Our Strategic Plan

We are living in a period of profound change, uncertainty, rapid technological advances, globalization, economic disparity, and social injustice. The world will demand much of our graduates. The challenges our students will face as adults are unprecedented.

Three initiatives will be prioritized to ensure our students are prepared:

• First, we will provide innovative and authentic learning experiences for each student's academic journey.
• Second, we will ensure effective instructional approaches to promote enduring skills of creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration.
• Finally, we will expand opportunities to earn college credit throughout our academic program.

Our learning community embraces its role as part of a Catholic community accompanying students and developing their personal faith while actively leading them to live and serve according to their values. In an increasingly complex world, incredible challenges are presented every day. We hope to inspire in our students an understanding of the powerful role faith can have in their lives.

Faith can offer moments of deep introspection and call one outside of oneself, to make meaningful change. True faith, rooted in our Catholic tradition requires action.

First, we will strengthen Catholic identity to enrich spiritual experiences for students, parents, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends. This will call for increased collaboration with local parishes and pastors to strengthen Catholic youth experiences. It also includes enhancing employee orientation with deep learning of our Catholic mission, charisms, and religious heritage, along with each employee's responsibility for living and witnessing that tradition.

We will then solidify the connection between service experiences and Catholic social teaching, and enrich the theology curriculum focusing on student engagement.

Benilde-St. Margaret's has a diverse and vibrant community, fostering long-term personal and professional connections throughout the world. Communities are an essential part of an individual's identity, and we will work to ensure our students, parents, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends see our community as integral to their identity.

Our first initiative will be to sustain a fully enrolled student body that reflects racial, economic, and academic diversity. Second, we will enhance alumni engagement with professional connections and a philanthropic focus. Initiative three will strengthen the sense of belonging among students, faculty, and staff. 

As outlined in the National Standards for Catholic Education, the success of our school and our mission depend on the critical components of effective governance, leadership, and financial planning processes that ensure long term stability. We will be shifting from a one-year planning model to a five-year ongoing cycle aligned with our strategic plan. We will build development revenue through the endowment, annual giving, major gifts, planned giving, and capital campaigns.

And we will enhance board governance and school leadership continuity, ensuring there is a process for committees and succession plans for the future. Benilde-St. Margaret's embarks on our strategic plan from a position of strength and stability. In the last year, we acquired from the archdiocese the land on which the school sits; this will bring long-term security and financial savings. Over the past two years, enrollment trends have been encouraging, despite the challenges that many Catholic schools in the Twin Cities are facing; in fact, the demand for a Benilde-St. Margaret's education has exceeded our capacity.

Building on our reputation of excellence as a college preparatory school, we will bring forth innovative and meaningful learning experiences, so that each student can find his or her place in the world. Our collective experiences will provide the preparation, confidence, and ethical foundation required to thrive beyond the walls of BSM. With the constant presence and support of our alumni, Benilde-St. Margaret's will be poised to deliver its mission for generations to come.