1	Vision for TA
2	#1 Priority – Noticed Spirituality We are a Seventh-day Adventist Academy All Staff Must be on board to represent Christ in all Curricula and Practice Must be willing and able to lead a student to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ Be IN the community and not just visiting the community – let the community know who we are – SDA’s Foster spiritual and personal relationships with a specific number of students – Staff Family Groups In these groups staff will provide a personal, spiritual connection with the students: leading students to a personal choice of Christ, community service activities, academic nurturing
3	#2 Academic Excellence Must meet EACH student’s needs in our classrooms by using resources to be current and efficient in instruction – we cannot teach the same way if it is not relevant to our students. We must engage our students. Provide resources for each level of student by taking time to study, read books and take classes in inclusion. Prepare students for College excellence in each subject area they teach by ‘pushing’ students to succeed with the resources available. Provide extracurricular activities in an excellent, Christian manner. Provide Performing and Fine Arts in an excellent manner in the community (SDA and Non SDA) and in the school
4	#3 – Parental Communication Priority to foster and maintain open communication with our parents Phone calls Emails – weekly progress reports, lesson plans Should students fall below their expected outcomes – specific communication with the parents for their assistance
5	#4 Professional Excellence Model high Standards of dress in staff – Business attire or above. We expect the students to follow dress code – if we are above the accepted – we model expectations. Model professional growth in each discipline by study and using techniques learned through study. Model positive communication with all parents and staff. Model timeliness – returned papers, being prepared by not rushing in to class (Check traffic and make allowance in rain, etc. to make sure each staff member is on time)
6	#5 – Physical Plant Window dressings Fencing around the school plant Beautify grounds and maintain them by emptying trash, picking up trash, weeding, etc. New carpet New lockers New windows
7	Revised Mission Statement
8	Welcomes ALL races, cultures and religions Population: Ethnicity: African/American = 147 Hispanic = 18 Indian = 16 Asian = 7 Other (Anglo, Bi-Racial, African) = 56
9	Welcomes all Religions SDA = 173 Potomac Conference = 103 Allegheny East = 67 Chesapeake = 3 Non-SDA = 17 Blank = 54
10	Leading to a Personal Commitment Quotes taken from Teacher Evaluations by Students Student Quotes: “Yes, my love for Jesus Christ grew from being in this class because ____ is patient and never yells at us and that is how Jesus wants us to be.” “Yes, it did. I’ve learned to have Jesus on the court when playing a sport because I know He cares about how I play and if I get along with my teammates. I’ve also learned a lot from the devotional readings too.” “Yes, very much so. I learned how to accept and love God, and at the same time, I got to strengthen my relationship with Him.” “We had worship every morning in class. She always had a worship thought planned and we never skipped over my favorite part of the morning, the prayer requests and prayer.”
11	Providing Excellence in Academics Total – 246 students 136 have received a 3.0 or above – 55% of student body 80/246 received a 3.5 or above – 33% of student body 9^th grade – 18/48 received 3.5 or above 10^th grade – 20/71 received 3.5 or above 11^th grade – 24/74 received 3.5 or above 12^th grade – 18/55 received 3.5 or above
12	Promoting Service Minimum of 20 hours of Community Service each year of attendance Service projects Feeding the Homeless Visiting Nursing Homes Providing worships for churches Leadership in school worship at least once a week by Student Council Picking up trash in Takoma Park Community at least once a year Partnering with Community Service Projects – pedestrian safety Providing Christmas for several families in need each year Collecting funds for Leukemia Patients – Pennies for Patients Project Providing food for Community Service Center and delivering food for Thanksgiving to various families
13	Not a Public Adventist School Goal is to represent the best in Adventist education without being exclusive. Provide scholarship incentives for GPA, Citizenship and Spiritual Behavior Eligible January and June GPA – 3.75 and above + Citizenship - $500 GPA – 3.50 – 3.74 + Citizenship - $250 Citizenship - $250 Spiritual Leadership - $500 Present the best in spirituality, academics, performing arts, applied arts and athletics by modeling excellence.
14	Reasons Stay: To best meet the demographics of the area Close proximity to three main feeder schools (JNA, Sligo, GE Peters) Opportunity to utilize AP courses work through CUC Opportunity to re-vision the future in a non-institutional community There is not a compelling reason to leave. No wave of momentum Long History and Tradition Acres to expand and no mortgage Can use plant as an asset to get funding to do capital improvements Because there is no momentum as such to move, could lose a significant enrollment Move: May need to look at a different demographic to re-energize Facility in poor repair, need major capital improvements Major institutions over the past years have left leaving a declining enrollment base (GC, Review, Hospital and shrinking market share by CUC) Create a new culture Perception of safety because of location Enrollment is declining in present location Location and cost – where in the ‘conference’ is there a location that will be accessible to our students
15	Principal’s Position We should stay in our current locality. Our target population is minority. Although we recruit to all races, cultures and religions – the majority population that we currently have is African American and we have tremendous area for growth in the Hispanic community. The Hispanic community is the fastest growing community in our local SDA and non SDA community. Although we are not ‘equally’ diverse – we are quite diverse in the students that choose to attend TA. The location where we currently are has excellent access to public transportation. Many of our students come to school on public transportation. A definite advantage. Over 20 local private schools that offer a Christian education. How do we compete? Financially we are below the majority of the local private Christian schools. However, the main competitor is public school – Blair and High Point. Many of our SDA students are choosing public school. We must market more in the local SDA churches by being a visible and intentional Christian difference. We cannot compete with the class offerings; however, what we teach must be excellence and provide the personal staff commitment to each student that walks through our doors.