St. Albans School

str ategic pla n st. alba ns 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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2013 strategic plan 3

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III. Building a Global Platform. We will expand our

reach. St. Albans — with its unparalleled location on the

grounds of Washington National Cathedral, overlooking

the nation’s capital — will instill in all students an

increased awareness of the world around them and the

international opportunities available to them. The School

will study the possibility of an International Studies

Program to encourage St. Albans and National Cathedral

School students to pursue global and diplomatic studies.

The School will also explore summer courses, experiential

programs, and partner-school relationships. The School

will offer increased opportunities for student and faculty

exchanges, professional development for faculty, and

aggressive use of the exceptional academic and professional

resources available in the D.C. area.

Strategic Direction for St. Albans School (2013-2018)

I. Supporting the Evolving Needs of Faculty. Great

teaching sets St. Albans apart. The School will support

its most important resource, its faculty and staff, by

establishing an endowment fund to permit a significant

increase in professional development and an improved

benefit program. The School will also increase the level

of diversity among its faculty and staff and will assure a

welcoming environment for this increasingly diverse school

community.

The School will review and augment the benefit program,

specifically by gradually increasing the School’s share of

medical insurance premiums; by investigating ways to

meet the needs of teachers for housing; and by exploring

the optimal way to assist faculty and staff with child-

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 off-

season; 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

plan, remains a core theme of this Strategic Plan. In 2009

the Governing Board approved a sustainability action

plan which successfully decreased spending and reduced

the rate of significant tuition increases. The School

will continue on this path of making hard choices and

tradeoffs while considering other ways to cut costs and

add revenue. St. Albans will collaborate with the other

Close institutions to optimize facility usage and seek

other opportunities for substantive cost-sharing. The

School will develop multiple partnerships with outside

organizations, allowing the School to expand its offerings

at lower cost.

At the same time, additional revenues will be required to

support the initiatives laid out in this plan. To this end,

St. Albans will conduct a $50 million capital campaign.

This campaign will allow for the continued moderation

of tuition increases and will help sustain economic

diversity through financial aid. Part of the endowment

raised in the campaign will support our expanded

technology resources, professional development, and

benefit programs for teachers, as well as our focus on

international studies and global and diplomatic service.

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What Won’t Change

A School for BoysSt. 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 SchoolAn 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 CommunityA 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 EducationStudents 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.

Coeducational OpportunitiesOur 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 AidSt. 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 ServiceThrough 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 TraditionFrom 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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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

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

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.

Acknowledgments

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.


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

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

St. Albans SchoolMount St. Alban

Washington, DC 20016

www.stalbansschool.org

St. Albans School

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