Reflections of Havergal: 1994-2019

OVERVIEW

TABLE OF CONTENTS

STRATEGIC PLANS

The Mission Statement is clearly aspirational in nature, but as Dr. Winn Barlow reminded the Old Girls in the 1995 Chronicle , those values were already embedded in the day-to-day life of the school: So much of the teaching of values is not overt but is seen in what I call the hidden curriculum of a school. How do the adults treat each other? How do they treat the students? Is respect and tolerance for each other’s point of view shown? Do the adults and older girls go out of their way to help and comfort a student who is going through a difficult time? How does the school respond when some wrong is done? Do the students care for one another? … Do the students, especially the older girls, contribute to one another’s education? If these caring attitudes can be built into the ethos of a school, it helps support a moral environment in which the young can grow and develop. We certainly try to make this happen at Havergal. These values are at the heart of the crucial decisions made about the school’s future. At the 2003 Visioning Forum, Bruce Mau, celebrated designer and Havergal parent and Board member, made the following observation: “Havergal is unique as an institution in being able to think long term—very long term.” Prior to 1994, there had, of course, been long-range planning, with the Board of Governors and administrators working with representatives of key departments to prepare reports and set concrete goals. However, in 1994, Havergal entered into its first school-wide strategic planning process. A key feature of strategic plans is their backward design, and Havergal’s is no different. First comes an articulation of the fundamental vision of the school, one rooted in its values. Then come very practical decisions about the steps necessary to ensure that vision is realized. Each plan, progressive and painstaking, is a living document, and each one has helped make the Havergal tree even stronger and more vigorous.

“We are a community that moves with one purpose in all its constituencies, which is to further the education of the young.”

—STRATEGIC PLAN 1994–99

Strategic Plan 1994–99

In fall 1993, there was a very important announcement in Torch : Havergal was about to embark on the creation of its first strategic plan. A steering committee had been formed, and it would be ably guided by plan Co-Chairs David Taylor, Board member and parent, and Rosemary Corbett, Vice Principal and Co-Head of the Upper School. It was immediately obvious the committee would not prepare the plan in isolation. Members of the entire community would be invited to offer suggestions about the ways in which Havergal should evolve in the coming five years. When all the responses were collated, a group of 40 individuals, again representing all facets of the school, would work together to produce the first draft of the plan.

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