2025
A Strategic Plan Everdell Hall. Chesapeake Watershed Semester. The Susie Konkel Atrium. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programming. The Alice Ryan Family Library. 80% growth in enrollment. Crew shells and sailboats. Robotics. New electives. Bay Studies courses. The art and photography labs. The Gunston Tennis Center. The Idea Box. Enhanced financial aid. YMCA Camp Gunston and Horizons. Mind, Brain, Education Science professional development. Expanded fiber and wireless. Triathlon and cross-country. Heron House and a rebuilt waterfront.
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very item on this list has two important things in common. First, each has made a transformative impact on the day-to-day lives of Gunston students and teachers; and second, none has occurred accidentally. More specifically, all of these recent initiatives have resulted from a comprehensive, ongoing, and inclusive strategic process led by Gunston’s Board of Trustees. With this letter, we are delighted to formally launch Gunston 2025, our recently updated and board-ratified Strategic Plan.
While the board sets annual institutional goals, Gunston 2025 provides the school with a multi-year strategic roadmap. As you will see, the plan seeks to build upon our rich history, leverage and extend our current strengths, and respond effectively to evolving opportunities and challenges. These notions are embedded into the plan’s central vision: Gunston aims to be the region’s leading secondary school for a dynamic, student-centered educational experience, as well as a recognized national leader in environmental teaching and learning—while continuing to further our institutional capacity, agility, and resiliency. One of the hallmarks of Gunston is the superb partnership that exists between the Board of Trustees and the school’s leadership team. In the pursuit of meaningful programming and initiatives, each supports the other in a virtuous cycle of reflective planning and effective implementation of strategic priorities. We recognize that the beneficiaries of this partnership are the students, teachers, and the wider community. As many of you may know, Gunston recently acquired 3.5 acres of additional property adjacent to the campus, and Gunston 2025 aims to support a process for maximizing the use of that space. To this end, let us offer special thanks to the Co-Chairs of the Gunston 2025 Committee for their superb leadership: Pat Parkhurst ’88 P ’18 ’21 ’23 —a trustee, current parent, and alumna, as well as Christie Grabis — our remarkable assistant head of school. We also want to thank every member who served on the Gunston 2025 committee for their dedication and wisdom. We hope you take the time to review this document in depth, and let us ask you to remain alert for the multitude of ways that members of our community can offer support for this vision. Patrick Shoemaker ’03 Chair, Board of Trustees (PICTURED LEFT)
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John Lewis Head of School
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n the spring of 2019, Gunston began its strategic planning process with Greenwich Leadership Partners (GLP), a premier consulting group that employs design thinking and focuses on globalization, innovation, and effective leadership. An interactive and inquiry-driven process, design thinking engaged the Board and Strategic Design Team (SDT) in a deep examination of the school’s mission and identity, who the school serves, what the school values and why it matters. We identified the school’s assets, measured the alignment of programs and perceptions, and defined what success would look like in 10-20 years.
The overarching goal of the process was to craft a mission centric, one-page strategy to guide Gunston’s growth, development, and sustainability as a dynamic educational institution during the next three to five years. A key element of the process involved collaboration with constituent groups in the Gunston community — employees, parents, students, alumni, and community partners, who completed an initial survey and then later participated in focus groups, engaging in thinking and visioning exercises. The consensus of our constituents focused on five key areas: • Educational program
• Environmental teaching and learning • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion • Campus facilities • Advancement We greatly enjoyed working with a wide variety of community members, hearing about their experiences, and gaining insight into their vision of Gunston in the years ahead. It was affirming to find a high degree of congruence between the areas of strength and the areas of opportunity identified by the Board and the SDT and the constituent groups. The comprehensive strategic process, with the input from all of the community members who took part in it, has positioned Gunston to engage deeply and effectively in the implementation of the strategic plan in the months and years ahead. Christie Grabis Assistant Head of School Co-Chair Gunston 2025
Pat Parkhurst ’88 P ’18 ’21 ’23 Co-Chair Gunston 2025 (PICTURED ABOVE)
SUMMER 2019
NOVEMBER 2019
APRIL - AUGUST 2020
OCTOBER 2020
Strategic Design Team (SDT) is formed with alumni, faculty, and board members.
Feedback compiled and analyzed, areas of focus identified into initial one-page strategy.
SDT and Board distill important insights gathered throughout the work process and refine initial one-page strategy.
Board of Trustees ratified the final draft of the Strategic Plan: Gunston 2025.
MARCH 2019
SEPT/OCT 2019
DEC ’19/JAN/FEB ’20
Gunston partners with Greenwich Leadership Partners (GLP).
SDT gathered community feedback via survey.
SDT formed teams around each strategic area and engaged in thinking and visioning exercises with focus groups of board members, employees, parents, students, and community partners. 9
Honors Biology Midterm Project:
STRATEGIC CHOICE 1:
A Musical Interpretation
Further articulate and implement the elements of “The Gunston Experience” — an intentional and “relentlessly student-centered” approach that aligns with the values, principles, and methods in Gunston’s mission and philosophy.
FEBRUARY, 2020
IMPLEMENTATION Review and revise Gunston’s schedule, with the aim of furthering a flexible, personalized, and mission-aligned educational experience. To maximize cohorting, our classes are 75 minutes long this year. This will change in the coming year but we do know that longer classes support deeper learning, interleaving (breaks between learning, allows for recall and longer-term memories), and project-based work. Design a structured professional development program that fosters collaboration and faculty leadership, and aligns with the key strategic priorities of EfS, DEI, MBE, SEL, and instructional technology.* Gunston launched an ambitious technology upskilling program this past spring while in emergency distance learning. The technology micro-credentialing plan laid out a pathway for faculty to complete their Google Educator Level 1 certification and craft a portfolio to demonstrate their mastery, depth, and breadth of instructional technologies. The “summer of Zoom Wednesdays’’ offered faculty the opportunity to dig in on instructional technology, supported by peer leaders and to hear from experts across a variety of disciplines, all focused on helping to craft a learning experience that supports the whole student. 10
Align and enhance the school’s athletics and college guidance programs consistent with our growing enrollment.
TOP: (L-R) Danielle Simmons ’22, Daniel Dang ’22, Leo Santoboni ’22, Washington College student intern Ellie Byers, and Ben Cunningham ’22. Students in Dr. Lipchock’s Chemistry class tested a procedure reacting waste cooking oil in a blue cheese slurry to create a substance that mimics songbird preen oil which is both antibacterial and hydrophobic, a learning experience which aligns closely with Gunston initiatives in educating for sustainability and MBE. MIDDLE: In Ms. Newell’s Theatre class, Neva Lawrence ‘22 (with iPhone) and Severin Schut ‘21 are making a stop motion video, focusing on skills needed to be a part of a stage crew including lighting and sound techniques.
Evaluate the diversity, scope, and caliber of Gunston’s arts and athletics offerings, and develop a plan to enhance these key programmatic domains.
BOTTOM: McKinsey Brown ’23 (center) during a March 2020 lacrosse game with Key School. Gunston won 17-7.
Invest in Gunston’s capacity to leverage technology as an essential tool for learning, innovation, and personalization.
OPPOSITE: Mekonnen Sahle-Selassie ’23 holds a green t-shirt flag aloft during the “sorting” before Green and White Day in which Green and White team captains pull names from a hat and all new students and employees are assigned a team.
Students have access to a variety of ways to complete assignments and assessments and teachers can similarly use a variety of tools to provide feedback and communicate with their students.
Jessica Hammond '24
“Jessica’s creativity in writing these song lyrics and her ability to sing simply blew me away. It’s definitely an UNFORGETTABLE project that I will carry with me for the rest of my career!” - DR. MARIAH GOODALL
Chapter 1: Characteristics of Life to “Winter Wonderland” There are eight, all important While research takes testing Pseudoscience follows beliefs Then there’s the Scientific Method First observe, then you define, form a study, and state expectations Then you experiment and gather data, analyze, reflect, and communicate Must have experimental (group) and control groups not exposed And a constant just to prove results We’ll have independent and dependents (variables) Do this and hopefully nothing will explode
For example, Dr. Lipchock uses Flipgrid for the final exam, Señor Angarita uses Voicethread to leave verbal comments, Ms. Beck uses short videos to introduce assignments, and many others use Peardeck with social emotional learning check-ins.
Quantitative vs. qualitative Is basically data vs. description Now let’s go back to the characteristics of life, And talk about them some more Made of cells, reproduces, requires energy, adapts and develops Displays organization, responds to stimuli, And maintains homeostasis That’s what you should know from chapter 1!
*EfS: Education for Sustainability, DEI: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, MBE: Mind-Brain Education Science, SEL: Social-Emotional Learning
Follow @gunstonathletics on Instagram
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STRATEGIC CHOICE 2:
STRATEGIC CHOICE 4:
Expand our capacity as a regional and national leader in environmental teaching and learning.
Create a mission driven decisionmaking framework to drive and communicate the rationale, priorities, coordination, and accountability for ongoing campus building improvements.
Form an Athletics Advisory Committee to further support the school’s program and physical plant needs. Sequence and prioritize the next phases of facilities growth and enhancement in anticipation of the school’s next capital campaign.
STRATEGIC CHOICE 5:
IMPLEMENTATION
Educate our community to expect, navigate, and embrace difference in a thoughtful and civil manner, to ensure that Gunston fulfills its aim to value the inherent dignity and worth of every individual.
Redesign our Environmental Strategic Plan with the aim of formally planning and launching the Institute for Environmental Teaching and Learning — a vehicle for organizing existing activities and furthering the research, praxis, and dissemination of Gunston’s unique approach to environmental teaching and learning. Support the continued growth and development of the Chesapeake Watershed Semester. Grow and deepen our efforts to develop and deliver innovative, experiential climate science education to our students and beyond.
IMPLEMENTATION
Helen Boone ’21 holds up a terrapin during Mr. Hoisington’s Ecology of the Bay class.
Students eat lunch outside during Unity Day in Fall 2020.
IMPLEMENTATION
STRATEGIC CHOICE 3: Prioritize the expansion and enhancement of the school’s advancement capacities (people, programs and systems) in order to support the student experience and ensure Gunston’s long-term financial sustainability.
IMPLEMENTATION Design and execute the school’s next capital campaign, ensuring that an element of the campaign includes the further expansion of the school’s endowment/reserve. Implement a planned giving program to support the school’s long-term financial health. Develop an alumni program for the school’s boarding, day, and international graduates that fosters a sense of community and generosity.
Redouble our commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion as expressed by our newly adopted statement and through the implementation and monitoring of our 5-year DEI strategic plan.
Conduct a review of curriculum and pedagogical approaches through the lens of our DEI commitment to ensure it is reflected and integrated within the educational program.
TIDE (Talking about Identity, Diversity, and Equity), Gunston’s new community book club, aims to increase community engagement and discussion of topics related to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
Continue in our efforts to build and support an authentically diverse and inclusive community through intentional engagement, collaboration, enrollment and recruitment efforts.
Additionally, the Diversity Leaders Speaker Series has welcomed Schuyler Bailar, the first openly transgender athlete to compete in any sport on an NCAA Division I men’s team; Dr. Stephanie Dennis, educator, curriculum development expert and student advocate; and coming up in February is Chazz Woodson, one of the first Black lacrosse players in the Ivy league.
A team of Gunston students and employees attended the National Association for Independent School’s (NAIS) flagship diversity conferences, the Student Diversity Leaders Conference (SDLC), and the People of Color Conference (PoCC). Additionally, several staff also attended NAIS’s Diversity Leadership Institute this past summer. Examine extra and co-curricular programs to ensure alignment to our DEI aims.
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