Woodstock’s Year of the Winterline

Dr Craig Cook, Principal

In your time at Woodstock, like me you’ve no doubt witnessed our amazing Winterline attributed to a refraction of light unique in all the world to only parts of the Himalaya and the Swiss Alps. This past year has been our year of the Winterline as we’ve stood in the ethereal horizon looking below at Woodstock’s rich history and traditions and also looking beyond into the expanse and strategically planning for Woodstock’s promising future. As the pandemic recedes in our rearview mirror, and we embrace our place as global citizens in an increasingly interconnected world, we feel the need for a common Woodstock identity along with shared vision and direction to guide us in planning for the future.

Our alumni who span from the past to the present have played a central role in our present strategic planning process and are also positioned to impact Woodstock into the future. Nearly two years ago now, a Boardcommissioned Strategic Plan Guiding Group comprised of Board and General Body (GB) Members, alumni, and staff, wrote and administered a comprehensive survey seeking input from Woodstock stakeholders across the globe that generated more than 450 responses. The Guiding Group was asked to explore questions such as What is the Woodstock identity? How well suited is the school to adapt to the future of education in an everchanging world? How can Woodstock’s vision and mission be adjusted to reflect our identity more accurately and with increased clarity with an eye to the future?

Informed by the survey results and led by core leadership from the Strategic Plan Guiding Group, four working groups then formed and drew in additional team members from associated alumni, faculty, administrators, Board/GB Members, parents, and students. The working groups, including Teaching & Learning, Safety & Wellbeing, The Woodstock Experience, and Sustainability & Development, continued engaging and gathering feedback in the form of small group discussions, individual interviews, and follow-up surveys.

The research findings illuminated eight Woodstock distinctives (see the graphic on page 54) that in turn were used to develop a strategic plan that was reviewed by the Board at its September 2022 meeting. Subsequently at the December 2022 Board meetings the fully operationalized strategic plan was approved.

I believe our successful path forward will stem from a “both/and” approach as we now implement the strategic plan in the Woodstock community, reflecting the core values and practices of who Woodstock has been through the decades, while also innovating towards the future. These multifaceted approaches take us forward rather than getting stuck defending one way of the past or proposing only one way for the future. As a community we want to recognize the impact and value of the Woodstock identity which our alumni treasure and which has made you who you are, while also working with our current students in preparing them effectively for their futures. In her paper prepared as part of the strategic planning process and arguing for the timeless identity of Woodstock School, Woodstock General Body Member and alumna Dr. Kathleen Hawthorne poignantly describes the belonging Woodstock engenders in student and staff alumni.

“[We] were often permanently changed by our experience there,” she writes. “We took on elements of the identity of Woodstock and it became part of our own identity as individuals. This is what unites us many years later no matter what our later life experiences or where or how our cultures or outlooks differ – we recognize in each other something very familiar. It’s not that we just lived in the same place for a time in our past. Woodstock made us into adventurers, pioneers, explorers. We value others less fortunate than ourselves; we prize service to others. We are readers, critical thinkers and inquirers, we feel spiritual connections. We often feel different from the crowd. We have a love for mountains, for nature, we miss the sound of the wind in the pine trees.”

Woodstock was of course formed in 1854 as a Protestant Girls’ school established by four women from the London Society for Promoting Female Education in the East. The rise of the British Raj and the 1872 purchase of the school by US missionaries imprinted from its earliest years the Christian missionary underpinnings of the school. It was in 1911 that Woodstock became a training college for teachers. In this milieu the international education movement took hold, with Woodstock becoming a leader in international education. Changing times brought other impactful events and influences including Indian independence, the departure of formal mission work and personnel, India’s broader economic liberalization, and the worldwide expansion of international education opportunities. Through all of this, and now a pandemic, too, Woodstock has maintained its commitment to excellence in international education.

It’s in this context that I ask you to consider our five-year strategic plan as approved by Woodstock’s Board and General Body, which is responsible for making strategic decisions determining vision, mission, and planning for the future. Woodstock’s distinctives are framed as growing trees and further operationalized as strategic objectives with four vision priorities and associated goals.

These strategic plan objectives that were derived from the identified Woodstock distinctives will guide our efforts towards global citizenship and intercultural learning as we navigate the residential education landscape of Woodstock’s near-term future. The plan also strengthens Woodstock’s continuing ability to equip graduates to make individual, local, and global impact.

The beauty and enigma of the Winterline draw us together, and our openness to working together in a “both/and” paradigm is crucial in determining our success. This year's Quadrangle was also created in this paradigm. Thank you to our new Director of Advancement and Alumni Relations Katie Jo Walter and her entire team for shepherding this work diligently. I hope you enjoy reading this edition that will bring you back to Woodstock in many ways – to the hillside, to the striking Winterline, and to the heart of what it means to be a part of Woodstock's community of lifelong learners.