Strategic Plan
The future is here and we are ready to meet it...
As the 17th oldest independent school in the nation, Harrisburg Academy’s educational philosophy has always centered on developing character through academic, arts and athletic excellence. To meet the needs of today’s fast-moving world, our students proudly stand on this strong foundation to build new skills to explore bold horizons - within the Academy, in our local community, and on the world stage.
We envision a future Harrisburg Academy, driven by our highly acclaimed International Baccalaureate Continuum Programme. Harrisburg Academy embraces a student-driven, inquiry-based experiential learning, and a holistic approach to human development, all within a diverse and inclusive community where everyone feels they belong. We imagine innovative education initiatives where students can partner with local and global organizations in service to others. We dream of creating a space for this vibrant learning and connection that will empower and inspire the students and the community.
Our Strategic Plan, entitled Forging our Future — Moving Forward Together, presents four pillars to usher us into this new era for our treasured school. These pillars—Embracing Community and Belonging; Advancing and Innovating Teaching and Learning; Investing in our Faculty and Staff; and Creating a Culture of Philanthropy—have been identified by Harrisburg Academy’s Strategic Planning Committee through countless hours of listening to the community and exploring what the future of education requires.
We invite our Academy community and the broader community to read the full Strategic Plan below.
We invite our Academy community and the broader community to read the full Strategic Plan below.
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Vision and Goals
Our strong community exists only when all our members are seen, known, celebrated, and safe. Harrisburg Academy fully embraces a diverse community of engaged students, faculty, staff, administrators, families, alumni, and the greater community, creating a deep sense of investment and belonging. Our world’s future requires leaders who know how to build meaningful connections and communities. Students will build skills to be collaborative, thoughtful, inclusive community members, who are empowered to live our global mission and leave a lasting legacy at the Academy.
Goals:
1. Partner with experts in the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice, and Belonging field to increase our knowledge, perspectives, and skills, while assessing the needs of our programming and school culture in age-appropriate ways.
2. Provide regular training and continuing education for faculty, staff, and administrators on initiatives related to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice, and Belonging and student mental health.3. Reestablish and build upon Blue and Gold traditions, instilling a sense of pride and community in all facets of student life, across all grade levels and divisions.4. Reach outside our walls to make connections in the local and global community for students to serve and make an impact.
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Vision and Goals
As the premier educational institution in the Harrisburg area offering preschool through twelfth grade, the Academy offers students a challenging and experiential academic curriculum with the freedom and support to explore their own individual passions and interests, sparking a lifelong excitement and motivation for learning.To meet the needs of a fast-changing world where many of our students will enter jobs that do not even exist yet, the Academy provides transformative experiences by connecting students to experts in the community for real-world learning opportunities to create globally minded, passionate, and engaged students and leaders.Harrisburg Academy will expand the Centers for Experiential Learning and Innovation for students in all grade levels by creating new programs for exploration and connection within the classroom and beyond the walls of our school while fostering principled, ethical decision-making on a personal and academic level.
Goals:1. Build a unique curriculum and a schedule that emphasizes and bolsters the IB’s focus on experiential learning, “learning by doing,” at every age and division.2. Provide additional professional development for faculty and staff in current technologies and educational skills.3. Engage in new ways with existing community partners and foster new relationships in the Harrisburg community, and in the wider IB school community, to create exciting experiential learning experiences and to showcase the innovative teaching happening at the Academy.4. Invest in infrastructure to create inspiring spaces with the technology and resources for experiential learning and bold opportunities for collaboration with outside partners and student-directed, real-world projects. These future-forward spaces will attract new students, families, and faculty to our community, as well as possible new financial partners.
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Vision and Goals
Harrisburg Academy’s teachers and staff are at the heart of our community and form the cornerstone of our excellent reputation. The personal relationships between teachers, staff, and students are essential to the growth of each Spartan and to the strength and future of our school. The investment we make toward thoughtful teacher and staff care and compensation will not only strengthen our community but also attract highly qualified and diverse faculty and staff to our team.
Goals:1. Prioritize faculty and staff care, compensation, and benefits packages, gathering the best innovative ideas of the faculty, staff, and administration.2. Assess faculty and staff needs around new programs and new schedules, including more time for in-house mentoring and training.3. Explore creative ways to attract and retain a high quality and diverse faculty, including building connections with education departments at local universities and other IB schools.
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Vision and Goals
Harrisburg Academy’s storied history is one of generosity and a commitment to the betterment of our local and global communities. Pride in who we are, the relationships we continually build with each other, and giving back to Harrisburg Academy is the mission that we strive to set for every student. We feel a responsibility to nurture a stronger, more accessible community, both for our Academy family and for the greater Harrisburg region. A lasting culture of philanthropy defines Harrisburg Academy and will help secure a vibrant tomorrow for current and future students. It also catalyst for innovation, change and transformation.
Goals:1. Tell our story in ways that highlight our future-forward, student-driven, real-world curriculum, our diversity and global learning, and our connection and commitment to the Harrisburg community.2. Emphasize how philanthropy supports the innovative education at the Academy, makes it more accessible to a diverse population, and gives back to the community at large. Cultivate outside experts to help us tell our story and advise us on our philanthropic goals.3. Better connect with and inspire alumni to be part of our future, asking for their talent and their treasure to support current and future students and the bold vision of the Harrisburg Academy.4. Seek partnerships with friends and families, corporations, government agencies, and other organizations and donors who wish to support innovation and growth in our area.