Case Study: Organizational Assessment and Strategic Planning

Achievement Prep Wahler Place Elementary School opened in 2013, serving grades K–3 in Ward 8 of Washington, DC. As the organization faced considerations for its continued growth and expansion, leadership contracted SchoolWorks to conduct a School Quality Review and Organizational Assessment in 2018.

The Challenge
  • Audit current staff roles and responsibilities, determine appropriate organizational structure, and make organizational structure recommendations to ensure that Achievement Prep could meet its mission as effectively and efficiently as possible.

SchoolWorks Approach
  • SchoolWorks began by assessing the critical aspects of the school’s culture, organization, and academic program.
    • This process was facilitated through a School Quality Review at Wahler Place Elementary, followed by a comprehensive Network Review and Organizational Assessment.
    • SchoolWorks supplemented the data and research from these evaluations with a national environmental scan of best practices employed by organizations of similar size and scope.
  • After delivering the resulting reports and findings, SchoolWorks partnered again with the network to facilitate strategic planning in 2018.
    • SchoolWorks led stakeholders through the process of identifying key priorities, analyzing the root causes for those key priorities, articulating goals and corresponding strategies, and formulating team annual action plans for each strategy.
    • The resulting strategic plan included a key priority, goals for years one-to-three, six key strategies, and aligned actions for each strategy.
The Results
  • The school made many changes to enact the plan and improve outcomes for scholars. In 2019, Wahler Place Elementary School increased its ranking with the DC Public Charter school Board from its previous position in 2017.
"SchoolWorks helped us to understand how to structure our organization to best serve our scholars. We are grateful to SchoolWorks for helping us think through our strenghts and weaknesses, and create a carefully articulated path forward."
- Shantelle Wright, Founder and CEO of Achievement Prep
    Dates: 2018 – 2019

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