2010 Vision Plan
Adopted by the Board of Trustees January 2010

In the spring of 2008, the school embarked on a Vision Process to examine the state of the school and the needs and directions for the future. We developed a process of discussion that welcomed the participation and involvement of all members of the school community – faculty and administration, board members, parents, alumni, students. The process of discussion, re-examining our values and practices and building community consensus was as valuable as the conclusions and recommendations that resulted.

The following document is a work-in-progress. It begins with several current observations (O) about the school. The sixth observation (O6) lists a number of core values of SBS that various groups identified as central to who we are. The observations are followed by a set of recommendations for maintaining what we have (M) and a set for enhancing the school (E). E1 is based on the premise that as the school moves forward there should be more opportunities to dream.

Observations

O1. A major conclusion is that Sant Bani School is a unique and excellent educational environment, and its qualities should be maintained and enhanced. In other words, we should continue doing what we are doing, and strive to do it better.

O2. Sant Bani School is at a stage of transition. Within the near future, many long-time faculty members, some who have been here from the beginning of the school, will be retiring and will be replaced. Like the builders of medieval cathedrals, we are building not only for now but also for the future: a trans-generational school that will carry on its mission and remain true to its principles beyond our individual life-spans. The challenge is to preserve the vital spark that makes the school unique and special.

O3. Sant Ji challenged us to become the ‘best school in the area’. We interpret this to mean ‘best’ as defined in Kirpal Singh’s talk Toward the New Education. Accordingly, our Mission Statement emphasizes the twin principles of reverence for life and service to all. We educate students to have a real sense of who they are, to understand their place in the universe, to respect and show kindness to others around them, to collaborate and lead with confidence.

O4. A fully enrolled high school is desirable in order to increase opportunities for social interactions and academic and extracurricular activities.
O5. The faculty is of central importance in creating the school environment. It is critical that staff members have opportunities for professional and personal growth.

O6. Core Values: A large part of the process was to identify the values and practices that define what Sant Bani School is and does, values that are embodied in the life of the school. The following compilation of ideas from all the constituent groups has been sorted under guiding statements of H.H, Kirpal Singh’s “Toward the New Education.”

Atmosphere: It is the proper atmosphere which can deliver the goods; that is why emphasis in the school should be on atmosphere more than on rules, textbooks and buildings… The school should be a home of teachers and students who reflect in their studies, and on the playground and in their daily lives, the cherished virtue of humility.

• There are core values (including humility, sense of trust, of one-ness, gratitude, generosity) that students and faculty learn by immersion in the atmosphere of the school
  
• Collaboration: students learn as individuals but work together in a social setting to create and learn something larger; everyone brings a valid viewpoint and needs
  
• Safe environment: open, judgment-free environment encourages taking risks and builds confidence to explore, try out new roles, follow curiosity and be creative
  
• Sense of trust: we allow the students to be by themselves, and manage themselves, to be good
  
• School is fun; we find ways to enjoy being together and sharing fun activities
  
• Small size: we are small enough so that everyone can know each other to some extent. We have to work with everyone, and learn to accept differences. As in a family, everyone is important, no one ‘slips through the cracks’
  
• Mix of ages: we see the whole spectrum of ages from 6 up (and occasional pre-schoolers) – this promotes modeling and mentoring
  
• Families are important: families participate in all aspects of the school, and family support is important to student success. We are a day school.
  
• Mutual respect in all social interactions, fairness and inclusiveness in all procedures
  
• Teachers continue to grow and learn as well as students
  
• Teachers have freedom in the subjects and the methods that they teach in collaboration and discussion with their departments

The Whole Person: The aim is to make it a place where the needs of the spirit and concern for human progress will take precedence over material satisfactions, pleasures and enjoyment… In fact, the real aim of education is to develop the character and individuality of a pupil, his mind, will and soul power. The best education is that which teaches us that the end of knowledge is service.

• Learning is more than academics: learning takes place in every aspect of life, inside or outside the classroom and the prescribed curriculum, informally and in special events
  
• Service to others is a fundamental value built throughout the grades, a way to get beyond the self: connecting concern, empathy, sympathy, generosity of spirit, with action
  
• We value nature and the experience of being outdoors, along with simple living
  
• Quiet time, silence, simplicity and reflection are also valued – in themselves, as part of the student’s development, and to reflect on and process learning
  
• It is important to expand the children’s horizons by connecting with the outside world through field trips, service projects, guest speakers, international students
  
• We value depth of experience, engagement and understanding along with factual knowledge
  
• Alternative and diverse strategies are used to assess students’ understanding

Vital Leadership: To accomplish this vital and indispensable task, the very nature of education has to be transformed so that it can give society young men and women who are not only intellectually but emotionally trained for vigorous, realistic and constructive leadership.

• Choice: students have opportunities to influence their own learning and exercise decision-making power
  
• Responsibility: students learn to be responsible for doing their work, managing their materials, time and attention, take responsibility for their own education
  
• Projects and presenting work tie together many of these strands and provide memorable learning experiences
  
• Spontaneity and flexibility, openness to the unexpected
  
• Vigorous academics, including reading and writing, are valued throughout the curriculum
  
• Course offerings in standard academic areas prepares students for success in college and career
  
• Desired student outcomes include emotional and social maturity: thinking for oneself and knowing oneself, confidence, self-assurance, discipline, love and understanding of others.

Recommendations for Maintaining – The VPC recommends that Sant Bani School should continue to:

M1. Hire people who embody the qualities and values of the school, and strengthen its procedures for communicating the culture to new faculty members, through processes of orientation, mentoring, modeling and supervision. Faculty job descriptions should express the values and mission of the school. Although employment at the school includes a large element of service, compensation levels should be raised to reflect the economic environment and to make employment more feasible and attractive.

M2. Recognize the timeless values upon which the school is built and balance them with the more traditional “business” of a school and exigencies of modern life. We should not shy away from the meditative aspect of life, understanding that while stimulation is important for learning there is a body of research that says that quieting the mind has much value. How do we balance these and communicate to the general public that we are doing this? How do we present ourselves in a way that maintains the integrity of who we are without alienating prospective students and families?

M3. Stand on the shoulders of service as a fundamental commitment for members of the entire community. Service currently happens within the school and extends into local communities through the work of individual students, classes, and the Senior Service Project. If anything, the service program should be strengthened as we move forward.

M4. Consider, in its scheduling and planning, balancing various conflicting needs: academic, physical, emotional, social, spiritual; individual vs. group; family time vs. school time.

M5. Continue to be responsive to fast-changing technologies, using them where appropriate to enhance student learning, inter-school communication, administrative tasks, and outreach to the world. Policies should balance the embrace of technology with issues of safety and possible negative impact. School practices should also be sensitive to the fact that some families, by circumstance or choice, have limited access to technology.

M6. In the course of the Bridge of Grace campaign, the school received a remarkable commitment from a sustaining donor that allows us to have confidence in the school’s future by funding a portion of our Annual and Endowment Funds. The Development Office has been reorganized and is seeking to increase its effectiveness in addressing the school’s development needs, especially in two major areas: building the endowment through the Swan’s Nest, the vehicle for legacy giving; and building the annual campaign. In addition to their tuition payments, the contributions of parents are important in fund-raising activities for the school and in the money-saving work that they do for the school. Alumni understand the need for donations to sustain the school, and are ready, with the board, to be mobilized in support of fund-raising efforts.

Recommendations for Enhancing – The VPC recommends that Sant Bani School should:

E1. Monitor the need for Capital and Program Enhancements. The VPC heard several expressions of the need for the school to address refreshing/upgrading current spaces as well as adding to the physical plant. Ideas included a re-make of the Upper Building, new/refurbished entryways, an all-weather track, an athletic facility/field house, an arts and/or performing arts building, a dormitory, a cafeteria (see E5), and a building dedicated to service. The Board, Administration, and Faculty of the school should keep well attuned to all of these currents, especially as part of the ongoing conversation about who we are as a school and whom we are serving. To attract and retain students at all levels the VPC recommends that the school consider a variety of ways to meet the diverse needs and expectations of the 21st century student.

E2. Nourish the extended community created by the school as a positive force in the lives of community members, including past as well as current families, and establish structures and procedures to facilitate the involvement of past parents, as well as to ease the transition of new families into the school community.

E3. Inform the school community (e.g. through articles in the monthly newsletter) about the staff’s extensive involvement in external conferences and workshops that ensure continued faculty growth and that the school stays abreast of current educational thinking in many areas.

E4. Commit to a three-tiered approach to managing physical resources and educate all members of the broader school community and the general public on the value of this approach. The intent would be for the approach to move from students to families to friends and neighbors. While it would be great at some point in the future to explore major areas such as the installation of solar panels, wind power, etc., for now the school should focus on the less glamorous work of retrofitting buildings and conservation through the “three Rs.”:

1. Reduce (our consumption as much as we can)
   
2. Reuse (find ways to internally keep things in use; this should include a school-wide composting program)
   
3. Recycle (pass on obsolete and/or items we can no longer use to an external group that can recycle)

E5. Increase its efforts to educate the school community about the value and practice of a simple diet based on plant foods, for its benefits to health, to the environment, and to the spiritual life. The most effective way to promote good eating is to provide food, preferably school and/or homegrown. To that end the school should investigate the feasibility of providing food to the students, through a cafeteria, for example.

E6. Find ways to increase the number of applicants, especially at the high school level. Some ideas to pursue might be to developing a clear and concise defining statement or slogan, increasing publicity and developing of internet resources, publicizing our affordability due to sliding scale for tuition, highlighting our success with college admissions and the successes of our alumni, encouraging word-of-mouth recommendations, encouraging students to have friends visit, developing projects with other schools, mobilizing alumni, parents and past parents as ambassadors for the school, recruiting home-schoolers, looking at the need to maintain/upgrade our spaces so as to be warm and inviting to visitors, and emphasizing the strength of our service program.

E7. Develop procedures of orientation, mentoring and support to provide a more successful academic and social experience for international students, their host families and the school. The VPC endorses the presence of international students in the high school at current numbers, assuming enrollment increases of local students. The school should continue to monitor the ratio of international students in relation to the total population and its impact on the high school.

E8. Develop defined structures, systems, communication channels, and written procedures throughout the school, so that successful functioning will not be dependent on the knowledge and experience of individual people.

E9. Continue to develop ways to increase our connections with the world at large, so that we can learn from others and others can learn from us. Recent efforts have included two ‘Conversations in a Changing World’ conference, inviting speakers and guests to the school, and recurring participation in the Bioneers by the Bay conferences. One suggestion is that we create a teacher training institute where we could have young interns (including alumni) come and work and learn with us. The institute would also be responsible for holding conferences, workshops, creating curricular material, etc.

E10. Continue to engage periodically in school-wide discussions to examine the culture and mission of the school. The next opportunity for this will be the NEASC accreditation process in 2012.

E11. Begin preparation for the NEASC accreditation process by reviewing the Standards and identifying areas of weakness, then defining and implementing procedures to address shortcomings. The Board and the Administration should take the lead.

November 27th 2009
Contacts: Jonathan Powell and/or Kent Bicknell for the Vision Planning Committee