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About
Leadership

Strategic Plan

Over fifty years of leading lives of passion and purpose.
The current strategic plan was developed in 2013, through a collaborative process that included representation from all of our constituencies; Board members, parents, students, faculty and staff, and community members. This five to ten year plan is designed to take The Derryfield School to its next level of educational excellence.

List of 4 items.

  • Strategic Goal One - Belonging

    Unify the Derryfield family by strengthening connections with our extended community, including alumni, alumni parents, and emeritus faculty and staff.
    Build a sense of belonging and identity within the Derryfield family.
    • Invite all members of the Derryfield community to participate fully in the life of the School, from our celebratory events to using the campus as a comfortable spot to convene.
    • Develop and implement a diversity mission statement and plan in the spirit of preparing students to be valued and purposeful members of any community.
    Increase personal and school communication to broaden engagement.
    • Assess our various relationship touch points with parents, alumni, and extended family, including an effective relationship management database.
    • Implement professional networking opportunities to serve our extended Derryfield community.
    • Involve emeritus faculty and staff in ongoing events, committees, and service opportunities.
  • Strategic Goal Two - Leading

    Become a regional and state leader in educational excellence and innovation.
    Attract, train, and retain excellent faculty and staff.
    • Ensure sustainable workload assignments for faculty.
    • Research faculty and staff compensation and compare to peer schools.
    Cultivate inspired, effective, and compassionate student leaders committed to enriching their wider communities.
    • Create The Derryfield School Center for Purposeful Leadership.
    • Craft a definition of leadership that is inclusive and consistent with the mission, and a program that develops those leadership skills.
    • Partner with alumni leaders for mentoring and shadowing.
    • Develop strategic internships with local institutions, including a culminating experience for Derryfield seniors.
    Develop a cohesive, coordinated middle and upper school program with an emphasis on academic and co-curricular skills most relevant to a 21st century education.
    • Enhance our advising, coaching, and mentoring efforts in the key years of eighth, ninth, and tenth grades so students take full advantage of opportunities available at the School.
    • Build upon our expertise in brain-based teaching, learning, and differentiated instruction.
    • Expand our service-learning program at home and abroad to include one major experience in each grade.
    • Staff a writing center to help students achieve success both in their coursework and external publication efforts.
    Enhance our STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) program.
    • Focus the STEAM courses on projects that address local or global issues.
    • Develop Derryfield’s technology and computer science curriculum to include an introduction to programming in the Middle School as well as electives and A.P. Computer Science in the Upper School.
    Become a leader in environmental sustainability.
    • Coordinate efforts to significantly reduce our ecological footprint.
    • Expand curriculum and educational experiences in environmental issues.
    Increase global partnerships and educational opportunities.
    • Connect with students and educators around the world through technology in the classroom.
    • Increase the number and diversity of international exchange programs.
    • Increase financial access to global opportunities for all students.
    Become an educational convener in the state and region.
    • Convene and lead a consortium of independent schools to collaborate on student programming and faculty professional development.
    • Collaborate with educators from local public and parochial schools.
    • Create a teaching fellows program.
  • Strategic Goal Three - Building

    The Derryfield family deserves a first-class campus to match our first-class programs.
    Improve campus safety and convenience.
    • Expand our parking facilities.
    • Ensure campus safety through the implementation of safety study recommendations.
    • Improve access for mobility impaired spectators at the upper athletic fields.
    Establish the proper preconditions to pursue the acquisition of neighboring properties.
    • Create alternatives to purchasing properties, including land swap scenarios.
    • Foster relationships with neighbors and develop a financial plan to allow for the purchase of neighboring properties when available.
    Invest in a sequence of multiple physical plant upgrades by following a traditional master planning, campaign, and construction cycle.
    • Build new dining and indoor athletic facilities.
      Define and prioritize deficient dining, reception, and athletic spaces.
    • Update campus aesthetics, focusing on the Upper School.
      Complete a comparative study of other competitor, benchmark, and aspirational schools to identify key areas of improvement.
    • Address physical spaces that are perceived to be limiting in their performance.
      Define and prioritize academic spaces that are limiting in their performance.
    • Create a modern media library and learning commons.
      Create a vision and needs analysis for a modern media library and learning commons that will align with 21st century learning needs.
  • Strategic Goal Four - Elevating

    Raise our profile in the state for the purpose of expanding enrollment and ensuring long-term financial strength.
    Increase public awareness of Derryfield as the premier day school in the region and an integral community convener.
    • Continue to grow summer programs on campus.
    • Establish faculty as experts through their participation as presenters outside of Derryfield.
    • Develop more brand ambassadors within our parent, alumni parent, and alumni population.
    • Increase our presence in local media and community news outlets.
    Increase revenue through strategic enrollment initiatives.
    • Consider tuition pricing options.
    • Ensure the strategic use of financial aid, for both need- and merit-based awards.
    • Steward relationships with feeder schools and educational consultants.
    • Expand our bus transportation system to increase geographic access for families.
    Expand program and marketing to attract more families and retain current families.
    • Identify curricular and co-curricular programs that will attract new mission-appropriate students.
    • Expand into new market segments based on demographic data.
    • Gather and communicate stories from alumni and alumni parents about the value and outcomes of a Derry?eld education.
    • Align all print and electronic publications with school mission and market opportunity.
    Improve financial strength of our School through strategic advancement and alternative income sources.
    • Conduct a feasibility study in preparation for a capital campaign.
    • Grow the School’s endowment during our next capital campaign.
    • Invigorate alumni giving.
    • Grow the annual fund to at least the NAIS day school average of 5.7%.
    • Enhance the School’s fund-raising programs, including gifts to the annual fund, reunions, and planned giving programs.
    • Engage our international families in giving to Derryfield.
    • Maximize auxiliary revenue through the development of mission-aligned programs.

Academic Program Vision

The Derryfield School

2108 River Road, Manchester, NH 03104     p: 603.669.4524     f: 603.625.9715