In October 2017, the then-president fired the then-principal. Two weeks later the president resigned. This was literally the week after the Napa fires of 2017. The Trustees asked David Holquin to return to the school (he worked at Justin-Siena from 2004-2015) as president. There were many changes that happened in that short period of time: in the spring of 2015 the school had 671 students, and in January 2018 the school had 580. At the same time as healing needed to happen, so did a redesign of the way the school operated and a refocus on Mission was needed. A community wide strategic planning process and plan happened in April – June 2019, and now we go from planning to action. But the challenge is to what end? How does the school measure the effectiveness of our marketing efforts beyond enrollment? We have created a long-term financial plan for 7 years, and the plan, thankfully, is being smashed because of our good efforts (we are three years ahead of where we thought we would be). Is a surplus the only measure of financial success? We also have a ton of student data and do very little with it. While the new president has created a data stewardship committee, what might a data dashboard do for us and what system do we need to create to make it easier for us to implement and inform decisions?
In other words, Justin-Siena hopes to have passionate and strategic thinkers help us use data to inform our marketing, financial, and strategic objectives. And ultimately develop a culture that uses data to make decisions.
HOST VENUE ADDRESS
- 4026 Maher Street, Napa, CA 94558
REQUIRED PREREQUISITES
- Familiarity with schools and nonprofits being different than for profit businesses
- Interest in developing a system that can impact
- An understanding of the importance of Mission, Culture, Heritage, and Catholic identity
- Pre-reading and the mental agility to cut through noise to get to root causes
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
- Students will be able to create a data dashboard to help the school inform its decision making
- Students will understand how financial, marketing/enrollment, and strategic decisions impact the culture and future of an organization
- Students will be able to integrate theory and practice
- Students will develop metrics that help the institution prioritize programs and personnel (what to offer and what not to) to benefit student success
Project Topics

Data Management

Marketing

Org Culture, D&I

Reporting, Financial Planning & Analysis
Company Information
Company | Justin-Siena High School |
HQ | California |
Revenue | Unlisted |
Employees | 50-100 |
Stage | Medium Business |
Hiring Potential | Follow-on Projects |
Website | https://justin-siena.org |
Company Overview
Industry Mentors

Experiential Learning Program Details
School | University of Notre Dame Mendoza College of Business |
Engagement Format | Capstone - Small Team Consulting Project - Students work in small groups of 2-6 directly with faculty and host company project champions on developing real solutions to real-world challenges. |
Course | |
Level | Graduate |
Students Enrolled | 120 Enrolled, 2-5 per group per project |
Meeting Day & Time | 3/2 - 3/5/2019 on-site at host company |
Student Time Commitment | 1-3 Hours Per Week |
Company Time Commitment | 3-5 Hours |
Duration | 4 days (03/02/2020 - 03/05/2020) |
Program Timeline
Touchpoints & Assignments | Due Date | Submission |
---|
Academic Mentors

Assigned Students
There are currently no students assigned.
Key Project Milestones
-
March 2, 2020 - Day 1 - Onsite Conversations and Data Management Thinking
After meeting with various school personnel and reviewing the various data instruments used, the team will begin answering what data should be tracked and what instruments, programs, or systems could be used to inform decision making.
Suggested Deliverable:
Draft Data Dashboard
-
March 3, 2020 - Day 2 - Success Metrics
What metrics should the school use to determine success of programs to help the school determine what programs to keep and which to consider or discontinuation.
Suggested Deliverable:
Draft Protocol of programmatic success and possible decision making tree to help determine a program’s efficacy.
-
March 4, 2020 - Day 3 - Financial and Strategic Management
In looking at the school’s long range financial plan, capital campaign possibilities, other financial metrics, and the school’s strategic plan, what can the school create a protocol for creating a data-driven decision culture?
Suggested Deliverable:
Draft Data-driven decision making culture suggestions
-
March 5, 2020 - Day 4 - Success metrics
What overall success metrics should the school track and share widely internally and externally? How does the school know it is making an impact in the lives of students and not simply using graduation as the sole metric for excellence?
Project Resources
There are no resources currently available