With a limited number of school days, special programs, and trustee meetings, Choate faces an ongoing issue of priority; the community constantly grapples with what topic, action, or event is most relevant each year. Often, the answer is dictated by the actions of the administration, led by Dr. Alex Curtis, Headmaster, and Mr. Michael J. Carr, Chairman of the Board of Trustees.
Choate’s 2013 Strategic Plan, a five-year initiative to improve the School, contains a variety of actions items under four categories: cohesion and culture, teaching and learning, enrollment and student outcomes, and communication and outreach. Many of these action items have been successfully implemented over the past three years. Looking toward the next two years of the Strategic Plan, both Dr. Curtis and Mr. Carr are hopeful that the success of previous years will continue. Dr. Curtis remarked, “Every one of the 26 action items had a starting date, a benchmark, and a person responsible.” He continued, “80% of them have reached at least their primary benchmark.”
According to both Mr. Carr and Dr. Curtis, the 2013 initiative was successful in that it was neither too general nor too specific, which often is a problem associated with strategic plans. Mr. Carr commented, “Sometimes you can get too small in your strategic thinking and you focus on smaller, more contained issues. Or you can be ‘galactic,’ and then you end up with a bunch of platitudes. What has surprised me about this plan is that the board and the administration came up with goals that gave Dr. Curtis and his team the ability to adapt if necessary.”
As part of the Strategic Plan, which states, “we will ensure that the School’s programming, size, facilities, and resources remain pre-eminent and foster a cohesive, vibrant campus community,” the layout of Choate’s campus is undergoing drastic shifts. The School is currently building the St. John Hall Student Center and continuing preparations for construction of a new auditorium adjacent to the Paul Mellon Arts Center.
Dr. Curtis noted that all of the money funding these buildings came from capital fundraising rather than the endowment. He said, “The School used money raised specifically for construction because people saw the need and were ready to support it.” He also mentioned that the projects have not increased tuition payments. “We have been trying to be a leader in tuition suppression, but that is only sustainable with long-term growth of the endowment,” he said.
The plans for these new buildings have been developed over the past few years. Regarding the auditorium, Mr. Carr remarked, “When we were putting the Strategic Plan together, we got the community together, and we asked, ‘What do you want? What are you missing?’ The one thing everyone said was, ‘We want to be able to be in the same room to have a conversation, whether it’s for special programs or school meetings.’ A part of culture and cohesion is the ability to gather in one place.”
Mr. Carr continued, “If we want to be innovative, we need a facility where all the students can learn and be with each other. One motivation was to make sure the student body had resources that were designed to enable the students to be as good as they could possibly be, and to chase whatever dream they have, whether it’s to learn how to code, whether it’s to be with friends in the student center, or whether it’s to become an environmental scientist.”
Continuing with the mission of cohesion and culture, the School hired Dr. Keith Hinderlie last spring to become Choate’s first Director of Equity and Inclusion.
Dr. Hinderlie’s roles will include spearheading the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Diversity Day and acting as a resource for students dealing with issues related to identity. His arrival to the School comes at a time when disputes, especially regarding political issues, are at the forefront of campus discussion. Dr. Curtis said, “I think we are a community that talks to each other, but I have said we need to listen as well. And I want to make sure that we don’t lose the passion that I just find so energizing, exciting, and important.” He continued, “I am encouraged by seeing that people are willing to get up and speak their mind; that says something about the health of the community.”
Mr. Carr held that same sentiment as well, saying, “The hallmark of any school is how people treat each other.” He continued, “The bedrock of any community is the respect that we give each other. In Choate’s case, this is about students respecting each other and being able to speak their mind. There is going to be disagreement; that is life, and disagreement is a healthy form of learning, but it has to start with respect for others’ points of view.”
In recent year, this student disagreement and discussion has been the catalyst for change on campus. Dr. Curtis, citing the recent amnesty policy and dress code changes, notes that, often, students are the ones who start initiatives and deem certain topics “relevant.” Most often, those policies are crafted by Mr. James Stanley, Dean of Students, and other members of the faculty who field student needs and concerns. Dr. Curtis said, “I am struck by the amount of consultation the Deans’ Office does with students.” He added, “We may not always agree, but I would feel distressed if students felt there was no interest in student opinion. Student voices have made a huge difference in this School.”
With a student body that is effectively turned over every four years and a rush of new changes that comes with each class, the tradition and maintenance of Choate Rosemary Hall’s 125 year legacy is often uncertain. But the Board of Trustees serves as a bedrock or backbone of the School, ensuring that Choate is headed in the right direction while maintaining its broader focus. Though the Board meets fewer than five time per year, the slightly removed, more objective perspective of its members, Mr. Carr believes, can actually be to the benefit of the School. He remarked, “Would I love to have more time with you all and faculty and administration? Absolutely. But I’ll also say there is a fine line between the trustee group – who is charged with fiduciary responsibility and the long-term strategy of the School – and the administration – who is charged with running the School on a day-to-day basis.” He continued, “Well-run schools observe a healthy boundary between the two, and that is just good
governance.”
Looking forward, the School has high hopes for continued change. Following the ethos of the Strategic Plan and the School’s mission, the focus of the near future will be on becoming more accessible to prospective students. Dr. Curtis remarked, “When we think about what the next campaign is going to be around, I think it will be the endowment, and particularly the endowment for financial aid. The biggest challenge for us is making sure we are as accessible to prospective students from all over the country – and world – as we can possibly be.”
Everything the School is doing today – from the Strategic Plan to endowment growth – is done in an effort to maintain the world-class education Choate provides. Mr. Carr said, “The boarding school experience, for me, was one of the most amazing and relevant experiences in my life; that is one of the reasons why I have the pleasure of being on this Board. But we see many schools that are on the precipice of irrelevance right now, though thankfully not us. The leadership of this school needs to be very keenly attuned to what is going on in the world, what’s going on society, and what’s going on in education. I want to make sure the School has the resources to be able to do that.” He added, “Education is changing all the time. For a school to be successful in educating their students in the best possible way, it needs to be extremely relevant.”
