Meeting in late January, Milton’s board of trustees enthusiastically endorsed Milton’s Strategic Plan. Based on more than a year’s worth of intense thinking and discussion involving all of Milton’s constituencies—faculty, staff, students, parents and alumni—the plan outlines clear, bold priorities, as well as implementation steps. Head of School Todd Bland, announcing the board’s vote to faculty, noted a key consistency: the priorities that emerged from the broad-based planning process align with his own vision.
“We’ll build the highest-quality and strongest faculty, including recruiting a diverse faculty,” Todd said. “We’ll consistently and rigorously renew our curriculum. We’ll continue to enroll diverse, multidimensional students, help them develop their passion for learning, and explicitly cultivate mutual caring, respect and understanding.”
Once trustees accepted the plan’s central priorities at their October meeting, a team of administrators and faculty met during the fall. They planned the implementation, and pinpointed the resources that will be needed to achieve the plan’s objectives. When the board convened in January, the trustees discussed a plan distinguished not only by how much it expresses Milton’s character, but also by implementation detail, timeline and financial implications.
Many aspects of Milton’s Strategic Plan differentiate it from similar efforts at other institutions. Led by Strategic Planning chair, trustee Chris McKown, the plan emerged organically from the ideas and perspectives of all those who know and care about Milton, rather than being imposed from the outside. The plan “feels like Milton,” many trustees and faculty have said. It has credibility, authenticity and clear reference to the School we know, many said.
The plan’s priorities are dynamic, symbiotic and integrated. Achieving the plan’s interdependent objectives will create a whole larger than the sum of the parts.
The planning process has already energized the faculty; progress toward realizing many of the priorities is already under way. Faculty have shown their eagerness to look at each of Milton’s programs successively—both our strengths and ways to innovate that would improve relevance and quality. They welcome new opportunities for meaningful professional development and the effort to reach a new level of professional excellence.
Implementation of the plan is mapped out, and it will follow a clear path across all the priority areas simultaneously. Principals David Ball of the Upper School and Marshall Carter of K–8 developed a five-year, stepwise process for implementing the numerous objectives. Executing these steps will, in many but not all cases, be linked to securing new resources—financial gifts to Milton. While the plan does include particular capital projects necessary to facilitate optimal teaching and learning, Milton’s Strategic Plan focuses on people: students and faculty.
“Our enthusiasm, our readiness, our clearly defined pathway is a real motivator,” Todd Bland said to the faculty. The commitments in this plan will stimulate creativity across the School, and also preserve our core strengths: the excellence of our faculty and the transformative relationships between teachers and students.
The principals are talking with faculty now about the implementation steps that involve them this spring, summer and next fall. At the same time, Milton is preparing the Web site presentation of the plan for readers’ easy access and use.
For more information on the Strategic Plan visit: http://www.milton.edu/strategicplan/