With permission from the Urban Academy of Greater Pittsburgh Charter School, we are proud to share a portion of their ambitious “’We are Urban’ Strategic Plan: 2018-23”, prepared by Charter Choices in January 2018.
Our Desired Future
By the Fall of 2023, Urban Academy of Greater Pittsburgh Charter School will be the premier K-8 STREAM learning organization in the city of Pittsburgh. It will prepare each and every student -regardless of background – for success in the 21st Century global economy, with a particular focus on the applied sciences (engineering, robotics, coding, design, etc.). Featuring state-of-the-art classrooms, facilities and resources on a sprawling, urban campus, Urban Academy will extend deep roots into the community, and offer a full slate of community services to its families and neighbors.
Priorities
In order to achieve this desired future state within 5 years, Urban Academy will execute a strategic vision grounded in four priority areas: Programs, Accountability, Resources, and Community. The pages that follow provide a “roadmap” to success, an action plan that articulates specific goals in each area, along with concrete action steps (short, mid and long- term) to achieving them.
Priority Area #1: Programs
BECOME AN INCUBATOR OF K-8 INNOVATION AND DESIGN, AND INSPIRE THE CHILDREN AND FAMILIES OF OUR CITY, PARTICULARLY THOSE FURTHEST FROM OPPORTUNITY.
Goals
Prepare our students for success in the 21st century Academy and marketplace of ideas through innovative, student-centered, project-based instruction.
Build a distinctive curricular focus around the stem subjects, while integrating art and robotics (STREAM), to align our graduate profile to opportunities present in the emerging regional economy (materials science, applied math, artificial intelligence, biomedical research, etc.).
Recommit ourselves to the work of culturally relevant, equity-focused, Afrocentric pedagogy in a way that honors our past and creates a legacy for the future.
Even as we invest in new programs, make a corollary investment in the skills and capacity of Urban Academy’s teaching professionals through world-class, differentiated, learner-centered professional development and coaching.
Prepare our students for success in the 21st century Academy and marketplace of ideas through innovative, student-centered, project-based instruction.
Year 1
- Create Project Design Team
- Establish “PBL Implementation Plan”
- Select PBL design template and professional development provider
Year 2
- Revise/update K-5 Curriculum Map to integrate 1-2 major projects per year in each subject area
- Host Exhibition Nights (Fall/Spring) to highlight projects/products publicly
Years 3-5
- Tie Curriculum Map to 21st Century Assessment System (Portfolio Defense)
Build a distinctive curricular focus around the stem subjects, while integrating art and robotics (STREAM), to align our graduate profile to opportunities present in the emerging regional economy (materials science, applied math, artificial intelligence, biomedical research, etc.).
Year 1
- Select a single, problem-based math curriculum with an online, mastery-based component.
- Train all teachers on Chromebook math enrichment/intervention platform
- Construct STREAM House and open for K-5 use
Year 2
- Visit school-based Maker Spaces and STREAM programs (i.e., Bronx Green Machine) to calibrate best practices
- Tie math curriculum map to projects designed for other disciplines.
Years 3-5
- Hire Grant Coordinator, implement grant programs (“STREAM Zone”, “HW Lab”, Summer STREAM Camp, etc.)
- Apply for 21st Century Grant for before/after school STREAM enrichment
Success-Tracking Instruments
In an effort to ensure that any strategic actions taken are both effective and aligned to Urban Academy’s mission, this plan provides a series of detailed instruments for tracking metrics and progress indicators for the four key areas of organizational health outlined in the previous pages. Charter Choices anticipates working iteratively with the CEO and his advisory team to revise these metrics and update the benchmarks for each goal and strategic action.
Please access the digital attachment (Excel, G-Drive) to this plan to review the following tools:
- Board Committee Planning Doc
- Strategic Plan Metrics Dashboard
- Strategic Plan Implementation Tracker
The dashboard goals and implementation tracker map directly to the categories (and proposed committees) detailed in the narrative, and are similarly organized to demonstrate alignment with the CEO’s Entry Plan work published in January 2017. The intent here is to give Urban Academy’s leadership and board the infrastructure and tools to customize the plan’s recommendations (and integrate with existing initiatives) in ways that will drive improvement and growth, and poise the school for success in its upcoming expansion. The dashboard, in particular, offers specific data points to track progress and performance related to its ambitious priorities and goals. This data can be grouped in three distinct categories – students, stakeholders, and organizational health:
- Students: Urban Academy, in line with its commitment to eliminating the racial achievement gap, will set ambitious goals for student performance on a variety of assessments, notably the MAP and To supplement academic measures, Urban Academy is also focused on cultivating students’ 21st Century skills, such as the 4Cs (Communication, Critical Thinking, Collaboration, and Creativity), to ensure post- secondary success and college persistence.
- Stakeholders: The various stakeholders of Urban Academy – students, families, staff, leaders and board – are all essential to the learning The organization seeks to invest in high-leverage human capital practices, track teacher retention, capture stakeholder satisfaction and engagement annually via administrative surveys.
- Organizational Health: Particularly in light of the school’s 5-year expansion plans, Urban Academy will track organizational health metrics (finances, funds raised, audit, enrollment, etc.) to support its growth and