strategic plan st. albans school 2013
Introduction As we look forward, we seek to stay true to our mission: to educate and prepare young men to become leaders of the future. While much of what we do is time-tested, we must be prepared to adapt to the needs of our students and the demands of the world in which they will live. There is always more that we can — and that we must — do. The School’s 2002 long-range plan guided St. Albans to its present position of strength. We are grateful that we can build on the foundation laid by our predecessors.
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Strategic Direction for St. Albans School (2013-2018) I. Supporting the Evolving Needs of Faculty. Great
III. Building a Global Platform. We will expand our
teaching sets St. Albans apart. The School will support
reach. St. Albans — with its unparalleled location on the
its most important resource, its faculty and staff, by
grounds of Washington National Cathedral, overlooking
establishing an endowment fund to permit a significant
the nation’s capital — will instill in all students an
increase in professional development and an improved
increased awareness of the world around them and the
benefit program. The School will also increase the level
international opportunities available to them. The School
of diversity among its faculty and staff and will assure a
will study the possibility of an International Studies
welcoming environment for this increasingly diverse school
Program to encourage St. Albans and National Cathedral
community.
School students to pursue global and diplomatic studies. The School will also explore summer courses, experiential
The School will review and augment the benefit program,
programs, and partner-school relationships. The School
specifically by gradually increasing the School’s share of
will offer increased opportunities for student and faculty
medical insurance premiums; by investigating ways to
exchanges, professional development for faculty, and
meet the needs of teachers for housing; and by exploring
aggressive use of the exceptional academic and professional
the optimal way to assist faculty and staff with child-
resources available in the D.C. area.
care needs, studying both on-site possibilities as well as a child-care subsidy. St. Albans will remain committed to maintaining the level of faculty salaries in the top decile of competitive schools. Increased opportunities for professional development will permit faculty to become better acquainted with differing educational philosophies and teaching techniques. This will also allow for more extensive training in technology use, study of international issues (including global travel and exchange programs), and opportunities for faculty to stay current in their fields of expertise. II. Investing in our Scholar Athletes. Athletics have always been a pillar of a St. Albans education. Following the completion of its academic center (Marriott Hall), St. Albans will turn to a complete reconfiguration and expansion of the athletic fields, including a turfed, multisport, stadium game field for football, lacrosse, and soccer, surrounded by a six-lane, all-weather track; a baseball field that converts into two full playing fields offseason; a small practice field; and seven tennis courts.
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IV. Enriching Learning through Technology. The School will invest in training faculty in the use of technology in teaching. The School will provide resources and staff to support faculty as they navigate new teaching methodologies, technologies, and online course content. For our faculty and students to be able to use technology effectively as part of the learning process, the School must provide, and constantly upgrade, a robust technology platform. We will study the best way to allocate resources to accomplish this task. V. Strengthening the Coordinate Program. We reaffirm the advantages of single-sex education, especially for the early to middle years of adolescence, but we also think it important to prepare our boys for the coed environment they will encounter in college and beyond. Within the next five years, National Cathedral School and St. Albans will expand coordinate options for students in Forms V and VI. We will continue to have a common schedule with National Cathedral School, one of the country’s leading girls’ schools, and to align as many policies as possible. VI. Preserving Our Future. We must not price ourselves out of the community we serve, and we must be stewards of the School for future generations. Financial sustainability, one of the aims of the 2002 long-range
At the same time, additional revenues will be required to
plan, remains a core theme of this Strategic Plan. In 2009
support the initiatives laid out in this plan. To this end,
the Governing Board approved a sustainability action
St. Albans will conduct a $50 million capital campaign.
plan which successfully decreased spending and reduced
This campaign will allow for the continued moderation
the rate of significant tuition increases. The School
of tuition increases and will help sustain economic
will continue on this path of making hard choices and
diversity through financial aid. Part of the endowment
tradeoffs while considering other ways to cut costs and
raised in the campaign will support our expanded
add revenue. St. Albans will collaborate with the other
technology resources, professional development, and
Close institutions to optimize facility usage and seek
benefit programs for teachers, as well as our focus on
other opportunities for substantive cost-sharing. The
international studies and global and diplomatic service.
School will develop multiple partnerships with outside organizations, allowing the School to expand its offerings at lower cost.
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What Won’t Change A School for Boys St. Albans is a school for boys: a place of great energy, enthusiasm, boisterous voices, and constant motion, as well as serious intellectual inquiry and ethical reflection. Our faculty understand the best ways to reach and teach students at every stage of life. A Church School An Episcopal school, St. Albans encourages all students, from all backgrounds, to explore their own faith traditions, to develop their personal beliefs, and to respect and appreciate the beliefs of others. In weekly chapels that use the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer as their basis, St. Albans students learn life lessons about character, honor, compassion, generosity, and leadership. Through lesson and example, they come to appreciate the value of choosing the hard right over the easy wrong. A Family School A St. Albans education depends on a close relationship between teachers and students. At our small school, with small classes, every student is truly known by his teachers and receives the support he needs to meet daily challenges. Family-style lunches bring teachers and students from different grades together for a daily meal, providing an opportunity for conversation and community outside the classroom. A Diverse Community A diverse student body, faculty, and staff enriches our School and allows us all to explore, understand, and respect varied perspectives. The School remains committed to expanding efforts to ensure ours is a socially, economically, ethnically, and racially diverse community. A Rigorous, Well-Rounded Education Students take on a rigorous college-preparatory program, with an emphasis on critical thinking. They learn how to build an argument, test a hypothesis, prove a theorem, and express themselves clearly, independently, and confidently. In the classroom, on stage, and on the playing fields, the School fosters the spiritual, intellectual, artistic, and physical development of each student.
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Coeducational Opportunities Our academic, athletic, and artistic partnership with National Cathedral School allows our students to benefit from coeducation while receiving every advantage of a single-sex environment. Financial Aid St. Albans admits students based on their past achievements and their potential to thrive at our School. A robust financial aid budget combined with moderate tuition increases allows for a dynamic, socio-economically diverse community. Leadership and Service Through volunteer work, students come to understand the needs of others, learn practical ways to help, and develop a lifelong commitment to service. The School offers students opportunities to serve as student leaders and encourages them to use their gifts and their education as leaders in service of others. Passionate Teachers The School hires and fully supports teachers who pursue their subject with passion and who hold both themselves and their students to the highest standards of scholarship and discipline. Practicing artists and musicians teach our students in the studio and on stage; teacher-coaches instruct and encourage boys in the classroom and on the fields; chaplains guide students in chapel, in class, and beyond. A Respect for Tradition From opening day to field day, St. Albans School traditions encourage students to appreciate history, to admire and learn from the past, and to remember that they—and the world in which they live—are part of something historic, lasting, and worthwhile. A Responsibility for the Future The School remains deeply aware of its obligations to future students. We steward the School’s resources with great care. We welcome innovations that allow the School to keep up its greatest tradition: that of providing generations of boys with a superlative education that prepares them fully for the world in which they will live.
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As we pursue these initiatives over the next five years, St. Albans will treat this Strategic Plan as a living document. As we address each priority in turn, deeper exploration will sharpen our focus and allow us to make improvements. Each year, the School will evaluate progress toward the goals for the year and report to the board and the community. Created and carried out by our community, this Strategic Plan will support St. Albans School as it continues to guide young men to adulthood, eager and equipped for worthy and sustaining lives of achievement, leadership, and service.
Acknowledgments In the fall of 2011, with the tenth anniversary of the 2002 long-range plan approaching, the Headmaster and the Governing Board determined that it was a good time to take an in-depth look at a number of strategic issues and opportunities. The board, at a retreat that fall, concentrated on identifying areas for study, resulting in the creation of eight task forces. Each task force was co-chaired by board members and faculty and included a diverse group of members of the community. The task forces reported their findings to
the board during the course of 2012, culminating in the board retreat in the fall of 2012, where the overall structure of this Strategic Plan took shape. The fifteen-month process of creating the plan involved all board members, past board chairs and members, and a broad group of faculty, administrators, alumni, parents, and students. We are grateful to these members of the community for committing their time and energy to this important task.
Steering Committee Richard P. Hall, Co-Chair, Board Member Jun Makihara ’75, Co-Chair, Board Member, Parent ’13 Christopher Denby, Parent ’14, ’16, ’21 James B. Ehrenhaft ’83, Board Member, Faculty, Parent ’16, ’20 Julie Sauder Miller, Past Board Chair, Parent ’08, ’12 James B. Paragamian ’73, Board Chair, Parent ’09 Hartwell H. Roper Jr., Faculty Elizabeth B. Ulmer, Board Member, Parent ’12 Vance Wilson, Headmaster, Parent ’03
Task Force Committee Members David L. Baad ’83, Task Force Co-Chair, Board Member, Faculty Geoffrey B. Baker, Past Board Chair, Parent ’98, ’00 Sevag Balian ’83, Past Board Member, Parent ’12, ’18 Paul R. Barrett, Past Board Member, Faculty, Parent ’97, ’99 Evan Bayh III ’74, Board Member, Parent ’14, ’14 Mireille Beuchard, Faculty James E. Boasberg ’81, Task Force Co-Chair, Board Member, Parent ’15 Gene Campbell, Faculty
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John S. Campbell ’85, Faculty, Parent ’12 Kristin Campbell, Faculty Gilda Carbonaro, Board Member, Faculty Michael J. Carline, Task Force Co-Chair, Staff Thomas P. Carroll, Past Board Member, Faculty, Parent ’10, ’14 Robert Edge Carter ’80, Task Force Co-Chair, Board Member Peter Clare, Board Member, Parent ’14 Brian P. Coulter, Task Force Co-Chair, Board Member, Parent ’10, ’16
st. albans school
Charles Crossan, Faculty Samuel H. Danello ’14, Student Linda DeBord, Task Force Co-Chair, Faculty, Parent ’97 Donna Denizé, Faculty Tai J.I. Dinger ’14, Student Lucas L. Duffy ’13, Student Colleen D. Dunn, Faculty James B. Ehrenhaft ’83, Task Force Co-Chair, Board Member, Faculty, Parent ’16, ’20 Douglas H. Errett, Faculty Reese Frier, Staff John D.T. Gerber ’80, Task Force Co-Chair, Past Board Chair, Parent ’17, ’19 Graham R. Getty, Staff Christopher D. Gladstone ’75, Board Member, Parent ’12 Ben A. Guill ’69, Board Member Richard P. Hall, Steering Committee Co-Chair, Board Member Austin K. Hampton ’13, Student E. Michael Hansen, Faculty George W. Haywood ’69, Past Board Member, Parent ’15 Paul E. Herman, Past Board Member, Faculty Brooks Hundley, Faculty Daniel H. Jamieson Jr., Staff Jayne A. Jerkins, Board Member, Parent ’13 Mark J. Johnson ’91, Board Member Arthur T. Jones II ’13, Student Peter E. Kelley, Past Board Member, Faculty, Parent ’13, ’15 W. Ryan Kinney ’99, Staff Steven M. Klebanoff, Board Committee Member, Parent ’08, ’11 Radford W. Klotz ’73, Board Member Koby A. Koomson, Task Force Co-Chair, Board Member, Parent ’10 Benjamin W. Labaree Jr., Task Force Co-Chair, Faculty Malcolm C. Lester, Past Faculty, Parent ’20 Nikki Magaziner Mills, Faculty Jun Makihara ’75, Steering Committee Co-Chair, Task Force Co-Chair, Board Member, Parent ’13 John J. McDonnell III ’83, Past Board Member Stephen E. McGregor, Past Board Chair, Parent ’96, ’03, ’06, ’07 Vadim A. Medish ’12, Student Richard J. Meehan, Staff Julie Sauder Miller, Past Board Chair, Parent ’08, ’12 David M. Mott, Board Member, Parent ’16 Brian O’Malley, Faculty James B. Paragamian ’73, Board Chair, Parent ’09 Gregory A. Parker, Task Force Co-Chair, Staff Heather Patton-Graham, Faculty Mary M. Preston, Parent ’17 Elise Rabekoff, Task Force Co-Chair, Board Member, Parent ’12 Nelson J.L. Reed ’13, Student Hartwell H. Roper Jr., Task Force Co-Chair, Faculty Sherry Rusher, Task Force Co-Chair, Past Board Member, Faculty Richard H. Schoenfeld ’76, Past Board Chair, Parent ’08 William W. Sherwin ’61, Board Committee Member Douglas L. Siegler ’79, Task Force Co-Chair, Past Board Member, Parent ’14 Guy T. Steuart III ’76, Board Committee Member, Parent ’12 Michael W. Stockton, Task Force Co-Chair, Past Board Member, Parent ’13, ’15
2013 strategic plan
Elizabeth B. Ulmer, Board Member, Parent ’12 Joseph Viola, Faculty Vance Wilson, Task Force Co-Chair, Headmaster, Parent ’03 Suzanne Woods, Faculty Mary M. Zients, Parent ’15
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St. Albans School Mount St. Alban Washington, DC 20016 www.stalbansschool.org