to
I want to thank Newtown
Friends Meeting for its generous support of
The school has renewed and
re-energized its sense of community over the past year and it continues to
focus on the importance of Quaker values in the curriculum. The School
Committee is very pleased to have Dana Harrison as our new Head of School. In just a little over two months he has become
an integral part of the community and the feedback from all sectors - faculty,
parents and students - has been very positive.
This afternoon, I will report to you about
As is true of most
independent schools this year, the economic situation has resulted in a down
turn in the number of students attending
The School Committee has
recently established an ad-hoc Benefits Committee which, in concert with the
Finance Committee, is looking at the policies under which the school operates
to see what economies can be made with a minimum of disruption to the
community. We are carefully monitoring
our endowment funds which are conservatively invested to provide us with income,
while at the same time growing slightly for the benefit of future generations
of students. Our past prudent operating
budgets, investment strategy, and the generous support over the years of
friends, parents and alumni – and especially this Meeting and its members – has
provided a modest financial cushion which allows us time to create thoughtful
new strategies and adjust to changing conditions.
The School Committee
continues to emphasize the importance of educating its members in the area of
governance. Last November, eight of our
members attended a workshop with Richard Chait, the author of Governance as Leadership: Reframing the Work of Nonprofit Boards,
and returned to present observations and suggestions for how to become more
“generative” in our thinking. This fall
members of the School Committee joined members of the staff in attending a
workshop entitled “How to Market your School in a Buyer’s Market.” These workshops bring new ideas to our
deliberations and help in our efforts to think creatively. In addition, the School Committee
periodically reviews case studies which focus attention on the appropriate role
of school trustees.
The School Committee has set
two goals for the current year. The first is: Ensure the successful transition for the new Head of School. Several activities have already taken place
including two welcoming meetings for worship for students and parents at the
beginning of the year, and a gathering for alumni parents to meet Dana. Plans are being made to meet with our Search
Consultant, Earl Ball, at or near the 100 day mark of Dana’s time at
The second School Committee
goal is:
Define satisfactory progress on the strategic plan and continually
monitor activity toward it. Our
strategic plan is a fluid document developed a year or so ago. It is meant to serve as a touchstone or
reminder to guide our decision making in the coming years in the areas of
program and curriculum, financial management, marketing and branding and
volunteerism and fundraising.
The School Committee consists
of 21 dedicated and hard-working members - 8 are current parents, 10 are
parents of alums, and 3 are interested Friends. We have 13 Quaker members from Newtown
Meeting, Middletown Meeting and Yardley Meeting.
This
is an exciting time to be involved at
Respectfully submitted,
Ann Reece, Clerk,