Strategic Plan
Creating Brighter Futures: Briya’s Strategy 2013-2018 grew out of the school’s accreditation process, which established key objectives for both adult and early childhood education. Through the strategic planning, three priorities for 2013-2018 emerged:
- Expand student opportunities by providing tools for post-Briya success.
- The National External Diploma Program will enable students to earn their high school diplomas.
- Support for transitions into further education and specific career-path programs will occur in the classroom and through one-on-one counseling.
- Workforce development courses will prepare Briya students to gain sustainable employment — a vital factor in stabilizing families.
- Focus Briya’s growth while expanding on the gains made since the school became a charter.
- Secure funding for the infant & toddler programs to fill a current funding need. The goal is to gain long-term public support or foundation funding.
- Utilize real-time strategy assessment to respond effectively to Briya’s organizational needs, opportunities and challenges.
- Maintain co-location with Mary’s Center while exploring facilities options for 2017-2020.
- Grow at an annual average of 5%.
- Raise Briya’s profile through the school’s new brand and identity as a DC public charter school built on the family engagement model.
- Build an online presence to raise awareness of the school, facilitate student, staff and Board recruitment, and assist in fundraising.
- Strengthen Briya’s identity as a DC public charter school while building on partnership assets.
Strategic Planning Process
Creating Brighter Futures: Briya’s Strategy 2013–2018, grew out of the school’s accreditation process. The Accreditation Team, representing Briya stakeholders, established academic objectives through 2018 for the adult education and early childhood programs of the school. These objectives were approved by Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, which accredited Briya in December of 2011 and recommended that the school continue a planning process to identify growth priorities.
The Accreditation Team evolved into the Strategy Team whose role is to continue strategic planning and serve as the implementation arm for academic objectives. Among several key issues addressed were the need for a clear school identity and higher profile, the multiple locations and partners of the school, and the rapid rate of expansion.
Meeting monthly from June 2011 until December 2012, the Strategy Team tackled threshold questions using a real-time strategy approach. This approach acknowledges that non-profit strategic planning must be responsive to opportunities that arise quickly and need a speedy resolution, thus falling outside the scope of a traditional strategic plan.
Briya became a public charter school at a time of prolific growth of charter schools in the District of Columbia. Briya students are part of a demographic with rapidly changing needs and challenges. In this unique environment, the real-time strategy approach offers useful tools which help the Strategy Team build on the school’s strengths when making decisions for the future. The strategy screen helps ensure that planning supports the school’s strongest assets.
