2024 Bernard Zell Strategic Plan

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Framing the Strategic Plan

A letter from, Gary Weisserman, Head of School & Andrea Grostern, Chair of the Board of Trustees

A letter from, Gary Weisserman, Head of School & Andrea Grostern, Chair of the Board of Trustees

Members of the Bernard Zell Community,

This is a watershed moment—for the Jewish community, and for Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School.

We began our strategic planning process at a pivotal time in American Jewish life. Political polarization, a rise in antisemitic activity, a vicious attack on Israel, and an extended, existential conflict in the Middle East are the context for more immediate local challenges. Chicago area schools continue to wrestle with the impact of the global pandemic on student needs and the teacher pipeline and experience, while inflation continues to increase education costs.

For more than 78 years, Bernard Zell has proudly developed the hearts and minds of Chicago’s children, providing educational excellence through a powerfully Jewish lens. To create the Jewish Chicago we want for generations to come, we must ensure a thriving Bernard Zell.

This is the time for a strategic vision guided both by reliable data and solid design principles. Now is our moment to inaugurate the vital future of Bernard Zell.

A Strategic Plan that is Thoughtful, Passionate, and Purposeful.

Our strategic planning process began with ISACS accreditation in 2022 and formally launched in 2023. We followed best practices to define who we are and who we want to become through:

Partnering with colleagues at Independent School Management
Collecting data and considering the latest research
Listening to students, parents, alumni, faculty, lay leadership, and friends

Despite challenges, Bernard Zell is fortunate to imagine the future from a position of strength, with:

An outstanding core faculty, a strong academic program and reputation, and state-of-the-art facilities.
Key indicators of stable or slowly increasing enrollment over the next few years.
Consistently high fundraising and engagement scores.

Graduate success in high school and beyond.
A growing endowment that provides stability.
Community partners determined to keep education affordable for middle-income families.

We’ve already learned that a strategic plan is more than a way to establish best practices; it is a moral document. It’s how Bernard Zell will articulate institutional priorities, build on strengths, and meet future challenges in ways that honor our core values.

Our strategic plan will also be a living document, one we will refine at regular, three-to-five-year intervals. This may include evaluating and updating our mission and vision for the school, our core values as a Jewish institution, and the range of families we serve.

A Strong Future We’ll Forge with Our Community.

We are keenly aware of our profound impact on children, families, and community, and are committed to working with the BZ community to develop new generations of scholars and mensches who epitomize our Portrait of a Graduate. Our community’s unmatched wisdom led to the three broad goals outlined below, and we’re certain these goals will be central to our future.

Thank you for helping us reach this stage.

Thank you for joining us as, together, we forge the future of Bernard Zell.

B’Shalom,
Gary Weisserman
Head of School

Andrea Grostern
Chair of the Board of Trustees

2024 Bernard Zell Strategic Plan

GOAL 1: INVEST IN PEOPLE AND PROGRAMS THAT ACHIEVE OUR VISION FOR EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE

Our core academic program is one of both rigor and support, where students are truly seen and known by their teachers. We challenge and engage students through innovative teaching and hands-on exploration, nurturing social-emotional and spiritual skills as well as intellectual skills.

Jewish Studies, Hebrew, and Israel education are foundational to the Bernard Zell experience, and we welcome students from the full range of religious beliefs and observances that make up Jewish life. As Jewish life continues to evolve, we must plan to evolve our practice to meet it, ensuring that generations of Bernard Zell students graduate extraordinarily prepared for future academic pursuits, meaningful relationships, and lives of fulfillment and purpose.

Strategies and Tactics

Ensure we continue to have the best teachers for our students by further investing in them financially, professionally, and culturally.

Conduct a faculty compensation analysis and implement changes so that Bernard Zell teachers are among the region’s best compensated.
Create a formal program for instructional coaching that encompasses new teacher mentorship, onboarding and retention, teacher development, teacher training/pipeline, and pedagogical improvement.
Continue expanding our investment in professional development for faculty.
Identify, and highlight to our community, the innovative and exciting learning moments our teachers create each day.
Purposefully engage in activities underscoring that a healthy partnership between teachers and parents is essential to each child's academic, social, and emotional growth and development. Clarify expectations and boundaries around this dynamic.

Extend our commitment to academic excellence, investing in key content areas, beginning with Math.

Beginning with Math, add instructional leaders for each content area as needed to support all divisions.
Vertically align curriculum in key areas to ensure connection from early childhood through middle school and on to the high schools where our students matriculate.
Continue the commitment to becoming a fully dedicated Responsive Classroom School, emphasizing that its core principles are consistent with our own.

Provide more agency and choice as students grow.

Building on the work done in lower grades around enrichment clusters, identify and develop new signature programs that give middle school students the opportunity and agency to pursue their passions in “major” areas. These areas might include entrepreneurship, the arts, technology, or social action.
Consider adding tracks for Hebrew to address varying desires for proficiency.
Add opportunities for students to explore the rich tapestry of American Jewish culture.

Evolve our Hebrew, Jewish studies, Israel studies, Tefillah, and Jewish life programs to inspire a new generation of students.

Continue to attract and develop Jewish Studies faculty, supported by an innovative curriculum that emphasizes the outcomes in the BZ Portrait of a Graduate.
Enhance Bernard Zell’s unique approach to Jewish Studies, Hebrew language, Israel education, and Jewish life—preparing students by using Judaism as a toolbox for living.
Consider adding tracks for Hebrew to address varying desires for proficiency.
Add opportunities for students to explore the rich tapestry of American Jewish culture.
Partner with other community organizations for ongoing education around Israel, fighting antisemitism, and intra-religious education.

Guarantee that Bernard Zell graduates continue to have multiple outstanding high school options that meet each student’s needs.

Explore formal agreements with local high schools, public and private.
Continue to invest in high school counseling. Provide test preparation options as needed within the school.
Vertically align curriculum in key areas, such as math, to ensure connection from early childhood through middle school and on to the high schools where our students matriculate.

Goal 2: Ensure Access and Sustainability

Bernard Zell plays an integral role in the lives of its students, their families, and the Chicago Jewish community, and the pluralistic makeup of our families plays an important role in shaping our school’s culture. Our goal is that every mission-appropriate family who wants to attend Bernard Zell can so without undue burden. At the same time, we must steward the school’s resources to ensure it will continue to thrive l’dor v’dor (from generation to generation).

Strategies and Tactics

Create a financial path for all mission-appropriate families to be able to attend Bernard Zell.

Maintain long-term institutional fiscal stability.

Operate a multi-year budget that achieves break-even or better results while supporting excellent programming.
Audit our organizational structure to ensure we are optimized to execute our mission.
Expand our fundraising program to enhance parent, alumni, and community participation.
Create a compelling culture of generosity that includes a giving campaign to celebrate the school’s 80th anniversary.

Develop a plan to ensure all classrooms support instructional needs and meet facilities standards.

Create a plan that is campus-wide, so that all classrooms—not just those in the new building—will consistently meet both student needs and building standards.
Consider leveraging the third floor to create new spaces for classrooms where “refreshing” is not an option.
Evaluate real estate by exploring whether there are properties to be sold or purchased to meet programmatic and financial needs.

Goal 3: Cultivate Community and Culture

Community is the foundation of the Bernard Zell educational experience. Through rituals, celebrations, and shared values, we cultivate a strong sense of identity and connection to Jewish heritage and traditions. We must continue to foster a sense of belonging and unity among students, parents, teachers, and staff, maintaining an environment that nurtures both academic and spiritual growth.

Strategies and Tactics

Strengthen teacher-parent relationships, as they are essential to a strong school.

Celebrate Bernard Zell’s place as both an educational institution and a social center for our families by engaging in significant programming that establishes and enhances connections within our school community.

Develop multi-grade programs to foster relationships among students and faculty across grade levels and divisions.
Support and foster the Jewishly inclusive nature of our community.
Partner with other community organizations on parent, alumni, and community activities such as ongoing education around Israel, fighting antisemitism, and intra-religious education.
Expand summer and after-school programming to serve our community and broaden the scope of families who learn about opportunities at Bernard Zell. Determine if non-students could be served via auxiliary services.