Strategic Plan 2021-24

Dear Friends,

Over the last decade, BCS has undergone tremendous growth. Our student body has expanded in both numbers and diversity. We have introduced new curricula and athletic programs, and we have enhanced student life programming. Our built infrastructure, and the beautiful campus that embraces it, have been upgraded, sending a strong message to current students and prospective BCS families alike that BCS is both listening and responding to the challenge of preparing young people for the(ir) future. Our parents are more actively engaged and connected than ever, as is our global community of alumni. As we all know, the BCS experience does not end with graduation but extends throughout the lives of our community members.

So, it is with enthusiasm and pride that we share with you Bishop’s College School’s 2021-24 Strategic Plan. Succinct and powerful, this plan has one over-arching goal: whole school improvement which will position BCS among global leaders in independent education. Successfully reaching this goal requires ambitious thinking, underpinned by solid planning and preparedness. Therefore, the 2021-24 plan was designed as a tool for school leadership to identify, analyze, and improve all divisions of the school, bringing increased harmony, productivity and coordination between Academics, Student Life, Admissions, Advancement, Communications, and Operations. This will be critical to subsequent strategic initiatives, which are already being eagerly anticipated.

Last year, we welcomed Michel Lafrance, our 32nd Head of School. We also returned to in-person learning during an ongoing global pandemic, after a short hiatus of online learning. Given the challenges our school faced, it would have surprised no one if the decision was taken to be content with holding steady the wheel until the storm had passed. But anyone who has driven through an Eastern Townships blizzard knows that a good driver steers INTO the skid, not away from it. Boldly, Mr. Lafrance, his senior leadership team, and the Association Board began moving forward and a Strategic Planning Committee was struck.

The 35-member committee included directors from both the Association and Foundation Boards, equal faculty and staff representation, and the senior leadership team, guided by an outside facilitator. After collecting feedback via surveys from our full community (students, employees, parents, and alumni) in the spring, the group came together for two virtual retreats and several rounds of survey result analysis, brainstorming, feedback, and iterations, as goals were identified and the plan itself took shape.

The goal of this dynamic three-year plan is to enhance all areas of the school through innovation and forward thinking and ultimately improve the student experience at BCS. Our community thrives on the pursuit of excellence and the support of all members of the BCS family, and this is reflected in our newly crafted mission, vision, and values that represent the BCS of today and tomorrow. We will strive to communicate and engage all our constituents at a higher level, we promise to do better with diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice, and we will aim for high standards of environmental sustainability. Most importantly, we will continue to place the students at the heart of our decision-making and improve every facet of the school, to ensure that our graduates become successful contributors to society.

Michel Lafrance, Head of School

We invite you to discover the plan in the following pages. We welcome your feedback and support. With this new plan, BCS re-commits to delivering an exemplary educational experience to young people, to honouring the trust caregivers of our students have placed in us, to making BCS a wonderful place to live and work for our employees, to respecting the expectations of our donors, and to being a touchstone for our alumni and friends.

Until we meet again,