Children’s Day School is a preK-8 independent school in San Francisco with a distinctive DNA that needed to be articulated and embraced by the community. We interviewed those who best manifested its DNA, engaged the community in the process, and developed a mission, beliefs, and values statement that helped the school steer a positive course through the pandemic.
In a second assignment for CDS, we helped the school articulate its “north star” statement and worked with them to develop a strategic plan. The north star idea gave a unifying expression to many school traditions involving personal responsibility and social justice. The north star statement: “Imagining how education can lead to a more just world.”
“What you learn and who you become are equally important”
At Children's Day School, what you learn and who you become are equally important.
CDS is a welcoming community in the big city, a farm and garden among urban streets, an advocate for responsibility to others as well as individual achievement, an independent school with down-to-earth values, always asking how we can do this better.
We strive for balance so students become both academically successful and grounded. They leave CDS confident, with the humility to listen and the resolve to speak up for what they see as right.
A CDS vision that will guide the strategic framework: