The Heights School is a private, independent, preparatory school for boys, grades three to twelve. Our mission is to assist parents in the intellectual, moral, physical, and spiritual education of their sons, with dedicated teachers training boys rigorously in the liberal arts. This formation in virtue fosters respect for every person, a desire to serve God and others, and an optimistic attitude towards life’s challenges.
LETTER FROM THE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND HEADMASTER, January 2017
Dear Parents, Alumni, Faculty, and Friends,
A STRATEGIC PLAN for the next decade of The Heights School and its principal themes, goals, and objectives follows. This Plan establishes the School’s vision for its parents, students, alumni, faculty, and campus. The six strategic themes of this Plan and their accompanying goals and objectives are intended to guide the Heights experience over the course of the next decade.
The Heights is currently enjoying a wonderful period of development. She remains true to her motto, Crescite, “grow.” The commitment of parents, students, and faculty, and the support of alumni has helped to make the School a place of extraordinary opportunity.
We are deeply grateful to Damian von Stauffenberg, the former Chairman of the Board of Directors who launched this Strategic Plan, and to Bill Moss, the Chairman of the Strategic Planning Committee, for their leadership and long hours of work throughout the entire planning process. As well, we extend our heartfelt thanks to all who contributed their time and thoughts to this important effort, now coming to fruition in the 48th year of the School’s life.
Strategic Themes
IN ANTICIPATION of the 50th anniversary of The Heights School in 2019, the Board of Directors launched a multi-staged, multi-year strategic planning process in the fall of 2014. The Board’s intent was to assure the School’s commitment to her origins and traditions by considering what was needed to continue forming “men fully alive,” men capable of engaging the world in order to lead and lift it for the glory of God.
After establishing a framework, the Strategic Planning Committee of the Board convened a two-day assembly in February 2015 consisting of parents, faculty, alumni, and other members of The Heights community to study how the School could best live its mission. This assembly reviewed critical aspects of the School including its parent community, faculty, students, curriculum, facilities, and financial operations. Their insights, observations, and suggestions were passed to the Strategic Planning Committee and presented to the Board for final approval in December 2016.
The following themes, goals, and objectives which form the Strategic Plan are the result of the planning activities launched by the Board and have been given the highest consideration for implementation over the next decade. Progress toward their completion will be communicated to the School community on a periodic basis. The Board and all who contributed to this immense project look forward to beginning the next 50 years of the School’s life; a period we believe will be marked with the continued richness born of God’s blessings.
Six Strategic Themes
Partnering with Parents
Investing in the Faculty
Enhancing the Student Experience
Engaging the World
Investing in the Campus
Stewarding Our Financial Resources
Partnering with Parents
The belief that mothers and fathers are the primary educators of their children is one of the founding principals of The Heights School. Parents are the first interpreters of reality for their children and educate them from their first days. A parent’s ability to communicate the value of education and establish a home life conducive to study and conversation is integral to supporting the education their children receive at school.
The Heights School, through faculty, coaches, staff, and administrators, assumes the role of secondary educator for each boy in its care. The School’s ability to fulfill its role as secondary educator relies substantially on its ability to work in concert with parents; the greater the agreement on fundamental values between parents and the School, the greater the ability of the School to assist in the education and maturation of its students.
GOAL: Expand and enrich the School’s offerings for the parent community.
Objectives:
Dedicate a resource to organizing, developing, and coordinating parent programs.
Broaden the parent curriculum to offer topics tailored to parents of Lower, Middle, and Upper School boys.
Publicize the parent curriculum offerings online.
Offer online distribution of content aimed at the parent community to enable parents and other educators to take full advantage of The Heights School.
Investing in the Faculty
High standards and a spirit of refinement come from teachers dedicated to a life of study. A teacher’s excellence transmits itself by example, and fosters in students the capacity for learning, the temperament of study, and the love of knowledge and truth.
The faculty primarily serves its role by providing competent professional service. Through their teaching skills, they demonstrate a keen and lively grasp of subjects and present a model for student development. A Heights teacher must therefore be qualified, of upright moral character, and equipped to mature in his career.
GOAL: Gradually improve faculty compensation to levels of remuneration that are competitive, sustainable, and just.
Objectives:
Develop and present a faculty compensation proposal for Board approval.
Create professional development opportunities for Heights teachers focused on advancing the skills needed to successfully deliver the School’s distinctive programs.
Develop an internal course of studies, administered and taken on a voluntary basis, to serve as a prolonged and formative exercise in the art of teaching.
Continue to offer tips and advisory sessions on best teaching practices at faculty workshops.
Enhancing the Student Experience
The Heights is committed to the education of the whole person; intellectually, morally, spiritually, and physically. In considering strategic initiatives, it is vital to examine the distinctive Heights programs which have proved successful over the years. This Strategic Plan calls for attention to the School’s signature advisory, curricular, and extracurricular programs.
Mentoring Program
Mentoring is a tutorial in Christian manhood. It is a means of teaching, personally and individually, the ideals that form the foundation of a complete education. The mentor, working in the context of each student’s personal circumstances, shows his mentee through example and encouragement the means to acquire virtue.
GOAL: Establish advisory as a defining program of The Heights.
Objectives:
Expand the number of advisors in the Upper School and implement an advisor training program.
Continue to provide parents and students with individual attention and guidance through the college admission program.
Liberal Arts Curriculum
The Heights provides a traditional Liberal Arts education (from the Latin word liber, meaning “free”). Its focus is the personal freedom that comes from being truly educated. A Liberal Arts education realizes man’s humanity and grants him the freedom to pursue professional opportunities. The fruits of this kind of education - broad understanding of reality, precision of thought, and superlative communication skills - are essential to developing leadership potential and success in the professional life.
GOAL: Enhance the School’s curriculum and continue its focus on the Liberal Arts.
Objectives:
Publish a Classically informed writing program to be delivered first in the Lower School and then in the Middle and Upper Schools.
Develop programs to enhance student speaking skills.
Foster the study of the empirical sciences in a way that respects the integrity of the full scope of human reason and better engages student learning.
Continue to develop the CORE Humanities Sequence.
Extracurricular Activities and Athletics
Extracurricular programs provide students with opportunities to further their intellectual, physical, moral, and spiritual development. They foster the cultivation of habits, and thereby virtues, that mature character, enhance professional life, and establish culture in the home. The Heights seeks to provide extracurricular activities and athletic programs which manifest opportunities for student growth.
GOAL: Continue to develop extracurricular activities and athletics programs that foster expertise and engender character.
Objectives:
Expand athletic programs by increasing participation in athletic conferences and by growing the intramural program.
Increase the number of extracurricular activities and the number of students who participation in them.
Develop relationships with charitable organizations in order to provide more service opportunities for all students.
Cultivate professional skills training through The Heights Internship Program.
Engaging the World
Approaching the School’s 50th anniversary, The Heights recognize its wider impact on society. The School is particularly mindful of the number of young alumni professionals in the world and those alumni who are now assuming responsibilities as husbands and fathers. The School is also aware of its broadening reputation in the Washington, D.C. area and beyond, which is attracting the interest of like-minded families and institutions.
Alumni
Connecting alumni with resources that support and encourage their freedom is one of the School’s top priorities. Particularly, the spirit of The Heights encourages the development of programs which assist in the professional formation of graduates.
GOAL: Continue developing alumni engagement with the School.
Objectives:
Increase efforts to integrate alumni into existing School events.
Develop a program of professional formation for young alumni, including current seniors and alumni up to five years after graduation.
Continue to expand professional opportunities for alumni.
Beyond the Walls
The Heights is developing as a thought leader in boys education, and can equip other young men to transform culture by serving as a resource for parents and educators beyond the walls of campus. The Heights has curricula and materials tailored to this task. Augmenting the School’s outreach program would enable The Heights to reach like-minded families, institutions, and supporters who might assist its mission.
GOAL: Invite people and institutions outside of The Heights community to take advantage of the educational resources and expertise offered through the School’s website.
Objectives:
Establish a Director of External Communications.
Develop key messages and communication channels to promote distinctive aspects of The Heights with external audiences.
Determine the potential of introducing a Heights curriculum to those beyond the campus.
Increase online faculty publications.
Expand the School’s use of the Internet and social media to offer educational resources, such as lectures and faculty publications, through the School’s website.
Expand the International Student Program.
Investing in the Campus
The School’s campus is as crucial as its academic and athletic programs in fulfilling its mission. In a very tangible way, the facilities represent the School’s philosophy; the buildings are simple yet built to last. Our facilities aim to be conducive to the kind of contemplation necessary for true learning.
To protect this resource, the School must account for routine maintenance and improvement of existing facilities. Additionally, when necessary, the construction of new facilities to support the School’s educational programs must be completed without increasing debt.
GOAL: Enhance the campus in ways that are driven by vital curricular and extracurricular needs to enable delivery of the School’s programs without increasing debt.
Objectives:
Pursue ongoing investment in the long-term care of the existing plant.
Study and propose solutions to the current need for adequate facilities for music, athletics, and parking.
Explore the feasibility of a Capital Campaign to implement all or parts of the Campus Master Plan.
Stewarding Our Financial Resources
The Strategic Plan establishes priorities for the budgeting process. These priorities help formalize financial guidelines and policies and ensure the proper alignment of the School’s resources.
The size, configuration, and composition of the student body are the most critical components in the sustainability of the School’s operating model. The Heights must be a school of choice for both full-paying families and families in need. Competition from other schools, perceptions of prohibitive fees, and ignorance of the School’s value proposition are challenges that must be met.
Additionally, new opportunities to support the School, including new ways to give, need to be explored to reach donors both within and outside of the School community.
GOAL: Ensure a well-qualified student body from families of all levels of affluence that are drawn to or share our core values and which reflects the broad social and economic mix of the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area.
Objectives:
Target enrollment increases in alumni families, families from all levels of affluence and need, and families from the District of Columbia.
Prudently manage the resources afforded the School from tuition and gifts in order to maintain the confidence and trust of the School’s constituents.
Maintain a focus on student affordability by continuing to study tuition and financial aid levels.
Continue to seek flexible solutions on a case-by-case basis to the tuition challenges faced by families, particularly large families, who seek a long-term partnership with The heights.
Explore the potential for expanding our donor base by capitalizing on the new outreach efforts.
Introduce a Planned Giving Program to help build an endowment for the School.
Please contact Phil McGovern, CFO, with questions about The Heights Strategic Plan.