Our Strategic Plan.Our Goals.

Our Future.

Bodine School is a 1st–8th grade independent school that has an inclusive community of thinkers and doers committed

to fostering the intellect and character of its dyslexic learners. In its 40-year history, the school has drawn

strength and resilience from the vast accomplishments of its students and the organization’s collective impact on

the Memphis community. With unyielding compassion and resolute drive, Bodine imparts what no other school in the state or region can provide: A life changing experience.

Dear Friends,

From its inception in 1972, Bodine School’s story articulates its core beliefs in cultivating innovative minds, offering transformative experiences, and ensuring boundless opportunities. Founded by an inventor, Bodine has always valued innovation, research, and progress over stagnation and the educational status quo. Faced with an unrecognized need in the Memphis community, the school’s founders, Richard and Virginia Bodine, set in motion a commanding force of community service and expertise. This trajectory was renewed in 1991 when the school’s Executive Director energized its mission by returning its focus to the unique needs of the dyslexic learner. This vital decision paid off in large dividends over the last decade as the school’s focus on early intervention, adoption of the middle school concept, and a move towards increased technology integration strengthened the institution’s impact and raised its public profile. Over the last five years, more and more educators, clinicians, psychologists, and families have come to know and covet The Bodine Experience.

Success breeds opportunity, and the school’s recent acceleration leaves much work to be done. The presence of the Gates Foundation, consolidation of the Shelby County and Memphis City Schools, and Tennessee’s Race to the Top recognition has shed the national educational spotlight on Memphis, and with it comes unparalleled possibilities. In its renewed commitment to offering the nation’s best educational experience for a dyslexic learner, Bodine School will be bold.

Over the next several years, Bodine School will strengthen its position as the school of choice for the dyslexic learner. At the core of this experience is a data-driven, researched based approach to language arts, but this is not at the expense of a holistic approach to student growth and experience. Cultivating the dyslexic mind is not about cures, remedies, or bitter elixirs. It is done in embracing the distinct struggles and strengths associated with dyslexia and communicating this belief in the school’s every utterance, large or small. This is the future of Bodine School.

Sincerely,

Josh J. ClarkHead of School

Kneeland GammilChair, Board of Trustees

July 2012

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Innovative Minds:Program

However, as all institutions of learning consider what it means to prepare students for a world of certain change, Bodine School is renewing its commitment to not only specialized language arts instruction but a full academic experience that prepares young people for the next phase in their academic career and for emerging 21st century challenges.

Bodine School has always relied on data and research to drive its program initiatives. Through its partnership with the Simultaneous Multisensory Institute of Language Arts (SMILA), Bodine offers an individualized language program that eliminates barriers and changes lives.

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Goal 1: Bodine School will offer an educational program nationally recognized for its expertise in unlocking the dyslexic mind.

• Infuse the school’s core belief that different learning demands different teaching into all subjects, disciplines and approaches

• Integrate new technologies, hands-on approaches, and inquiry-based learning that push student thinking and offer new experiences for learning and assessment

• Attract, train, and retain a highly qualified, highly effective faculty

• Institute data-driven systems of measurement to monitor and assess student progress on an individual and school-wide scale

• Embrace a “lab school” model where Bodine conducts, produces, and contributes to research regarding dyslexic teaching and learning

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Bodine School recognizes that the unique needs of a dyslexic learner cannot be addressed at the cost of a holistic student experience. In addition to becoming astute readers and writers, it is equally important that Bodine students explore their artistic and athletic interests, learn the role of responsible global-citizenship, foster social skills, and develop strong elements of character. Further, Bodine recognizes that student growth requires a partnership between the school and families and wants to empower parents to understand and support their child.

Innovative Minds:Whole School Approach

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Goal 2: Bodine School will offer a whole school experience that promotes personal, moral, physical, and social growth in its students and provides a culture of support and education for its parents.

• Provide a transparent, structured character education program that is uniquely tailored to the struggles and strengths of a dyslexic learner

• Offer extra-curricular, age-appropriate opportunities that allow students to explore skills and talents associated with the structuring of the dyslexic brain

• Offer parent educational opportunities inline with the school’s mission, current science, and the common topics and challenges of youth

• Offer parents opportunities to share stories, challenges and successes that promote a common culture of mutual understanding and support

• Explore ways to provide students with expanded athletic opportunities

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Bodine School is fortunate to sit on a 6 acre lot nestled within a suburban forest. The thick line of trees guarding its perimeter and expansive open spaces creates a protected campus with room for expansion. Bodine has identified a range of key facility enhancements necessary to create a physical environment which fosters creativity, collaboration, and the other unique attributes associated with dyslexic thinking.

Tranformative Experiences: Facility

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Goal 3: Bodine School’s facility will reflect the unique struggles and strengths of the dyslexic mind by supporting a pedagogy that is student-centered, innovative, and nurturing and by promoting an aesthetic that is inspiring, youthful, and whimsical.

• Design and implement school-wide a consistent aesthetic that reflects the immense potential and creativity of the dyslexic mind

• Transform the physical grounds into a welcoming garden for meditation, revitalization, play, and thought

• Renovate classroom spaces to support a student-centered approach to learning that provides for a range of instructional approaches including collaborative learning, hands-on / inquiry-based problem solving, and individual instruction

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Bodine School is a Memphis asset, falling within the ranks of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and other invaluable community resources.

Tranformative Experiences:Sharing the Bodine Experience

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Goal 4: In line with the gravity of its work, Bodine School will create and control an external image that reflects the prestige of its program while also energizing its commitment to serving dyslexic students from all populations and backgrounds.

• Bodine School will embark on a branding campaign that emphasizes its whole child approach to unlocking the dyslexic mind and fostering its unique talents and opportunities

• Bodine School will explore ways to diversify its student population and secure funding so that its program and experience are accessible to any qualifying dyslexic student

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Bodine School recognizes that altruistic goals and a rousing purpose are superfluous without a realistic plan for solid funding and strong governance.

Boundless Opportunities: Sustainability

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• Bodine School will develop a strategic Board of Trustees fully engaged in ensuring the school’s long-term growth by committing to Independent School Board of Trustees Best Practices

• Bodine School will explore and implement mission-appropriate programs — on and off site, physical and digital — that will benefit the community at large and provide the school with additional sources of revenue

• Bodine School will create a development plan that identifies key initiatives beyond the annual operating costs of the school

• Bodine School Board of Trustees will objectively consider the school’s rising operational costs and create and implement a sound business plan that supports the true cost and value of The Bodine Experience

Goal 5: Bodine School will take significant steps towards ensuring the organization’s long-term sustainability and mission-driven growth.

2432 Yester Oaks DriveGermantown, TN 38139www.bodineschool.org

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