We are one of the leading educational institutions in Turkey with approximately 1800 students from different age groups and nearly 550 teachers and colleagues. We are one of the leading educational institutions in Turkey with approximately 1800 students from different age groups and nearly 550 teachers and colleagues.The following elements, which form the foundation of Açı Schools’ philosophy, are also the focal points of Açı Schools’ strategic plans.
The Açı Strategic Plan for the 2023-2028 academic years is structured around the following key areas:
1. LEARNING AND STUDENT DEVELOPMENT
a. Social and Emotional Development
– To actively and appropriately use awareness tools (such as activities, posters, sharing meetings, trainings, etc.) to ensure that all stakeholders are aware of social-emotional well-being.
– Planning Common Açı Language initiatives to demonstrate our understanding of how students, teachers, parents, and all other stakeholders feel.
– Periodically evaluating and revising the warm, sincere, and context-appropriate school/class culture in alignment with the goals and values of the 21st century.
– Providing effective workshops and activities for parents and teachers in alignment with responsibility, competence, a common language, shared goals, and the school’s mission and vision.
– Making the importance of positive language in communication a shared goal among all our stakeholders.
– Ensuring that all stakeholders understand the differences in learning processes.
• Conducting research and planning on topics we can incorporate into the curriculum based on the importance of working with community members (e.g., Animals, Nature, Donations, etc.).
• Ensuring the effective implementation of special weeks; strengthening community bonds by encouraging active participation from students, parents, and school staff in these events.
b. Guidance
• Ensuring that our classroom and subject teachers have continuous and up-to-date access to the knowledge, skills, and tips needed to teach effectively in today’s educational conditions.
• Revising workshops for parents in line with 21st-century goals and sharing them in accordance with our technological resources.
• Collecting suggestions to increase participation in seminars and planning for parents, and creating suitable action plans.
• Establishing a procedure for the identified student groups to be prioritized at the end of the school orientation process and determining the necessary planning standards.
• Revising the Student Observation and Assessment Form based on the decisions made, incorporating it into the action plan, and carrying out the necessary planning.
• Revising the topics of articles shared with parents in line with 21st-century goals and ensuring their dissemination aligns with new technological developments.
• Ensuring that every moment spent with students is effective and directed towards learning, while increasing learning experiences in which students participate in a curious, confident, and engaged manner.
• Collaborating with the leadership and guidance of school administrators to assess the student profile for a holistic evaluation of student development.
• Creating a learning environment equipped with current and effective guidance lesson content that supports students’ individual, social, academic, and emotional development.
c. Physical Development
• In Açı Preschool’s 21st Century program, the practices necessary for Physical Well-being are evaluated and revised periodically.
• In Açı Preschool’s 21st Century program, the practices necessary for Physical Well-being are periodically evaluated and revised to ensure their more effective implementation in the daily routine.
• In the Açı Preschool 21st Century program, appropriate arrangements will be made in shared spaces such as gardens and gymnasiums for the area of Physical Well-being.
• Fiziksel Esenlik ve kinestetik öğrenmeye uygun ders planlarının arttırılması.
• With our goal of learning from one another, Açı Schools aims to increase collaborative activities across different grade levels.
d. Technology
• Periodic evaluation of age-appropriate technological equipment usage and implementation of necessary action plans (e.g., Smart Boards, projectors, iPads).
• Regular revision of the technology and equipment usage guidelines for early childhood education, ensuring effective sharing with all users.
• Completion of teacher training sessions by relevant personnel to enhance technology usage competencies, along with planned feedback.
• Development of enriched learning materials and interactive activities using technological equipment to improve students’ technology skills.
• Strengthening collaboration with parents during weekly updates, involving them as active observers of their children’s successes.
• Analysis of “Assessment and Evaluation Resources” to complete portfolio work and create action plans.
e. Healthy and Balanced Nutrition
Developing effective and sustainable programs to emphasize the importance of drinking water for a healthy lifestyle, encourage trying various flavors, and highlight the value of healthy and balanced nutrition.
f. Assessment and Evaluation
• Regular evaluation and revision of our assessment and evaluation tools to ensure they are appropriate for current conditions.
• Revision of the necessary assessment and evaluation tools in the e-portfolio process, development of action plans, and planning for a pilot implementation.
• Make necessary plans to effectively record teacher observations and anecdotes regarding student behaviors, learning processes, and classroom dynamics, ensuring that this data can be utilized to enhance student success.
• Evaluate and revise the format, outcomes, and techniques of Açı reports periodically in line with 21st-century skills.
2. SUSTAINABILITY
• Periodically evaluate and revise options for sending documents that show student development using technological innovations through the system.
• Revise assessment and measurement resources for the e-portfolio and create an action plan.
• Evaluate and enhance planning to create a conscious sustainability culture at school, focusing on natural resource conservation, waste reduction, and instilling sustainability awareness in our students.
• Create action plans for the physical improvement of the Nature Areas in our gardens and facilitate their use.
3. COLLABORATION
4. HUMAN RESOURCES
• Develop a recognition system to enhance the sense of belonging among school staff.
• Enhance the appreciation-thank you system based on the length of experience of Açı staff at Açı Schools.
• Increase action plans for promoting and sustaining Açı culture.
• Evaluate options for salaries, benefits, scholarships, and gifts to boost teacher motivation and establish necessary action plans.
• Plan 360-degree performance evaluation processes.
• Assess tenure and rights and implement necessary action plans.
5. ADMINISTRATIVE AFFAIRS
• Share appropriate suggestions for the physical development of buildings at regular intervals.
• Structure and plan staff transportation routes and schedules effectively, taking employee feedback into account.
• Plan, promote, and increase encouragement for a suitable system for timely and content planning regarding needs requests.
6. INSTITUTIONAL CULTURE
• Increase and schedule sharing meetings that enhance institutional culture at appropriate times, involving necessary stakeholders.
• Expand school-related activities that engage all stakeholders, both inside and outside the school.
• Açı Okul Öncesi hizmet paydaşları ve aileleri ile belli günlerde organizasyon planlamak ve katılımı arttırıcı seçenekleri araştırmak.
• Develop sustainable practices to preserve, promote, and transfer Açı culture.
7. MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
• Evaluate and refine time and program development efforts periodically to increase the quality of individual time spent with students.
• Assess and periodically revise literacy preparation lessons to align with 21st-century skills.
• Develop communication methods with parents regarding student development and the weekly school experience (beyond Açı Reports).
• Periodically evaluate and revise Açı Reports in alignment with our 21st-century goals and evolving generational expectations.
• Evaluate the process of getting to know and assessing new student and parent candidates, and implement necessary actions based on the decisions made.
• Research potential accreditation processes for early childhood education and create action plans for their implementation.
• Planning pilot implementations for the second foreign language (Spanish) and reporting the results.
• Planning pilot implementations for researching different subject lessons based on age groups and reporting their development in the program.
• Periodic revision of daily programs to align with conditions and expectations.
• Redesigning our preschool campuses and gardens to enhance experiences in line with 21st-century expectations.
1. LEARNING AND STUDENT DEVELOPMENT
a. Emphasizing Student-Centered Design-Focused Planning
• Supporting student skill development through inquiry-based, experience-focused, and curiosity-driven daily plans.
• Enriching learning based on daily life experiences and equipping students with knowledge and skills they can use in the real world.
• Increasing project-based learning opportunities for each student to develop age-appropriate foundational skills and sub-competencies: critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and problem-solving.
• Placing essential skills needed for students to succeed in the complex world of the future at the core of our curriculum and integrating them into all daily plans and learning experiences.
• Creating differentiated learning plans and materials based on student interests and learning needs to allow each student to develop their strengths.
• Increasing responsibility development programs that students can implement at home and school to strengthen their sense of responsibility.
• Increasing outdoor learning activities such as nature trips, museum visits, and field studies to enable students to engage directly with nature and the real world.
• Increasing interactive projects that will enhance students’ research skills.
• Structuring the Açı automation system to be able to report options that enhance student learning.
• Making plans to support and enhance students’ technology usage skills.
b. Promotion of Autonomous Learning
• By providing students with more choices about how and what they learn, personalizing learning processes, and creating learning opportunities that align with student interests.
Supporting autonomous learning by creating lessons and learning materials that incorporate interactive technologies for younger age groups.
• By creating a wide range of clubs that cater to students’ diverse interests, offering club options in various fields such as art, science, and environmental awareness.
• Making our students active participants in the learning process by allowing them to write their own learning stories and share their experiences.
• Providing our students with the opportunity to develop their abilities to plan, guide, and assess their own learning processes in order to enhance their self-confidence and learning motivation.
c. Development of a Learning-Centered Assessment System.
• Assessing not only academic achievement but also the skills acquired by the student in student reports.
• Providing students with rubrics that they can use to assess their own performance.
• Developing assessment tools specifically designed to measure students’ 21st-century skills.
• Evaluating existing report formats and initiating a revision process to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of reports based on feedback from parents, students, and teachers.
• Increasing reflective practices on learning and incorporating self-assessment into the evaluation process.
• Creating an e-portfolio system that allows students to monitor, showcase, and assess their academic achievements and social development in an interactive and multifaceted way, supporting their individual growth.
2. SUSTAINABILITY
• Increasing the use of digital learning materials to reduce paper consumption.
• Selecting materials for display boards with sustainability in mind and ensuring their reusability over the years.
• Creating a conscious culture of conservation at the classroom level in our school, focusing on the preservation of natural resources, reduction of waste, and instilling sustainability awareness in our students.
• Using gender-sensitive language in our school and being mindful in the selection and content of lesson materials.
• Implementing sustainability projects with high school and middle school students.
• Setting sustainability goals in all areas to instill environmental responsibility in students, encouraging conscious decision-making in areas like energy conservation, waste management, water protection, and green energy, while creating a sustainable school culture and making these efforts visible.
• Encouraging sustainability projects with middle and high school students to enable them to create real and effective changes in their environments, develop innovative thinking and collaboration skills, and contribute to their growth as future sustainable leaders.
3.COLLABORATION
• Expanding our school’s network through collaborations and joint projects at local, intercity, and international levels; strengthening students’ global vision by exposing them to different cultures, learning models, and perspectives.
• Strengthening information platforms for parents.
• Organizing activities aimed at developing effective, respectful, and empathetic communication skills among students; encouraging them to understand and support each other.
• Organizing cultural trips for students to gain knowledge and experience in art, history, nature, and social issues; enriching their learning with real-world experiences.
• Organizing seminars, workshops, and conferences to share successful practices in education, encouraging the exchange of best practices among teachers.
• Organizing and establishing the Açı 25th Anniversary Symposium as a traditional event.
4. HUMAN RESOURCES
• Making effective plans to preserve, sustain, and transfer the Açı culture.
• Developing a recognition system to enhance the sense of belonging among school staff.
• Developing a recognition and appreciation system based on the length of service of Açı staff at Açı Schools.
• Ensuring that teachers with disabilities have the opportunity to work in an inclusive environment at Açı Schools; enhancing their participation in the education system to support social awareness and equality.
• Developing a system for regularly and effectively announcing and recognizing teachers’ achievements.
• Revising teachers’ personal rights to positively impact their motivation.
• Revising the performance evaluation process with an approach centered on employee experiences and designing evaluations to better reflect their actual work experiences.
• Creating various motivational, support, and development areas for all staff at Açı Schools to enhance motivation.
• Transitioning to a 360-degree performance evaluation system based on mutual trust, understanding, and support for development.
5. ADMINISTRATIVE AFFAIRS
• Structuring and planning personnel service routes and time organization effectively by considering employee feedback.
• Creating an effective and reliable authentication system for student and staff security, information security, and access control to be used at school entrances and exits.
• Fostering a strong culture of solidarity and collaboration among students, parents, teachers, and other staff in our school to bring the school community together and encourage each individual to take an active role.
6. INSTITUTIONAL CULTURE
• Preserving the Açı culture.
• Creating an academic staff photo archive each academic year to document the history of our teachers and staff and to record the historical development of our school.
• Archiving term-based newsletters on a yearly digital platform to document student achievements, learning experiences, and progress, and to communicate this information more effectively to our stakeholders.
• Archiving students’ academic and social achievements annually in a digital format to track their success over the years, enhance motivation, and allow them to feel more encouraged, while also developing recognition systems.
• Creating and planning opportunities to share our achievements monthly in order to recognize teachers’ academic and social efforts and enhance their motivation.
• Digitally archiving class photos each academic year to record the history of Açı Schools and the growth processes of students.
• Archiving the in-class and extracurricular projects produced by students to monitor their educational processes, celebrate student achievements, and serve as an inspiration for future projects.
• Planning and sustaining Açı Schools’ corporate social responsibility projects in a way that enhances our social impact, fosters students’ awareness of social responsibility, and enables greater contributions to the community (e.g., Learning Channel, Sister School, School Collaborations in Trips, Açı Schools Forest, etc.).
7. MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
• Açı otomasyon sisteminde öğrencilerin beceri gelişimini değerlendirmek ve sürdürülebilir bir şekilde takip etmek.
• Structuring the Açı automation system for effective use by all stakeholders.
• Organizing the tracking of students’ academic and social development in the Açı automation system effectively and sustainably.
1. LEARNING AND STUDENT DEVELOPMENT
a. Emphasizing Student-Centered Design-Focused Planning
• Supporting student skill development through inquiry-based, experience-focused, and curiosity-driven daily plans.
• Enhancing learning through the flipped learning methodology to make it more interactive and student-centered, thereby strengthening our students’ learning processes and facilitating deeper understanding.
• Enriching learning based on daily life experiences and equipping students with knowledge and skills they can use in the real world.
• Increasing outdoor learning activities such as nature trips, museum visits, and field studies to enable students to engage directly with nature and the real world.
• Structuring the Açı automation system to report on options for enriching student learning.
• Creating differentiated learning plans and materials based on student interests and learning needs to allow each student to develop their strengths.
• Making plans to support and develop students’ technology skills in all areas.
b. Promotion of Autonomous Learning
• By providing students with more choices about how and what they learn, personalizing learning processes, and creating learning opportunities that align with student interests.
• Supporting the development of autonomy through plans that enable our school’s graduates to serve as role models for our students by sharing their experiences, knowledge, and advice.
• Strengthening our students’ social and emotional development by creating a culture of peer solidarity based on support, empathy, and respect among students
• Creating an environment through student union activities where students can contribute to the daily functioning of the school, thereby developing their leadership skills and taking responsibility, while enhancing their social and emotional intelligence.
• Making our students active participants in the learning process by allowing them to write their own learning stories and share their experiences.
• Providing our students with the opportunity to develop their abilities to plan, guide, and assess their own learning processes in order to enhance their self-confidence and learning motivation.
• By creating a wide range of clubs that cater to students’ diverse interests, offering club options in various fields such as art, science, and environmental awareness.
c. Development of a Learning-Centered Assessment System.
• Assessing not only academic achievement but also the skills acquired by the student in student reports.
• Providing students with rubrics that they can use to assess their own performance.
• Increasing teacher competency in preparing and using questions that support the development of students’ higher-order thinking skills.
• Creating an e-portfolio system that allows students to interactively and multidimensionally track, showcase, and evaluate their academic achievements and social development, thereby supporting their individual growth.
• Using reliable methods for the objective measurement and evaluation of the skills acquired by students, along with providing expertise-based training for teachers and students to effectively implement these methods.
• Enhancing students’ learning experiences and enabling them to gain different perspectives by effectively using open resources in assessments across all subjects to increase their access to information.
• Creating an effective question bank module that includes questions developed from rich and diverse resources suitable for use by teachers and students in our school.
• Establishing measurable and specific criteria to assess the skills acquired by students in elective courses.
• Providing options suitable for individual differences on how students can demonstrate what they have learned.
• Increasing reflective practices on learning and incorporating self-assessment into the learning evaluation process.
• Systematically and comprehensively tracking and assessing students’ individual development, and using these evaluations to enrich student learning experiences.
2. SUSTAINABILITY
• Increasing the use of digital learning materials to reduce paper consumption.
• Selecting materials for display boards with sustainability in mind and ensuring their reusability over the years.
• Creating a conscious culture of conservation at the classroom level in our school, focusing on the preservation of natural resources, reduction of waste, and instilling sustainability awareness in our students.
• Using gender-sensitive language in our school and being mindful in the selection and content of lesson materials.
• Setting sustainability goals in all areas to instill environmental responsibility in students, encouraging conscious decision-making in areas like energy conservation, waste management, water protection, and green energy, while creating a sustainable school culture and making these efforts visible.
• Encouraging sustainability projects through domestic and international institutional connections and collaborations, enabling students to create real and effective changes in their environments, developing innovative thinking and collaboration skills, and contributing to their growth as future sustainable leaders.
3.COLLABORATION
• Expanding our school’s network through collaborations and joint projects at local, intercity, and international levels; strengthening students’ global vision by exposing them to different cultures, learning models, and perspectives.
• Establishing connections with sister schools both domestically and internationally; organizing student, teacher, and cultural exchange programs to enable students to interact on an international level.
• Enriching cultural knowledge and sharing through school visit opportunities created during domestic and international trips.
• Strengthening information platforms for parents.
• Organizing seminars, workshops, and conferences to share successful practices in education, encouraging the exchange of best practices among teachers.
• Organizing and establishing the Açı 25th Anniversary Symposium as a traditional event.
4. HUMAN RESOURCES
• Making effective plans to preserve, sustain, and transfer the Açı culture.
• Developing a recognition system to enhance the sense of belonging among school staff.
• Developing a recognition and appreciation system based on the length of service of Açı staff at Açı Schools.
• Ensuring that teachers with disabilities have the opportunity to work in an inclusive environment at Açı Schools; enhancing their participation in the education system to support social awareness and equality.
• Developing a system for regularly and effectively announcing and recognizing teachers’ achievements.
• Revising teachers’ personal rights to positively impact their motivation.
• Revising the performance evaluation process with an approach centered on employee experiences and designing evaluations to better reflect their actual work experiences.
• Creating various motivational, support, and development areas for all staff at Açı Schools to enhance motivation.
• Transitioning to a 360-degree performance evaluation system based on mutual trust, understanding, and support for development.
5. ADMINISTRATIVE AFFAIRS
• Structuring and planning personnel service routes and time organization effectively by considering employee feedback.
• Creating an effective and reliable authentication system for student and staff security, information security, and access control to be used at school entrances and exits.
• Fostering a strong culture of solidarity and collaboration among students, parents, teachers, and other staff in our school to bring the school community together and encourage each individual to take an active role.
6. INSTITUTIONAL CULTURE
• Preserving the Açı culture.
• Creating an academic staff photo archive each academic year to document the history of our teachers and staff and to record the historical development of our school.
• Archiving term-based newsletters on a yearly digital platform to document student achievements, learning experiences, and progress, and to communicate this information more effectively to our stakeholders.
• Archiving students’ academic and social achievements annually in a digital format to track their success over the years, enhance motivation, and allow them to feel more encouraged, while also developing recognition systems.
• Creating and planning opportunities to share our achievements monthly in order to recognize teachers’ academic and social efforts and enhance their motivation.
• Digitally archiving class photos each academic year to record the history of Açı Schools and the growth processes of students.
• Archiving the in-class and extracurricular projects produced by students to monitor their educational processes, celebrate student achievements, and serve as an inspiration for future projects.
• Planning and sustaining Açı Schools’ corporate social responsibility projects in a way that enhances our social impact, fosters students’ awareness of social responsibility, and enables greater contributions to the community (e.g., Learning Channel, Sister School, School Collaborations in Trips, Açı Schools Forest, etc.).
7. MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
• Açı otomasyon sisteminde öğrencilerin beceri gelişimini değerlendirmek ve sürdürülebilir bir şekilde takip etmek.
• Structuring the Açı automation system for effective use by all stakeholders.
• Organizing the tracking of students’ academic and social development in the Açı automation system effectively and sustainably.
1. LEARNING AND STUDENT DEVELOPMENT
a. Curriculum Revision: Vertical and Horizontal Programming
• Increasing out-of-class learning environments
• Increasing efforts to develop students’ research skills
• Ensuring permanent learning by considering individual differences of students with design-oriented lesson plans, differentiated lesson plans, and unit plans, while establishing holistic and real-life connections in learning
• Increasing the use of technology in projects
• Increasing academic studies in the context of the European Union’s sustainable development goals
• Increasing academic studies that help students recognize the problems of the society they live in and produce solutions with a global perspective
b. Student Autonomy Ownership of Learning
• Increasing practices that support students in taking responsibility for their own learning
• Students taking an active role in planning their learning activities
c. Measurement and Evaluation
• Enhancing the competency of preparing questions that support the development of application and higher-order thinking skills
• Receiving training from academics who develop academic studies and practices on how to measure skills
• Increasing reflective thinking studies on learning – incorporating self-assessment into the learning evaluation process
d. Educational Technologies
• Increasing the areas where rapidly evolving and changing educational technologies can be used to enhance the efficiency of learning.
e. Guidance Program
• To support the social and emotional development of our students by enhancing their empathy, cooperation, self-esteem, and emotional intelligence.
• To develop and implement child protection procedures.
• To continue screening activities that help students set future goals and provide opportunities for self-awareness. The cumulative collection of data to be used to provide foresight for student development.
• To continue supporting the development of the assistance provided by teachers in understanding student needs through counseling sessions conducted by the guidance department in the context of education and needs.
f. Expanding Learning
• Extending learning beyond the classroom/school and increasing practical opportunities.
• Contributing to the development of the entire community through the sharing of experiences.
g. School Community – Student Union
• Enhancing students’ motivation to contribute to the school and providing opportunities for them to take on responsibilities.
2. SUSTAINABILITY
• Setting sustainability goals in all areas to instill environmental responsibility in students, encouraging them to make conscious decisions in energy conservation, waste management, water preservation, and green energy, and creating a sustainable school culture while making these efforts visible.
• By promoting sustainability projects through domestic and international institutional connections and collaborations, enabling students to create real and effective changes in their own environments, developing innovative thinking and collaboration skills, and contributing to their growth as the sustainable leaders of the future.
3. COLLABORATION
• To increase national and international interaction.
• To collaborate with environmental education institutions.
4. HUMAN RESOURCES
• By collecting feedback from all stakeholders regarding the performance evaluations of campuses, taking necessary actions, and ensuring the sustainability of the implemented practices.
• Providing professional and personal support for the individual’s development (based on experience and potential) from the beginning of their participation in the Açı family to the end of the process.
• Guiding the setting of career goals by identifying teacher competencies.
• Setting an example in reflecting the institutional culture in every unit of Açı Schools.
5. ADMINISTRATIVE AFFAIRS
• To foster a strong culture of solidarity and cooperation among students, parents, teachers, and other staff members, bringing the school community together and encouraging each individual to take on a participatory role.
• To effectively structure and plan staff service routes and schedules by considering employee feedback.
6. INSTITUTIONAL CULTURE
• Increasing the sense of belonging
• Planning activities to preserve and sustain the Açı culture
• Creating a photo archive of the academic staff for each academic year
• Enriching internal communication
7. MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
• Enhancing the contributions of the student union in school life
• Sharing the ethical manifesto with all school stakeholders
• Addressing ethical committee issues reflected in school life with student union members, increasing student responsibility in a school community shaped by ethical approaches.
• Ensuring that physical conditions support maximum learning and development.
• Examining the school’s operations (academic, socio-emotional, administrative, and physical conditions) within the framework of universal values, using external criteria as references, and creating development maps.
• Maximizing the efficiency of CIS usage.