A Five-Year Strategic Plan For The Barbara Chambers Childrens Center

Running head: THE BARBARA CHAMBERS CHILDREN’S CENTER 1

A Five-Year Strategic Plan for the Barbara Chambers Children’s Center

Name

Institution

THE BARBARA CHAMBERS CHILDREN’S CENTER 2

Contents

Purpose ............................................................................................................................................ 3

Background ..................................................................................................................................... 3

Accomplishments of the Barbara Chambers Children’s Center ..................................................... 4

The Barbara Chambers Children’s Center in the 21

Century ....................................................... 5

Challenges and Opportunities for the Profession............................................................................ 6

The Strategic Plan ........................................................................................................................... 7

The Mission Statement of the Barbara Chambers Children’s Center ......................................... 7

The Core Values of the Institution .............................................................................................. 7

The Vision of the Barbara Chambers Children’s Center ............................................................ 9

Strategic Directions ..................................................................................................................... 9

On the Mission and Vision Statements .................................................................................... 9

On the Educational Outcomes ................................................................................................. 9

On the Quality of Services for the Leaners and their Families ............................................. 10

On the Long-Term Resources for Program Sustenance ........................................................ 11

The Strategic Action ..................................................................................................................... 11

Priorities ........................................................................................................................................ 12

THE BARBARA CHAMBERS CHILDREN’S CENTER 3

A Five-Year Strategic Plan for the Barbara Chambers Children’s Center

Purpose

Strategic planning is among the most critical elements in management since it is useful in

the provision of a sense of direction for an institution of any nature in addition to outlining

measurable goals. It is also critical noting that strategic planning guides the routine practices of

organizations in addition to assessing the levels of progress towards the attainment of the set

goals. This document presents proposal of a five-year strategic plan for the Barbara Chambers

Children’s Center in Washington, DC. The document is prepared in response to an invitation

from the leadership of the institution for its stakeholders, the board, management, staff, and

parents, to contribute to the creation of a plan that would be used to drive the school to realize its

goals over the next five years. The school’s leadership is seeking to develop a plan that would be

effective in directing steps towards improvements in the delivery of its mission while ensuring

that the parents, children, staff, and management have fun and welcoming environments in which

they would thrive.

Background

Formerly called the Columbia Road Children’s Center, the Barbara Chambers Children

Center was founded in 1968. By then an interracial collection of families residing in the

Columbia Heights, Mt. Pleasant, and Adams Morgan neighborhoods so it necessary that they

start a friendly place that would allow children from different races to meet and learn. The idea

of an interracial group was useful since racial tensions were high following the assassination of

Dr. Martin Luther King Junior because of his involvement in the Civil Rights Movement and

stance on racial inequality in the American society. The parents who combined to initiate the

program were successful in developing a daycare center that has since become a model of quality

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preschool education in DC in which children, the teaching staff and families feel a sense of

belonging and appreciation for the fact that they are given a chance to contribute to school.

The original location of the institution was at the Columbia Road’s Calvary Methodist

Church before it moved to its present location in 1973. The change of name from Columbia

Road Children’s Center to Barbara Children’s Center was occasioned by the need to pay tribute

Barbara Chambers who was the founder after her death in 1982. Today, the institution can look

back to its fifty years of excellence in which it has created history with its dedication to

providing the highest quality services throughout the entire DC. The institution is proud to

continue operating in its founding mission, which was to bridge the racial gaps that divided

society during the Civil Rights Movement days and years later.

Accomplishments of the Barbara Chambers Children’s Center

One of the greatest milestones that the institution has managed to achieve is an inclusive

school community. It is critical noting that the organization was founded with the intention of

ensuring that children from the diverse backgrounds of the Washington DC neighborhoods

assembled and learned together without caring about their diversities. Currently, the school

serves students from different racial and ethnic backgrounds and it has managed to have a

diverse environment that teaches everyone the need to value and appreciate each other’s

diversity. Another major milestone that the Barbara Chambers Children’s Center has attained is a

significant growth in its programs. It is noteworthy that the school began as a single classroom

when its founder initiated the plan but it has grown tremendously to become an educational

complex that serves children with different educational needs. For instance, the facility provides

programs of education to young children and their families within the DC region. Precisely, the

services that the institution provides are designed for children ranging between two months and

THE BARBARA CHAMBERS CHILDREN’S CENTER 5

twelve years of age. The infant toddler program targets children who are as young as only two

months while the pre-kindergarten program recruits children between two and a half and five

months. In addition, the Barbara Chambers Children’s Center provides homework assistance and

enrichment programs to children of the age between six and twelve years who attend public

schools in the region. The school also runs a family-like environment that is supported by long-

term facility and staff in addition to preparing fresh meals that support the best practices

involving nutrition and education.

The Barbara Chambers Children’s Center in the 21

Century

The institution has realized significant levels of growth during the fifty years of its

existence as described in the previous sections. While doing so, the school has managed to

improve the racial inclusion of both staff and the learners a great deal. One of its programs, the

Before and After School program, has been instrumental in the provision of development,

cultural, and academic training. Credentialed teachers, mostly bilingual, are critical in ensuring

the success of the program through overseeing homework completion by the learners as well as

the provision of tutoring services in reading, computer-based learning, science, math, and

writing. The program also lies in the desire of the institution to demonstrate that despite the

difficulties in language proficiency and economic hardships that Latino children experience, they

could be as equally academic productive as the White children in academics. This ambition

suggests that the school is devoted to fight some of the most adverse racial stereotypes that have

continued to influence the educational accomplishments of children from minority groups around

the country.

Apart from the academic improvement and the racial inclusion objectives of the

institution, the Barbara Chambers Children’s Center is committed to the improvement of the

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social-emotional skills as well as multicultural awareness among students aged between five and

twelve years. To attain this objective, the institution has staffed this program of promoting

multicultural awareness among students with personnel from diverse backgrounds to give them a

chance to inspire children culturally and racially. For these reasons, the institution has managed

to realize more a growth in the proportion of its Latino group of students by more than twice.

Challenges and Opportunities for the Profession

Working at institution could be both interesting and challenging, especially for new staff.

For instance, it is always challenging people to have to work for three months on probation for

the management of the organization determines the status of the contract. During the nine-day

probation period, individuals will always be worried of the idea that they might fail to impress

those in charge of the recruitment process, which might affect their performance adversely. To

understand the effect of this issue, one should consider working in an environment that causes

constant worry of wellbeing. It is likely that such environments would place unnecessary panic

on the minds of the individuals who might in turn fail to deliver within their best standards.

Other challenges of working at the Barbara Chambers Children’s Center concern the issues of

working with children in preschool. For instance, it might be quite challenging to deal with

difficult behavior of the children, such as crying and other unique behavior of the children. The

pressure of demanding parents is also a factor that affects the manner in which individuals

deliver their duties and the levels of comfort they feel from such encounters. It is unfortunate that

too much pressure from groups of parents that could be over expectant might be undesirable for

some professionals.

Much as the environment is challenging for professionals, they have a real opportunity of

working with children. In this environment, the professionals are likely to develop personal

THE BARBARA CHAMBERS CHILDREN’S CENTER 7

relationships with the children and influence their lives positively. It is within the mission of the

institution to care for its staff and the rest of the stakeholders through the creation of an

environment in which everyone has a chance to contribute to the improvement of the school.

Therefore, the levels of support from the leadership and entire community of the Barbara

Chambers Children’s Center provides an opportunity for the teachers and other professionals to

develop their careers in one of the most supportive institutions they could ever work.

The Strategic Plan

The Mission Statement of the Barbara Chambers Children’s Center

The institution is devoted to the provision of bilingual education enrichment in Spanish

and English to the families and children living within the District of Columbia region. The focus

of the program is on the immigrant and low-income children and their families starting from only

two months and extending to five years of age. The institution seeks to offer the highest quality

standards in early childhood education, supportive services relevant for multicultural families

and backgrounds, and support for staff. The school hopes to attain this status through providing

its services in an inclusive and warm environment that supports multicultural diversity. It is also

noteworthy that the institution strives to inspire the adults to influence the development of

children positively for their success in future.

The Core Values of the Institution

Table 1 highlights the core values of the institution, which have been effective in guiding

strategy by the stakeholders.

Respect

Respect is the guiding principle at the institution. It directs that people show respect for

one another because it is only then that they shall manage to forge an environment in

which they support active learning and support for the children and their families

THE BARBARA CHAMBERS CHILDREN’S CENTER 8

One people

The organization operates on its founding mission, which was to ensure racial integration for the

communities that live in the Washington DC region. Therefore, it has remained open to

multiculturalism whose foundation is to treat people as one and to avoid the racial differences

that could be existing among them.

Working

together

The institution collaborates with different parties in both the private and public sector in the

provision of the required services to the community that it serves. For instance, the school seeks

funding through the office of the superintendent of education in the greater DC region. It also

works with parents whose children attend public schools in the region in the provision of

homework assistance to their children.

Community

The stakeholders of the institution are a community. The management of the institution is

committed to fostering amicable relationships among all its community members that consist of

the parents, their children, the staff, and the rest of the public through the provision of the

highest quality standards in education.

Welcoming

to guests

Since the institution is founded on racial inclusion foundations, it is noteworthy that it is open to

contributions from anyone who wishes to do so. Visitors are open to decide between different

ways in which they would like to improve the institution, from funding to mentorship, to other

programs.

Love and

Kindness

The institution deals with children, their parents, which mean that the staff and all stakeholders

must learn to care if they have to provide the best learning environments. Therefore, love and

kindness is one of core values of the institution required in the provision of the best standards of

care and education.

Openness

The institution seeks constant improvement in its service provision. For this reason, it is always

open to contributions from stakeholders concerns the strategic approaches it should adopt to

develop standards that would sustain its reputation as a model institution in the provision of

services to children, their parents, and the entire Washington DC community.

Table 1: the core values of the Barbara Chambers Children’s Center

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The Vision of the Barbara Chambers Children’s Center

The vision of the Barbara Chambers Children’s Center is to enhance and secure the area

of educational quality and sustainability in line with the Center’s history and philosophy. This

vision is in line with the mission statement as well as the core values described in table 1.

Strategic Directions

On the Mission and Vision Statements

Different resources are required to meet the mission and vision of the institution. For

instance, such resources include the world of local business, individual, corporations,

foundations, coalitions, childcare, technical and professional assistance, local colleges and

universities, community resources. These identified resources would be effective in the

realization of outcomes, as described in the next subsection.

1. Over the next five years, the institution should focus on developing permanent streams of

revenue that respondent to the educational and support needs of the children and families

of the Barbara Chambers Children’s Center

2. The school should also realize an improvement in its educational services for both the

children and their families.

3. Through the next five years, the Barbara Chambers Children’s Center should develop

staff with the right quality as well as techniques of teaching and the tools that resonate

with the learning and supportive needs of the children at each level.

On the Educational Outcomes

Different types of resources would be required in meeting the educational goals of the

institution through the five years covered in this strategic plan. For instance, early childhood

supporters, resources within the school community, administrators, teachers, and families would

be necessary in supporting the educational outcomes. These identified resources would be

THE BARBARA CHAMBERS CHILDREN’S CENTER 10

effective in delivering the following outcomes related to the educational objectives of the

institution.

1. The school should strive to realize an enhancement of its educational expectations as well

as self-esteem, cultural comprehension, and a strong passion for learning among the

students over the five-year period.

2. Through the same period covered by the strategic plan, the institution should develop

techniques together with the necessary practices that would address the changes in the

educational needs of the modern global society.

On the Quality of Services for the Leaners and their Families

The organization shall require having different resources to meet the high quality

standards in the services delivered to both the learners and their families. For instance, the

process would require in-kind contributions, community resources of the educational institutions,

and professional technical assistance. The identified resources would be useful in ensuring the

following outcomes over the next five years.

1. The engagement of the children and their families who would be ready to value life in the

wake of challenges and learning from diversity as well as the richness of the value of

having each individual as useful human being.

2. The preparation of learners with fundamental foundations of cognitive, emotional, and

social development that are prerequisites for successful educational development

3. An involvement of the community and a sound input from educational research resources

4. An enhancement of the programs of parenting as well as the development of greater

interest in an active participation in the education of the children

5. The management of higher achievement in standards of education

6. The provision of educational and professional guidance for the students

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On the Long-Term Resources for Program Sustenance

This strategic projection shall need support from corporations, individual businesses, RCR

supporters, and government agencies. Through the five-year period, the following outcomes

would be attainable.

1. The institution should realize the renewal and improvement of the members of the board

to ensure that they are motivated to be proactive in their assumption of greater

fundraising responsibilities.

2. The organization should also enhance the technological skills that would ensure efficient

financial management

3. The development and support of meetings with donors and advocacy on the urgency of

funding programs for effective technological advancement

The Strategic Action

The following list indicates the probable elements of the action plan that the school might

want to attain in the realization of the outcomes described above.

 the expansion of facilities because of the growth in the population of immigrants in the

DC region who are mostly Hispanic and the growth in the demand for quality and

affordable bilingual early childhood education

 revamping the organizational and processes of the institution according to the goals and

growth of the school

 the modernization of systems of information management and tools of communication

 improvement in the strategy for the acquisition, development, and retaining of qualified

staff

 the revision of the curriculum to meet the new educational needs

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Priorities

1. the management of the institution might want to prioritize the expansion of the facilities

at the institution to enhance effective handling of the growing number of students caused

by the demand for bilingual early childhood education

2. The Barbara Chambers Children’s Center would ensure the improvement of funding for

the program that would ensure that the rest of the programs proposed are sustainable

3. The institution would also prioritize the enhancement of the quality standards in the

provision of educational services to both the children and their families. This activity

would entail the improvement of staff quality, the revision of the curriculum, and the

enhancement of the learning environment to ensure that it meets the desired quality

standards.

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