SSCA Outlook

SSCA Outlook: From Strength to Strength

In January 2022, the SSCA Board of Trustees and Head of School announced a strategic financial plan designed to chart a path “from strength to strength” over the next five years. With a recalibration of tuition over time, we will incrementally increase our capacity to fulfill our mission with excellence, attract and retain a world-class faculty, enhance our curriculum and programs, improve our facility, and enable every SSCA student to participate fully in the student experience with significantly fewer costs above tuition.

Families were invited to participate in a digital reception with the board and Head of School to learn more about the plan and to ask questions. A recording of that session is available here.

Please view the SSCA's Five-Year Strategic Goals and the SSCA Outlook: FAQs below for more information.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Glad to see that tuition (and therefore tuition assistance) will now encompass more of the complete SSCA student experience. What exactly will be included in tuition that currently isn’t?

Tuition will now include field trips and special in-class learning experiences, sports participation, middle school and high school retreats, and graduation expenses, all of which used to be charged to families in addition to tuition. At this time, middle school and high school interterm trips are not yet included in tuition. Tuition will still not cover uniforms, lunches, after-school care, and optional after-school enrichment programs.

I agree that these are important strategic focus areas for SSCA in the coming years. I’d be interested to learn more about specific action steps to be taken.

The board has outlined a high-level financial plan that provides the resources to accomplish five main goals. Three of these are specific board-level goals: absorbing fees into tuition, reducing our annual operating deficit, and strengthening faculty compensation.

The other two are program-level goals requiring detailed planning and execution: reviewing and renewing our educational programming, and enhancing our facilities and technology. With additional resources provided in the financial plan, the head of school, administration, and faculty are now charged with outlining specific steps to be taken over the next five years. We are already engaged in that process and look forward to communicating with families throughout!

Regarding improvements to the physical campus, there are a number of known issues that need to be addressed, and this financial plan will enable us to accelerate our completion of those items – many of which are not highly visible but are very important nevertheless – while also gradually but noticeably improving our building’s aesthetic appearance over time.

As SSCA “reviews and renews” its educational curriculum and programming, are you willing to consider certain specific changes to our reading and math curricula?

Yes. Please feel free to reach out to Mr. Hunley or to the relevant lead teacher with questions and suggestions. Please do keep in mind that this is a multi-year review process to be undertaken in the context of a larger, program-wide plan. Our goal is to ensure a cohesive, coherent SSCA experience from PS-12, so any curriculum changes will be made in that context.

Will SSCA’s efforts to strengthen faculty recruitment, development, and retention capabilities include steps to attract faculty members whose diversity reflects that of the student body? Are steps being taken to connect with churches in our community as partners in that process?

Yes. We intend to cultivate diverse candidate pools, in order to continually develop a diverse, world-class faculty. Those steps will include fostering partnerships with churches within our community, as well as regional colleges and universities. This will be a deliberate process over the coming years.

Should families expect to see continued tuition increases in the coming years?

Though it is essential that we provide the resources necessary to fulfill our mission with excellence, we realize the importance of maintaining a sustainable tuition structure for families. We expect that tuition increases will become incrementally smaller over the next five years.

Does SSCA plan to seek grants or corporate sponsorships to help achieve these strategic goals? Are there any plans to develop an alumni network?

Yes, we will be seeking additional funding from grant-makers and private donors. Our alumni network is actively being built under the leadership of Mrs. Ruth Dagley, with a quarterly alumni newsletter, multiple alumni campus events, and more! Of course, we’re always open to new ideas and community involvement.

Is tuition assistance increasing to help offset the higher tuition rate? Why has my assistance application been denied?

Tuition assistance is increasing proportionally to the tuition increase. Like nearly all private schools, SSCA uses a third-party platform to analyze families’ financial status to determine eligibility for assistance, in order to direct assistance where it is most needed. In all cases, SSCA represents a significant investment in a child’s Christian education.