Strategic Growth Initiatives (SGIs)


Unanimously approved by the Board of Trustees in 2021, these strategic growth initiatives (SGIs) represent transformative areas of focus for the school in three key areas: Early Childhood Education, Creativity, and Access and Inclusion. Nearly 100 members of our community—trustees, administrators, faculty, staff, and parents/guardians—provided input that helped shape these initiatives to guide Evergreen's future. Work continues with a steering committee and three working groups, one for each initiative. Below, learn about progress so far, updates, and ongoing goals. 
 

Creativity


Educate students to develop the competence to engage productively and collaboratively with hard problems through the generation, testing, and improvement of ideas, effective solutions, and impactful expressions of imagination. 

 

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Progress to Date:

  • Ongoing professional development with all faculty and staff
  • All-faculty/staff read Teaching Creative Thinking, by Bill Lucas and Ellen Spencer (summer 2023)
  • Introduced tool for teachers to assess existing units for creative thinking attributes (August 2023) 

 

Moving Forward:

  • Continue professional development and assessment of our current curriculum, including reviewing best practices and piloting new strategies at Evergreen (underway 2023-2024)
  • Establish a framework for ongoing sharing and feedback: Regularly share the school's work in creative thinking and expression with our community, and assess the results.
  • Focus on the many ways the arts can center creativity in our instructional program, including course offerings and assessing our current and future potential for gallery spaces, performance spaces, visual arts studios.

Early Childhood


To become a leader in the field of early childhood education (ECE) for highly capable students, Evergreen must stay current with best practices in the field and make meaningful investments in the program.

 

 

 

Progress to Date:

In 2022, preschool and prekindergarten faculty began working with a nationally recognized ECE consultant and have since made enormous progress, including:

  • Drafting an updated philosophy statement for preschool and prekindergarten;
  • Revising their schedules to give teachers more planning time together as a team;
  • Reconfiguring classroom spaces to create dedicated zones of exploration;
  • Introducing new screening tools and assessments;
  • Purchasing new classroom furniture and outdoor equipment;
  • Providing teachers with paid time over the summer to plan and develop new units of study that align with our updated philosophy.

 

Moving Forward:

  • Continue to work with our consultant to further unify the throughline from preschool to kindergarten and beyond, including with the kindergarten teaching team as well (2023-2024) 
  • Facilities: Maximize our current spaces and consider potential future spaces, to enable our ECE program to reach its potential. This includes moving forward with a capital project to build a new Early Childhood Center (approved by the board 2024).   

Access and Inclusion


All community members will experience a deep sense of belonging and will be able to gain full access to the Evergreen experience. This goal will ensure that when everyone can fully participate and feel included, all students can reach their full potential—and the community benefits as a result. 

 

 

 

Progress to Date:

  • Administered the national AIM survey: Assessment of Inclusivity and Multiculturalism (2022-2023)
  • Created faculty/staff affinity spaces: BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ (2022)
  • Added a new event series: Virtual Lunches with Leadership for parents/guardians, focusing on BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, neurodiversity, and more (2023-2024) 
  • Increased our participation in employees attending the NAIS People of Color Conference (2023)
  • Year-long professional development with Belong Partners: SEL training with a DEI lens (2023-2024)

 

Moving Forward:

  •  Creating a Diversity Strategic Plan with the DEI Board Committee and senior leadership
  • Forming a faculty/staff DEI Committee
  • Aligning SEL and DEI in Curriculum from preschool through 8th grade