Over time, I have come to see strategic planning not as a technical exercise, but as an act of stewardship. Schools do not belong to any one leader or board. They are living institutions shaped by generations of families, educators, and students. Strategic planning is one of the moments when leaders are asked to honor the past while taking responsibility for the future.
This perspective changes how we think about the work. Strategic planning is not about imposing a vision or preserving the status quo. It is about listening carefully, understanding what makes a school distinctive, and making thoughtful choices about what must be protected, what can evolve, and what needs to be left behind.
During our strategic planning work at Oak Hill, Ian Symmonds offered a framing that stayed with me. He described strategy as the place where “Mission meets market." That idea grounded our work. A school’s mission defines its purpose and values. The market reflects the realities of families’ needs, expectations, and choices. Strategy lives in the disciplined space between the two.
Holding both at once requires care. Chasing the market without anchoring in mission risks losing identity. Clinging to a mission without understanding the market risks irrelevance. Stewardship means honoring the soul of the school while ensuring it remains viable in a changing landscape.
At Oak Hill, this framing allowed us to name tensions without becoming reactive. We identified strengths, acknowledged constraints, and made choices that aligned aspiration with capacity. The resulting plan was not about trends or quick wins. It was about coherence and long-term health.
Stewardship also requires humility. No strategic plan is permanent. Contexts shift, communities evolve, and leaders must adapt while remaining anchored to purpose. When strategy is approached this way, it builds trust. Decisions make sense, even when they are difficult, and the school’s mission remains at the center of the work.
For me, this is where strategic planning does its most important work, ensuring that the school we are shaping today will be worthy of the community that inherits it tomorrow.