Lamplighter Strategic Plan 2024

Lighting Lamps That Light the World

A STUDENT IS NOT A VESSEL TO BE FILLED, BUT A LAMP TO BE LIGHTED.

Dear Lamplighter Community,

For the past 70 years, Lamplighter has been guided by its dedication to balancing tradition with innovation. We, as a community, always honor our past while ensuring that we’re at the forefront of educational best practices. Now that the buildings in the School’s Master Plan are complete thanks to this community’s strong participation in our Bright Future Campaign, we have the privilege of ensuring that the work that takes place inside the walls of these award-winning halls remains excellent.

The Strategic Design Committee, composed of a broad group of dedicated community members, has collaborated over the past 18 months to do just that. With input from a community-wide survey, numerous focus groups, and even drawings from children done in response to the question, “What does Lamplighter mean to me?,” this team got curious and thoughtfully discussed all potential opportunities for growth and innovation at our School. We are so grateful for the feedback we received from all corners of Lamplighter, from faculty and staff to Life Trustees, from current students to alumni, from parents to grandparents.

Three important goals emerged from this dialogue with Lamplighter’s stakeholders: (1) cultivating and elevating our exceptional team of teachers and leaders; (2) enhancing our community and supporting a sense of belonging within it; and (3) maximizing our partnerships with other organizations to meaningfully amplify the Lamplighter experience.

Using these three themes as our guideposts, Lamplighter will examine how to honor our School’s past while exploring with curiosity how to ensure a future that launches Lamplighter into continued excellence. With collective guidance and insights from our community, this strategic plan gives the School space to ask adventurous questions, collaborate with like-minded partners to dream bigger, and joyfully explore how to innovate to extend our existing excellence.

Our Catherine M. Rose Head of School, Dr. Joan Buchanan Hill, as well as members of the Board of Trustees will be meeting in the coming months with parents at every grade level to share details of the plan and answer your questions. We look forward to continuing the conversation.

Sincerely,

Margaret Johansen Hirsch ’89 Board Chair, Strategic Design Chair

Flauren Fagadau Bender ’90 2022 – 2024 Board Chair

VISION

The Lamplighter School lights lamps that light the world.

We nurture in all members of our community a deep love of learning, a strong social-emotional foundation, and a commitment to caring for others and the community. We prepare our students to thrive academically and socially as they contribute as leaders at their next schools and beyond.

We strive for Lamplighter to be a magnet for exceptional teachers, a community where all are connected and know that they belong, and a school enriched and elevated by robust community partnerships that enhance all aspects of the Lamplighter experience.

MISSION

Dedicated to igniting the potential of each child, Lamplighter engages children in the joy of learning through intellectual discovery in a creative, inclusive, and collaborative environment.

VALUES

Excellence

We strive to reach our fullest potential in all we do.

Curiosity

We approach our world and our work with a sense of discovery and thoughtful exploration.

Interplay of Innovation & Tradition

We are a community strengthened by traditions and propelled by innovation.

Collaboration

We do our best work together, listening to each other, and incorporating the richness of our diversity to create deeper learning, understanding, and belonging for all.

Joy

We value joy as inherent to our culture and a core condition for sustaining a thriving, cohesive community.