The Vermont Academy Way
Launching the 2021-2026 Strategic Plan
New Advancement Director to Lead Campaign
Alumnus Referral Leads New Faculty Member to Dartmouth
New Board Members Challenge Alumni with Giving VOLUME 1, ISSUE 3 ~ SUMMER 2021
Dear Vermont Academy Family, It’s been just a few weeks since we said goodbye to our students. The campus is green and vibrant — and far too quiet! While faculty and staff need this time to focus on so much important work, our students are the lifeblood of this place. This summer should be one where they can warmly reconnect with family and friends, but I miss seeing them bustle down Long Walk, all of them veering around the Vermont Academy seal at the intersection with Library Way. This year was a year like no other! I give all of our students, faculty, and staff credit for working so hard to keep our community safe. We were all together in so many ways, but we also missed out on many traditions, like formal dinner, in-person community meetings, and most athletic competitions. We all learned to read smiles in one another’s eyes. We are working with families to ensure our students can get vaccinated before they come to campus in August as we plan to return to normal next year. We have so much that is exciting to share with you, as you’ll read in these next pages. We have a new strategic plan that places the school’s future on firm pillars. We’re taking part in a Dartmouth College program to offer a Masters of Arts in Liberal Studies to select new teachers. We’ve hired a talented director of advancement to lead our Campaign for Vermont Academy’s Future. And new Vermont Academy trustees include alumni who want to challenge their peers to support this School in so many ways. Vermont Academy’s moment is now. We are leaning into educational innovation and defining ourselves clearly as a school of the future. I’m so excited for next year – which includes plans for an in-person reunion in the fa! I can’t think of a better time for you to come back and visit us. Warmly,
Dr. Jennifer L. Zaccara, Head of School
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Vermont Academy Launches Strategic Plan for 2021-2026 Vermont Academy’s new strategic plan places the school’s future on firm pillars. Whether you regard a pillar as something that reliably provides essential support, or as a prominent supporter of a community, or as something that serves as the foundation of the architecture, this plan will stabilize and sustain the Academy well past our upcoming 150-year anniversary.
Here are the pillars: Pillar 1: Prepare students for innovation, invention, and entrepreneurship by investing in the resources, facilities, and training needed for a signature applied science, math, and technology curriculum. Pillar 2: Emphasize individualized learning by designing practices, opportunities, and spaces that enable students to find their passions and to become selfdirected learners. Pillar 3: Strengthen community life by investing in resources that provide safe and supported student social-emotional growth and moral character development. Pillar 4: Embrace our Vermont home to cultivate students’ knowledge, love, and appreciation for the land through environmental education, winter sports, and outdoor programming. This strategic plan lays out the pathways, the quests, and the fundamentals of individualized learning. Our school has a rich history of close faculty-student relationships, outdoor programming, focus on student skill building and organizational self-direction, and love of the land. This is captured in not only the strategic initiatives but also the spirit of place that is our Vermont identity and location. This strategic plan has been months in the making, starting with small groups of dedicated faculty and staff gathering to discuss what our school is and what it should continue to become. It was then honed by the Board of Trustees and representative parents and alumni. The passion that was expressed by them for our students and their education is distilled in it. We encourage you to read the full plan at www.vermontacademy.org/pillars
THE VERMONT ACADEMY WAY
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Alumnus Referral Leads to a New Vermont Academy Faculty Member and Dartmouth Dr. Robert Watts ’73, Florence R. Sabin Class of 1889 Distinguished Alumni Award honoree, has known Charles Butler, Vermont Academy’s newest faculty member in our history department, since he was born. “His father and I have been friends since I was nine years old,” Robert explains. “I’ve known Charles since before he knew himself.” So, when classmate and Vermont Academy board chair Michael A. Choukas ‘73, P ‘94 contacted Robert Dr. Robert Watts ’73 looking for a new faculty member who might be able to take advantage of an initiative at the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies Program (MALS) at the Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies at Dartmouth, he knew Charles would fit the bill. Dr. Donald Pease, the Chair of MALS, says the purpose of Dartmouth’s initiative is to enable underrepresented scholars and other graduate scholars with a demonstrated commitment and ability to advance educational diversity to launch their teaching and administrative careers in private schools. “I’m quite proud of the initiative,” Dr. Pease explains. “For people to take something they are passionate about, to turn that vocation into a reality, I think it will be an ideal bridge between students with similar backgrounds and teachers.” Charles’ course of study is funded by scholarships, with half being provided by Dartmouth and the other half by Vermont Academy. Charles Butler remembers the fateful call from Robert Watts vividly. “It was, ‘Hey, do you want to go up to VA? Would you like to go teach at my school in Vermont?’ It was a curveball. I was comfortable where I was. But I was intrigued even before he told me about the MALS program.” After working for a time in sales and in high finance in New York City, Charles had found himself dissatisfied with his life’s trajectory. “I was in negative arenas I didn’t feel comfortable in.”
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Charles first started working with youth through his church. “My pastor asked for help with the children’s ministry and my hand went up,” Charles recalls. “I loved it.” He shifted to a teaching career after working with Robert to find out where his strengths were. A business connection helped him get his first teaching position at New York’s Mount Saint Michael’s Academy before he shifted to New Heights Academy Charter School. “I want to live out my days to the maximum of my potential.” “The road to teaching was filled with challenges,” Charles explains. “Certification and experience. The world of charter schools is tied to state testing. Thirty percent of my class couldn’t read or write – first generation students in America. I was in that world.” Charles saw teaching at Vermont Academy and attending the Dartmouth College MALS Program as an opportunity. “For a Black male from the Bronx to attend and graduate from Dartmouth College would change my legacy and Charles Butler posterity,” he explains. “Teaching in the Bronx and Washington Heights in Manhattan, where the poverty line is very high and kids fall victim to street life, the impact I have already made would potentially be multiplied tenfold. I could become a leader and innovator pushing for changes I feel would be beneficial to students of color from poor backgrounds. Being given the opportunity to attend Dartmouth College would allow me to be a leader in my community and make the changes I would like to see.” Dr. Watts felt the same way. “I’m very proud of VA,” he says. “Mr. Choukas ’46 (former headmaster of Vermont Academy) was light years ahead of society. The school at heart is a very earnest place. It’s very sincere. I went there and the word ‘diversity’ wasn’t even being used, yet it’s what VA strived for. That’s why I wanted Charles to go there. I trust this school. This school is maintaining its stride.” The Dartmouth MALS program has always catered to independent schools, so it is a perfect place for this initiative. It is one of the only programs of its kind firmly planted in the graduate school of the College. Teachers attend classes in the summer and can complete the program in three to four summers. The program works with each student to help them design their own course of study. Charles will be starting his work at Dartmouth this month. Meanwhile he and his wife have settled into campus life. “Being in the Bronx so long, I got used to being guarded,” he explains. “This year allowed me to grow and stretch.” THE VERMONT ACADEMY WAY
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New Advancement Director to Lead Campaign Dr. Jennifer L. Zaccara is thrilled to announce the hiring of Beth Crutcher as Vermont Academy’s new Director of Advancement. “Beth is an incredibly talented advancement professional with international experience. She had a lot of job options to choose from after deciding to return stateside,” explains Dr. Zaccara. “She made a missionfocused decision to join Vermont Academy. The transformational effect our school has on students and the priorities of The Campaign for Vermont Academy’s Future perfectly align with Beth’s goals, desires, and motivation for working with a school.” Beth joins Vermont Academy after working for five years as the Director of Advancement at the American School in Beth Crutcher London, England (ASL). She credits the school with helping her develop greater cultural competency skills. Prior to ASL, Beth spent eighteen years in the United States working in leadership positions with Princeton University, Princeton HealthCare System, and Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart. Past positions also include running a community arts agency and fundraising for the Henry Ford Estate at the University of Michigan. From overseeing the development of new non-profits to raising record breaking gifts that helped fund a new hospital, Beth credits continued education as the key to a productive career. She obtained her Master’s Degree in Organizational Dynamics from University of Pennsylvania as a mid-career professional and new mother, writing her thesis on the use of positive organizational psychology in fundraising. “Given the history and reputation of Vermont Academy, I am honored to have been appointed as the Director of Advancement,” Beth says. “My goal is to strengthen the school by meeting the objectives of The Campaign for Vermont Academy’s Future. The outcomes of this campaign will help VA continue to educate critical and creative thinkers who care for their communities and the land. It is hard to imagine a timelier goal for our world than to support active learners and respectful adults who are equipped to tackle the current challenges of disease, climate control, and inequity.” Beth is looking forward to meeting the Vermont Academy community! Go to www.vermontacademy.org/ascend to read more about The Campaign for Vermont Academy’s Future.
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New Board Members Challenge Alumni With Matching Gifts May 4, 2021 dawned rainy in Saxtons River but spirits on campus were high: It was Vermont Academy’s sixth annual giving day, One Day for VA. Inaugurated in 2016, the goal of One Day for VA is to draw together the Vermont Academy community to rally around and support the people, programs, and places that make our school so unique. Participation has steadily grown over the years. Growth comes in part from generous matching gift challenges that provide an incentive to participate as donors know their gifts will have an even greater impact on the school. As two of Vermont Academy’s newest board members, Jeremy Herbert ’99 and Topher Brewer ’00 had seen One Day for VA in action. They decided that together they could boost the day by combining resources to offer a challenge to match any alumni donation dollar for dollar up to $35,000. “Part of the challenge is — we’re not just giving money,” explains Jeremy. “We’re more focused on how alumni engagement is low. Can we get fifty people to give one hundred dollars, or one hundred people to give ten dollars? Can I get my entire class — ninety percent, one hundred percent — to participate? It’s about being part of the community, and we’re putting our money where our mouth is.” “It’s about getting people to step up,” says Topher. “It’s about creating community but also giving a sense of urgency. And it’s about connecting people with a place that gave them so much. I got so much out of Vermont Academy, and now is the time to give back.” Their strategy proved to be a success. As One Day for VA progressed, it was clear that the match motivated their classmates and other alumni to give. In fact, by 6 PM, the match had been completely used! A similar match to encourage parent support was provided by Trustee Tom Capasse P‘16. Overall, One Day for VA was a success. The donor goal of 291 donors (one for every student, faculty member, and staff member at VA) was surpassed and the school raised more than $100,000 including the match. In part, the funds will be used to support scholarships, invest in program leadership, and revitalize the campus so that Vermont Academy students can launch onto a lifelong path of productivity and purpose. Tonia Fleming P‘18, Director of Annual Giving explains, “The matching gift challenges provided by Jeremy, Topher, and Tom showed their devotion to Vermont Academy’s mission and impact and led the way for others to acknowledge the power of the Vermont Academy experience in transforming lives.” THE VERMONT ACADEMY WAY
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Tell us a little about the friendships you made as a student at VA by filling out a brief form found at http://bit.ly/vafriendship.
Help us celebrate you and the deep, meaningful, and lifelong friendships you formed in the classroom, on athletic teams, in the dorms, and beyond.
International Friendship Day is July 30!
Give a gift today at www.vermontacademy.org/give
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Invest in our students! P.O. Box 500 Saxtons River VT 05154
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