan in the area of Academic Excellence:

Mission Statement
The School's mission statement was retailored for greater clarity and focus.

Assistant Head of School
The School reactivated the assistant head of school position and focused it on overseeing the academic enhancement goals of the new strategic plan.

The New Schedule
A new schedule was adopted for the academic year 2004-2005 as part of the School's commitment to strengthening its academic program. This schedule features extended academic periods and expanded on and off-campus opportunities for learning.

Extensive preparation for teaching in the new schedule was conducted last year with faculty study groups focusing on Understanding by Design, faculty visits to schools using extended periods, and conversations within departments on best teaching practices, variety in teaching approaches and lesson planning for extended periods.

Advising Program
The Counseling Department's new chair established common procedures and assessments for her department and is working with the middle and lower school principals to develop guidelines for a more comprehensive advising program. The learning specialists' new chair is expanding the role of the Country Day learning specialists to include academic profiles for all students. Student support services now meet as an integrated group.

College Counseling
The college counseling program expanded its programming for students and parents. Students began posting work on electronic portfolios for use in college admissions.

Technology Education
Technology education is available for all in faculty meeting segments, in our extensive Intel Teach for the Future training program, in the summer INTECH program, and in workshops given in the afternoons and on weekends. Faculty are using these opportunities with demonstrable effects on teaching and learning.

Online courses have been added as options for our upper school students, and a new technology elective will enable students to learn new computer skills while assisting faculty with computer projects.

A comprehensive three-year plan to enhance the availability and effective use of technology was completed last spring.

Benchmarking Consortium
The School has joined the Cambridge, Massachusetts Joint Research and Planning Office benchmarking consortium, and new standards for institutional assessment are being developed by the board and the administration.

The 2003 Strategic Plan calls for action on many fronts, and we invite you to visit the Awareness of the World and School Community sections to learn about our work in these areas.