Facility Planning for the Future

The climate of education is rapidly changing.  Private school education has been at the forefront of this change for the past several years.  Currently, there are 16 states and Washington, DC, offering voucher programs, opening new avenues for families to participate in private school education.  This also brings growth challenges.  Many private schools have started small, growing organically over decades, on property of 3 acres or less.  The average enrollment for a US private school is 400 students, significantly smaller than most traditional district schools.  With the increased interest in states offering vouchers, private schools are facing increased demand, substantial waiting lists, and a lack of space to enroll interested families. The desire to scale up facilities to meet enrollment demands can feel daunting.

How can Synergy Partners help? 

Helping administrators and school boards understand what their facility options is key.  Evaluating your school's current facility and identifying expansion opportunities or improved space utilization is a great place to start.  A review of your spaces in conjunction with a strategic planning session can help your board feel comfortable in a facility expansion plan that meets your timelines, space needs, and financing goals.

 

What is a Facility Planning Session?

A facility planning session focuses on five main areas: setting direction, goal setting, resource allocation, developing strategies, and implementation.

Setting Direction: What is your facility's vision for the future?  Is it expanded classroom space?  Maybe new theater and arts spaces? Increased athletic facilities?  Brainstorming and prioritizing your facilities’ needs are key.

Goal Setting: Identifying proper goals and objectives that can be used as benchmarks to track your facility's progress.  Is it identifying a new location?  Establishing a capital campaign to assist with costs?  Restructuring school expenses to increase cash flow for facility expansion?  Preparing thoughtful, realistic goals that can be tracked will help your facility's needs be realized.

Resource Allocation: Determining the proper people, time, and money to make your facility a reality. Understanding the real estate process and timelines associated with facility improvements is crucial.  Can the school provide people to oversee the process, or should you contract services? What part of the project can the school afford to fund versus applying for financing?  Understanding the obligations to your school's resources will help avoid uncomfortable decisions later on.

Developing Strategies: A key step in the facility process is identifying opportunities and recognizing the challenges of your facility plan.  Expansions or new facility projects are never linear processes.  The ability to see opportunities and address challenges during the process is critical to a positive outcome.

Implementation: At the end of the strategic planning session, it's time to implement your plan!  Along with the implementation, it needs to be monitored.  Synergy Partners will make sure that your organization is ready to start putting your plan in place and can assist with monitoring, as needed.

 Why Do a Facility Plan with Synergy Partners?

Synergy Partners has experience in planning, reviewing, developing, and monitoring facility plans for organizations all across the country.  Our goal is to provide you with the knowledge and a solid plan that allows your organization to complete a successful facility expansion. Having a facility plan helps your school to make effective, timely decisions.  It gives the stakeholders focus and allows collaboration as your facility goals move forward. A strategic facility plan also keeps everyone in alignment for the future, regardless of changes in board membership or administration.

Ready to schedule your strategic planning session?  Reach out at info@synergypartners208.com or contact Jennifer at (208) 407-6956.  Still trying to decide if your organization is ready?  Utilize our free Expansion Readiness Checklist listed under resources.