The slides above were part of my school-year kick-off presentation this morning to our fifty plus faculty and administrators this morning.   I organized it around our mission statement (below), setting out the pertinent sections of the mission’s four core values, and then sharing key initiatives we have underway to carry each of them forward.

Toward the end I linked our agenda to the the “eight unifying themes” of the NAIS Guide to Becoming a School of the Future, and explained the ways in which I think we are a school are striding strongly forward in becoming an exemplary school of the future.   (See also my February post about the guide).

Mission

St. Gregory College Preparatory School, as a diverse learning community, challenges and supports students to achieve excellence in character, scholarship, leadership, and innovation and prepares them to make a positive impact in the world through pursuing their passions, appreciating and creating beauty, and solving problems.

Values
  • Character
    St. Gregory honors the development of student character built on personal integrity, compassion, and respect. We promote the dignity, self-worth, and potential of each individual within a supportive, connected, and caring community which embraces a diversity of students, families, faculty, administrators, staff, trustees, and others.
  • Scholarship
    The St. Gregory learning community is committed to educating the whole child intellectually, physically, emotionally, socially, artistically, and ethically. Our students’ disciplined scholarship is instilled and developed in a learning environment which values the rigors and joys of learning. This scholarship is grounded in intellectual curiosity, critical and creative thinking, and effective communication.
  • Leadership
    Leadership at St. Gregory affirms the civic responsibility of students and encourages using skillful facilitation and collaboration to positively influence the action of others. We recognize our school’s public purpose to use our resources to serve our own students and others in our region and beyond.
  • Innovation
    At St. Gregory we cultivate a mindset of innovation founded upon open-minded inquiry, divergent thinking, and purposeful action. As innovators, our students develop the creativity, ingenuity, inventiveness, and originality of thought to tackle and resolve the challenges facing our world.