Strategic Plan 2025-2029
THRIVING
A TRANSFORMATIONAL PLAN FOR SUCCESS
NOW, TOMORROW, FOREVER
Approved by the Pius XI Board of Directors November 2023
In today’s dynamic world, education must be agile and responsive. While traditional strategic plans have served schools like ours well in the past, we recognize the need for a more enduring and flexible framework to guide our journey.
This is why our Board of Directors and School leaders have established our version of a traditional strategic plan—Thriving: A transformational plan for success now, tomorrow, forever. Thriving is grounded in 4 four key pillars: Academics, Catholic Identity, Enrollment, and Financial Sustainability. These pillars not only serve as the foundation for all our endeavors, ensuring that every decision we make aligns with our mission and prepares our students for success, but they also form the very perch upon which we stand. From this elevated vantage point, we can observe the evolving landscape of education and anticipate the needs of our students in the years and decades to come.
These pillars allow us to see beyond the immediate challenges and envision a future where Pius XI continues to thrive as a beacon of Catholic education in Milwaukee and Southeastern Wisconsin, empowering students to become confident, compassionate, and responsible members of their community now, tomorrow, and forever.
During the plan development process, committees of engaged stakeholders were formed around each of the goal pillars, meeting regularly to identify the vision, develop appropriate strategy statements, and outline the tactics, key success metrics, and timelines needed to progress toward the vision. This plan makes numerous recommendations regarding all aspects of the Pius XI experience, including our academic offerings; our Catholic identity; our social and familial environment; our artistic, athletic, and extracurricular offerings; our technological underpinnings; and our physical space.
In these pages, you will learn more about the vision for each goal pillar and the strategies necessary to ensure those goals can be realized and Pius XI can succeed in sending our emerging young adults off into the world secure in their developing faith journey; excited about their quest to attain higher levels of knowledge in their chosen career path; and confident in their ability to be productive members of a diverse society that values a commitment to learning, creative problem solving, moral courage, and compassion toward all God’s creation.
There is tremendous energy and excitement around the plan and the initial progress that has been made, not only with School leadership, but also with alumni and supporters who have had the opportunity to learn more. We invite you to read on and see for yourself just what thriving is all about.
In Christ,
Jack Herbert Michael Frohna '84
President Chair, Pius XI Board of Directors
GOAL PILLARS
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ACADEMICS
CATHOLIC IDENTITY
ENROLLMENT
FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY
POPE'S PERSPECTIVES
“
Community is the foundation at Pius XI and the environment is very inviting.
I think this allows you to try new things that you might not have much experience in, but that interest you. That feeling of being accepted has helped me grow as a person, as well as bond with teammates and classmates.
“
MORGAN GILLITZER ‘26
From engaging in multiple sports to challenging himself academically and immersing himself in clubs like CALO (Christian Athlete Leadership Organization) and Relay for Life, Morgan believes the rich variety of opportunities at Pius XI have allowed him to explore all of the passions and interests that make him uniquely who he is, while teaching him the importance of time management. While he may not have much free time, he can’t imagine life any other way, and he appreciates the supportive faculty and coaches who not only encourage him, but help make it all possible.
GOAL PILLAR:
ACADEMICS
Pius XI Catholic High School aspires to prepare our graduates to experience a rewarding life beyond high school. This will be accomplished through a school culture noted for its supportive and caring style, where every student feels a sense of belonging. Each student will be nurtured to excel academically through course offerings intentionally designed to develop 21st century skills, whether they continue in higher education or embark upon a fulfilling career path. Through the unique culture of Pius XI, students will meet or exceed individual academic growth targets, with the percentage of students that are ACT ready increasing annually by grade level.
Achievement Strategies
1. Cultivate a positive, supportive, and results-oriented school culture that is focused on the value of community. School leadership will hold students and staff to consistent standards, which will help Pius XI attract and retain mission-aligned staff and students.
2. Standardize academic practices at Pius XI and develop an assessment-oriented culture in order to ensure that students have every opportunity to meet their academic goals.
3. Using both standardized and classroom-level data, students who are not demonstrating proficiency in math and reading will have opportunities to participate in academic programming that is available outside of the traditional classroom.
4. Develop course and program offerings across all departments, including an expansion of STEM-focused classes and a reintroduction of Career and Technical Education programming. This will ensure all students have the opportunity to develop 21st-century skills and are well-prepared for college and/or a successful career pathway after graduating from Pius XI.
5. Create an environment where a sense of belonging and equitable outcomes for all students is prioritized. This will be accomplished by evaluating systems and curriculum that may disproportionately lead to achievement and opportunity gaps for identifiable subsets of students, and providing ongoing professional development and cultural competency training for all staff.
6. The Counseling Department will: ensure each student has an academic and career plan; prioritize ongoing evaluation and program planning utilizing a variety of student data; and develop programming and services to support the social and emotional development of all students.
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