The Centennial Strategic Plan 2.0
The Webb Schools
The mission of The Webb Schools is to provide an exemplary learning community that nurtures and inspires boys and girls to become men and women who:
Think boldly, mindfully, and creatively, Act with honor and moral courage, Lead with distinction, Serve with a generous spirit.
The Centennial Years
To
thrive for 100 years a school must stand for something important and indissoluble. Its mission and values must remain relevant and inexhaustible. And finally its stewards, over the ebb and flow of decades of challenge and difficulty, trend and fad, must act with unceasing commitment to its purpose. Above all else, from our founding, Webb’s stewards have devoted themselves to nurturing and inspiring young people to know right from wrong, to live and lead lives of honor and moral courage. This is our living legacy and the strong foundation on which we look ahead to the next century. As you may recall, in February 2012 the board of trustees and the senior administrative team gathered for a two-day working retreat to begin the process of developing a 10-year strategic plan that would see Webb through The Centennial Years and beyond. Our work was robust, including a board oversight committee and five independent study groups, each formed around a distinctive quality of the Schools and composed of students, teachers, staff, alumni and parents. Each group did independent research, conducted surveys, completed site visits at schools and colleges and more. In total, these study groups included more than 200 volunteers and met over 50 times combined. Out of this work we created The Centennial Strategic Plan 19222022. This document has guided our efforts over the last seven years and has led to a multitude of major accomplishments. Among these I would include:
1. A dynamic, innovative, cross-disciplinary Learning by Design curriculum, 2. A stronger, broader and more diverse national admission program and profile, 3. A n increased endowment focused on financial aid and faculty development and support,
4. A doubling of the campus footprint with the purchase of 80 acres of hillside property, 5. A n increase in resources devoted to the Alf Museum to solidify its world class status, 6. A deepening and broadening of our commitment to developing leaders with honor and moral courage.
These accomplishments, and many others, stand as the bedrock for Webb’s next 100 years. And so, looking ahead and again led by the board of trustees and senior team, we spent another two-day working retreat reviewing progress and recalibrating our goals for the final few years leading up to The Centennial. Again, it was a robust and generative process led by trustee Wendin Smith ’89, Ph.D. and Sanjay Dholakia ’87, chairman of the board. What follows in these pages is again the sum total of this work—and a road map for Webb as we prepare to celebrate The Centennial. With your partnership and strong commitment to our mission and values, I know that Webb will continue to thrive and prosper in the century ahead. Sincerely yours,
Taylor B. Stockdale Head of Schools
STRATEGIC GOAL #1
Honor and Moral Courage
Our primary responsibility is to honor the core principle on which we were founded— to graduate honorable leaders with moral courage. We will:
1.1
upport our students on their journey to become the next S generation of honorable leaders:
Create a shared language around leadership development at Webb articulating how the advising program contributes to each student’s growth,
Support members of our Honor Committee and Honor Cabinet as community educators and resources around the topics of honor and moral courage,
Nurture in students a spirit of altruism and a commitment to sustained civic engagement by strengthening partnerships with community organizations and expanding opportunities for service in our afternoon and weekend programs,
Expand student participation in national and international leadership development programs, such as the National Association of Independent Schools Student Diversity Leadership Conference and the World Leading Schools Association Student Conference,
Continue to integrate honor, service and leadership into both core and elective programs across disciplines,
Expand student engagement with renowned authors, artists, scholars and other practicing professionals with the goal of inspiring the honorable leaders of tomorrow.
1.2 In an effort to best serve the alumni body of honorable leaders and to celebrate The Centennial 1922-2022:
Continue to expand support for alumni activities and educational programs that strengthen ties to Webb in the region, in the nation and around the world, I n partnership with the work of the Alumni Council, professionally organize and share our rich history through the Schools’ archives,
omplete a series of Centennial projects, C including placing the mission statement at the front of campus, constructing an honor wall highlighting long-tenured faculty and staff and publishing The Centennial history book and compendium.
STRATEGIC GOAL #2
Unbounded Curriculum
Reimagine our liberal arts curriculum with the goal of fostering bold, unbounded thinkers ready to lead and serve a global community. We will:
2.1 Foster a school environment and academic program that demands students join in the design of their own education, and which makes creativity, innovation, risk-taking, reflection and resilience central to every academic experience.
2.2 Continue our work in designing a curriculum that emphasizes foundational skills in 9th and 10th grades to serve as a launching pad for rigorous academic work centered on real-world applications in 11th and 12th grades.
Continue to refine our math curriculum so that it balances problem-based, realworld applications with skill building and interdisciplinary use of math, Create a core curriculum and electives program in world languages that balances language acquisition with the development of global fluency and allows for personalization in meeting the world language requirement,
Continue to build on the success of the Alf Museum’s one-of-a-kind field/research program by providing opportunities across the curriculum for internships and advanced research with strategic partners, Expand field study programs so that Southern California becomes an extended classroom for all students, Build a collaborative arts program that integrates classical disciplines with modern media while drawing heavily on the dynamic Los Angeles arts world.
2.3 Provide state-of-the-art academic resources designed to meet the shifting needs of students and faculty.
Continue to build a flexible, adaptable academic technology infrastructure and integrated curriculum that prepares students to be effective and ethical communicators and creators in the quickly evolving world of digital media and computers.
Continue to support the evolution of our academic spaces to include ensuring we have science laboratory space to advance our curriculum, completing the update of classrooms into next generation learning spaces and creating an outdoor classroom.
2.4 Honor and cultivate Webb’s national reputation among colleges and universities by supporting students in setting and attaining personal goals for selective college admissions.
2.5 Provide expanded opportunities for faculty to engage in a vibrant intellectual life by building on Webb’s longstanding tradition of supporting faculty professional growth.
STRATEGIC GOAL #3
Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology
Deepen our commitment to and support of the Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontolog y while taking best advantage of being the only secondary school in the world home to an accredited museum of paleontolog y. We will:
3.1 Establish the Alf Museum as a research institution of international repute, whose collections and specimen database are accessible onsite and via the internet.
3.2 Broaden and deepen the paleontology program for Webb students by focusing both on the 9th grade introductory experience and 10th, 11th and 12th grade students involved in fieldwork, advanced coursework and original research.
3.3 Enhance the Alf Museum facility by increasing the ease of accessibility for museum visitors and expanding office space for staff and visiting scholars in coordination with The Webb Schools Campus Master Plan.
3.4 Complete the $3 million endowment drive of the Alf Museum to confirm the permanence of a world-class museum on The Webb Schools campus.
3.5 In concert with the Alf Museum, develop and expand virtual, offsite and onsite educational programming to position the Museum and Schools as a locally and globally recognized center for innovation in education.
STRATEGIC GOAL #4
Campus Life
Nurture and guide our students toward greater independence by ensuring our co-curricular and residential programs promote Webb’s mission and values and address the social, cultural and developmental realities that influence Vivian Webb School and Webb School of California students’ needs. We will:
4.1 Ensure that our co-curricular and residential programs support the wellness of students today and provide them with the resilience, empathy, self-knowledge and practical life skills they need beyond Webb.
4.2 Strengthen the joint experience of boarding and day students through a commitment to Webb’s core values and traditions.
4.3 Take full advantage of our unique location in Southern California by continuing to grow our weekend and outdoor programs.
4.4 Provide faculty, staff, and student education on creating and sustaining inclusive communities.
Complete a comprehensive gender inclusiveness assessment and work 4.5 with the Gender Leadership Team to sustain a school community in which students of all genders feel safe and supported in their education and development.
4.6 Strengthen the cohesiveness of our educational program by reconfiguring dorm spaces, mixing faculty of all genders into each school, and developing more community-wide gathering spaces and opportunities for all-school assemblies.
4.7 Review scholarly and institutional research on gender to inform school-wide conversations on how to best serve the needs of our students.
4.8 Participate in and provide leadership to regional and national organizations that position Webb as a thought leader in the field of gender and education.
STRATEGIC GOAL #5
People and Places
Provide an optimal boarding and day school experience by strengthening our programs and our connection to our location—adjacent to the Claremont Colleges, on the front porch of Los Angeles and at the edge of the Pacific Rim. We will accomplish this by focusing on people and physical space. We will: 5.1 Recruit, admit and enroll a diverse student population by expanding the pool of qualified boarding applicants regionally, nationally and internationally.
5.2 Strengthen our financial aid program to enroll students from a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds while ensuring that students have access to all Webb programs.
5.3 Increase professional compensation programs in order to recruit and retain our nation’s best boarding school faculty and staff.
Research, measure and promote faculty/staff work schedules that fully 5.4 support a boarding school program while allowing for a work/life balance.
5.5 Demonstrate a commitment to increased community diversity and inclusion through the implementation of goals crafted from the National Association of Independent Schools Assessment of Inclusivity and Multiculturalism. Create a committee to review and implement recommendations.
5.6 Revise the Campus Master Plan to ensure that the vision of campus facilities and amenities is well aligned with program goals and school values. As part of this goal, we expect to complete work on the Hooper Community Center and The Centennial Plaza. In addition, we will undertake the following initiatives:
Renovate dormitory spaces, including the modernization of HVAC systems, Renovate and construct new spaces in the Fawcett Library, Complete major repairs to the Vivian Webb Chapel, Build, acquire and renovate faculty housing, Improve the Perry Gymnasium and other athletic facilities,
Create additional community areas for small and all-school gatherings, including an amphitheater in Iverson Park, Construct new spaces in the Science Building, Continue work identified in the Campus Security Plan (2015), Acting on the Western Association of Schools and Colleges recommendation, complete the Facilities Capital Action Plan, a process by which ongoing capital plant needs can be tracked and costed.
5.7 Increase campus-wide sustainability efforts, including energy and water conservation, recycling and waste management, and completion of a solar installation project. 5.8 Work in conjunction with a creative agency to create a marketing and communication plan focused on raising the world-wide stature of The Webb Schools and Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology.
5.9 Complete the ongoing leadership phase of The Centennial Campaign including: leadership fundraising, the design and execution of the campaign’s public launch on campus and in key geographic regions, and the creation of messaging and branding for use in the campaign’s public phase.
5.10 Embark on strategic discussions which consider how best to leverage the newly acquired land to innovate the educational program, laying the groundwork for the next 100 years.
“ Vivian and I built this school to teach the finest qualities of character above everything else, then the desire for learning and excellent scholarship. We built this chapel as a proper place for the teaching of the virtues that represent the finest character, honesty, dependability, trustworthiness, strength to do one’s duty, courage to uphold the right and fight for it. To acquire these virtues, we must continually keep them in mind and work for them.” — Thompson Webb
THE WEBB SCHOOLS 1175 WEST BA SELINE ROAD CL AREMONT, C A 91711-2199 T. (909) 626-3587 W W W.WEBB.ORG