Crystal Springs Uplands School

http://www.csus.com

Hillsborough, CA

Round –

Fall 2005

Project Type –

Full team

Project Focus –

Operations Review

Organization Type –

Education

Organization

Crystal Springs Uplands School (CSUS) is an independent, coeducational college preparatory school located on a 10-acre suburban campus on the San Francisco Peninsula. CSUS enrolls 350 students in grades 6-12.

Project Objectives

CSUS operates a summer enrichment camp for children entering grades K through 9 One of the goals of the camp is to generate income to support the school's regular academic year; however, the program did not meet financial targets for two years in a row. CSUS looked to ACT to help in the following areas:

Improving the economic performance of the summer camp and enrichment program, looking specifically at curriculum offerings, scheduling, and pricing
Determine if the Peninsula Bridge Gateway Program fits with the school's mission and whether CSUS should continue to support the program

Project Overview

Examine financial performance of summer programs

Evaluate optimal use of facilities during summer months with the following assumptions: should contribute financially, preserve intangible benefits, and not deter from CSUS brand/reputation

Two-Part Project Structure

Short-Term Team (Harvest Low-Hanging Fruit):

Conducted interviews, reviewed programs: enrollment patterns, marketing initiatives, and competition
Delivered report and recommendations to improve current operations without major structural changes (January 2006)

Long-Term Team (Focus on Creative Alternatives):

Examined creative use of facilities and programming; more in-depth financial analysis, review of competitive landscape and demographics
Delivered final report regarding analysis and ideas for summer data collection (June 2006)
Team did not make a formal recommendation regarding continued support of the Peninsula Bridge program as it was felt this was a complex issue tied to the mission and values of the CSUS vision for diversity outreach and community support that was outside the scope of optimizing the summer operations and could be considered as a second project regarding best way to support diverse students in the local community.

Key Recommendations