Long-Range Planning

During last Thursday’s Town Hall, I announced that the LCA Board of Trustees is launching a long-range planning process in January. Long-range planning is the same as strategic planning, with a longer time horizon (usually 5-10 years rather than 3-5 years). Long-range planning is a community-wide process that involves multiple stakeholders and constituents, including parents, faculty, staff, alumni, grandparents, and students. We will be asking our school community to help us shape the future of our school, at least for the next decade. It is both a mission and vision-driven process that will produce a “blueprint” and “roadmap” for school leaders to reference and follow. Below is a video and an FAQ about the planning process.

What is it?

• A full-constituency, strategic process that answers the question, What kind of school do we aspire to be in the next five to ten years?
  

Why do it?

• It is a process that facilitates continuous improvement and reinforces the school’s commitment to excellence. 
• It provides a “blueprint” and a “roadmap” for school leadership to follow in its quest to establish a more excellent school.
• It fulfills our accreditation requirement. 

When does the planning process begin and how long does it take?

• We will launch the process in January and hope to complete it by August 2022.
  

Who will lead the process?

• The LCA board has retained the services of Mr. Ian Symmonds, of Ian Symmonds & Associates. Ian has facilitated hundreds of strategic planning processes for private schools and non-profit organizations across the country.
• The board of trustees will appoint a Steering Committee to oversee the process and develop the final plan.

How can I be involved in the process?

• Every parent, teacher, staff member, and upper-level student will have an opportunity to determine the critical issues that deserve attention by completing a survey administered by Ian Symmonds later this month.
• Many other parents, teachers, administrators, and students will be asked to serve on one of the study groups or task forces that will be formed as a result of the survey. 

Will everyone have a chance to see the plan?

• Absolutely. Just as we did four years ago following our last strategic planning process, we will publish a hard copy of the final document as well as post it on the school’s website.
  
  

As one who has been engaged in numerous strategic planning sessions during the course of my career, I can’t overemphasize how important the process is to the health of a school and how transformational it can be. As one pundit put it, “failing to plan is planning to fail.” Holy Scripture contains many verses that stress the importance of planning, including Proverbs 21:3, “The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty,” Proverbs 24:27, “Prepare your work outside; get everything ready for yourself in the field, and after that build your house,” and my favorite, Proverbs 16:3, “Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.” Please be assured that we will be seeking God’s wisdom, discernment, and direction throughout the planning process. We will not ask him to bless our plans; we will ask him to reveal his will for Legacy.

Legacy Christian Academy is Frisco's preeminent Pre-K through 12 Christian school committed to educating students in a college preparatory environment balanced in academics, athletics, and fine arts–all within the context of a biblical worldview. For more information on Legacy, visit our admissions page.