Strategic Plan 2022-2027

A Message to the Community

From the Strategic Planning Chair
October 2022

To the Community of The King’s Academy,

In February of 2022, The King’s Academy Board initiated an effort to update our five-year Strategic Plan. The first step involved in-depth interviews with more than 25 groups of TKA stakeholders, representing parents, alumni, faculty, staff and students.  The feedback garnered during these lively conversations affirmed the value of our mission as a Christ-centered school inspiring academic excellence, servant leadership and enduring relationships, and our vision that TKA graduates are transformed by Christ, live a life that honors God, and use their gifts to influence the world for Him. 

Centering on the mission and vision and building on the long list of accomplishments achieved from the 2017-2022 Strategic Plan, the strategic planning team applied their collective wisdom and experience to develop a comprehensive set of goals for the next five years. This Strategic Plan is a summary of that work and was adopted by the Board on October 13, 2022.

We invite you to read the following plan, and especially note our focus on Academic Excellence, Spiritual Formation, Staff Development, Facilities, and Financial Health. The goals outlined in this Strategic Plan reflect our hopes and dreams for The King’s Academy, and we are excited to see these come to fruition.

Our investments will center around the theme of "Equipping":  We are equipping students to navigate the world in a God-honoring way and navigate life after high school; we are equipping the staff to deliver on our mission; and we are equipping the campus with facilities that reflect the strong academics for which TKA is known. 

Therefore, we have chosen our theme verse for this Strategic Plan from Ephesians 4:12: “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.”

Many thanks to members of the Long Range Planning Committee, the Head-of-School and his Administrative Team, the TKA School Board, and BetterSchools LLC for their insight and contributions.

Being a Christ-centered school, we like to say that the most important part of our name is the apostrophe. To that end, we dedicate this Strategic Plan to the King, Jesus Christ.

Sincerely,

Laura French
Strategic Planning Chair

Academic Excellence

The overarching purpose of our academic program is to prepare the next generation of scholars and leaders. The King’s Academy has made tremendous strides over the past seven years in the quality of its academic programs. AP offerings and test scores have increased, which helps TKA graduates be better prepared for the next step in their educational journey. 

Building on the strength of our core curriculum, TKA will focus on expanding its STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) offerings and courses in business and entrepreneurship. Goals in this area include optimizing instructional time, investing in academic competition, and providing college counseling beginning in 8th grade. Integrating a Biblical worldview into subject areas will continue to be a focus.

Recognizing that the growing cost of a college degree is becoming prohibitive for many families, The King’s Academy will also investigate Dual Credit options. 

But of all the investment areas, the most important involves a broadened definition of academic excellence.  TKA desires to better serve all members of our families, particularly those students who are less interested in a traditional college path.  To this end, TKA plans to introduce a parallel, four-year diploma track for those students wishing to pursue a vocational program following graduation. 

Finally, but most importantly, academic excellence is only possible with excellent teachers.  Therefore, TKA will continue to focus on recruiting and developing outstanding faculty and encourage collaboration within and across academic departments.

Goals

• Designate half-time 8^th grade academic counselor
• Offer two-year college pathway
• Train faculty to support broader definition of "Academic Excellence"
• Establish “freshman success” program
• Offer dual credit program
• Expand course offerings in business and entrepreneurship
• Expand course offerings in STEAM
• Optimize use of instructional time
• Expand investments in academic competitions

Spiritual Formation

Since its founding, TKA has desired to see its students develop a true understanding of the gospel and become disciples of Jesus Christ. This message was reinforced during the strategic planning interviews. Across every constituency queried, the spiritual formation of students ranked as the highest priority.  Families expressed concern about the non-Biblical values of the surrounding culture and want TKA to focus on helping students cultivate a Biblical worldview and make wise choices that honor God.  

Our two central objectives are to introduce students who do not know Jesus into a relationship with Him and bring those who have already made a profession of faith into a deeper, more mature walk with Him.  To this end, investments will be made in both formal and informal discipleship.  Specific goals include modifications to Home Group and Chapel, identifying student leaders and offering mentoring in peer discipleship, expanding the reach of Spiritual Life services, and broadening our service trip offerings. 

The King’s Academy was founded on the principles of incarnational ministry embedded in the Young Life model.  This relational ministry is absolutely central and distinguishes TKA from every other school in the area.  Keeping student-to-teacher ratios small enables personal connections to develop.  Teachers will continue to be encouraged to spend time with students outside the classroom, modeling Christ-like qualities, encouraging them, nurturing their unique gifts and talents, mentoring them, praying with them, and sacrificially loving our students. 

Goals

• Revitalize and restructure home groups
• Reimagine chapel format and methodology
• Examine and revise Bible department scope and sequence
• Engage students in peer ministry
• Leverage club structure for student-led Bible studies and discipleship groups
• Augment opportunities for Spiritual Life staff to model and engage in incarnational ministry
• Redesign service trip experience to ensure immersion and broadened opportunity

Staff Development

Faculty and staff are the bedrock of The King’s Academy; they are why TKA can fulfill its mission.  Year after year, our surveys tell us that the enduring relationships forged at The King’s Academy are what alumni, students, and parents value the most.  Investing in our staff is a high priority for the next five years.  Specific goals include recruiting and retaining excellent teachers and providing the support structures for longevity at TKA.  Onboarding will be augmented for both teachers and staff. 

Consistent with our emphasis on improving spiritual formation, we will be investing in evangelism and discipleship training, along with a curriculum to help staff better integrate a Biblical worldview into all subject areas.  We expect to invite external presenters on pertinent social and cultural issues to equip staff as they navigate the questions students have.  We also plan to invest in Learning Difference Training to enable our teachers to accommodate mainstreamed students who have unique needs. And focusing on high staff morale, TKA will be pursuing the “Best Christian Workplace” certification. 

Goals

• Develop and implement discipleship and worldview education curriculum and training
• Implement annual inservice training for staff on evangelism and discipleship
• Invite external presenters on pertinent social and cultural issues
• Expand leadership opportunities for faculty
• Equip department leads in spiritual care for their teams
• Train teachers in classroom accommodations and support for students with learning differences 
• Achieve “Best Christian Workplace” certification
• Develop connections to Christian college education departments for hiring top graduates
• Actively recruit TKA alumni

Facilities

Over the past five years, heavy investments in TKA’s facilities have increased pride in the campus and enabled new programs and ministries. TKA is dedicated to continually improving the physical facilities to enhance the students' academic, extra-curricular and spiritual experience. 

Given our location in Silicon Valley, prospective families expect high-caliber science, technology, arts, and math (STEAM) facilities.  To respond to this requirement and the explosive interest we have experienced in robotics, we plan to renovate a new building on campus with top-quality STEM offerings, including new Chemistry, Physics, and Biology labs, a large Robotics room, state-of-the-art Maker Space, and new bathrooms.  We also plan to continue investing in the theater and converting lighting to LED, enhancing our productions, and saving electricity and maintenance. 

Longer term, we have plans for a second gym and an indoor cafeteria.  Our long-range facilities plan is exciting and will enable enrollment to grow from 950 students to 1250, allowing more students to be reached for Christ.

Goals

• Renovate V building for STEM
• Renovate L building
• Complete A-wing HVAC upgrades and remodel
• Install theater LED house lighting and LED stage lighting
• Complete HVAC for gym
• Build a multipurpose building/second gym
• Relocate VPA storage and set shop to TKA
• Renovate W Building for new cafeteria
• Modify administration wing
• Make modifications to improve traffic flows
• Improve the campus appearance and landscaping
• Implement infrastructure changes to accommodate enrollment growth goals

Financial Health

The school's financial health enables the fulfillment of our mission and the investments described in this Strategic Plan. Because tuition only covers the base cost of education, additional fundraising will be required. Development activities will focus on TKA’s growing alumni base, as well as our Knight’s Annual Fundraiser and individual donors who support the mission of The King’s Academy.

TKA’s fundraising will focus on two areas:  First, a capital campaign is planned to raise funds needed to remodel the new STEM building, build a new gym and create an indoor cafeteria. We expect to need $20M-$40M to realize our vision for these new spaces. 

Second, we will continue to grow the TKA Endowment. The Endowment was created as a result of our 2017 Strategic Plan. Our intent was to grow the Endowment to $20M so that the interest generated would eventually become the primary funding mechanism for student financial aid.  As of September 2022, the Endowment has grown to approximately $4M, so donations and a favorable portfolio will be needed to help reach our goal of $20M. 

An additional way to help fund these initiatives—and enable more robust programming in academic electives and extra-curricular activities—is to increase our enrollment by 300 students.  Increasing enrollment will require us to hire additional staff, but we believe we can achieve this growth without sacrificing academic excellence or relational ministry.  We have set a goal to increase the junior high population to 150 per grade, representing an increase of 25 students in each grade.  Our long-term goal for high school enrollment is 200 students per grade, an increase of 50 students per grade. 

To achieve these enrollment targets, we plan to increase marketing to local churches and develop a network of K-8 feeder schools called the “Knight’s Alliance.”  We also hope to introduce an elementary-focused summer camp program to raise awareness of TKA in the community.  And finally, we have set a goal to increase the retention rate of 8^th graders transitioning to 9^th grade. 

Goals

• Increase enrollment to 1250 students 
• Grow and strengthen network of K-8 feeder schools
• Increase international student enrollment
• Market to local churches
• Serve locally for brand awareness
• Market need-based tuition assistance to middle income families
• Sustain tuition assistance at 30% of students for socioeconomic diversity
• Start an elementary-focused summer camp program
• Revamp tuition assistance award process
• Increase 8^th to 9^th grade retention rate to 90%
• Grow Endowment Fund to $20M for tuition assistance
• Initiate V  building capital campaign
• Initiate L building capital campaign
• Initiate new gym capital campaign
• Initiate cafeteria capital campaign

Any size gift to help ensure The King's Academy legacy is greatly appreciated, and donations can be made online.