It was a rainy Saturday morning…just perfect for staying indoors with a good book.  Instead, 80 hardy souls generously devoted a day to pondering, discussing and debating the future direction of Friends Select School.  The group included many stakeholders:  students; parents; former parents; alumni/ae; faculty; staff; administrators; trustees; neighbors; and Meeting members. 

The retreat was a key part of the school’s strategic planning process – a management term that greatly understates the energy and excitement with which the group embraced its challenge:  To anticipate the major trends that will impact Friends Select in years to come in order to position the school for the future.  The intent was not to “fix” existing problems, but to chart a course going forward.

To help focus the group’s efforts, Andrew Mozenter, a skillful organizational and human resources consultant, served as facilitator.  He kept everyone on track throughout a remarkably productive day by using a series of exercises designed to elicit ideas on a wide range of topics.  For example, in the opening exercise, people paired off to interview each other about specific instance when they had witnessed the mission and vision of the school in action.  Later in the day, small groups articulated how they envision the ideal Friends Select five years from now.  Charged with both describing and drawing a model school, one group (benefiting from the drafting skills of a trustee who is also an architect) even produced a carefully-drawn schematic.  Other groups painted “word pictures” of the Friends Select School of the future.

The “word on the street” from participants is that the day was very worthwhile.  “When I walked into the room, I immediately felt a buzz of energy from having so many people committed to the good of the school in one room,” said administrative assistant Penny Razler.

Melissa Weiler Gerber, executive director of Women’s Way and mother of a second grader, offered her review:  “The strategic planning discussion was skillfully facilitated to enable the group to applaud and recommit to Friends Select's unique heritage, while pushing us to explore creatively how best to position the school going forward.  Student voices were particularly cogent, galvanizing everyone's commitment to a strong, vibrant, financially healthy school.”

One of those student voices was senior Fumnanya Ekhator:  “Friends Select has its own distinct identity.  That’s one reason why, when I had to choose a middle school, my parents and I chose Friends Select and not one of its competitors.  Friends Select is a unique place.  In terms of academic rigor, our curriculum is not quantitative; it's qualitative.  At Friends Select, there is the education of the whole individual, and we leave as thinkers."

Yet another voice was trustee and alumnus Josh Piven '89, who noted how valuable the day was.  "It was nice to see that the wider community seems to be in sync, for the most part, with the board of trustees," he told me.

As for me, I left the retreat with renewed appreciation of the many caring and intelligent individuals who support Friends Select.  In this period of economic and political transition, the school is strong and resilient -- and committed to using its stable infrastructure as a launching pad to an even better future.

 

Note:  The next phase of the process will be to draft a document, to be presented to the trustees for endorsement in February and published in the Spring.

Rose Hagan, Head of School