Long Range Plan

From its founding to its current life, our School has championed the spirit of learning in a community of openness, virtue, warmth and joy. Built upon the foundations of intellectual inquiry and engagement, all constituencies of our community work in partnership toward furthering the enormous promise of every girl and every young woman in our fold. For Spence, learning is a behavior and not a means to an end.  

The Spence of 2015 finds itself in a fortunate place: a recently successful capital campaign, increased endowment, new or renovated facilities, and a successfully implemented former Long Range Plan. With this new Long Range Plan, we turn our collective attention to teaching and learning.

 

Our title, inspired by the language of Clara Spence, speaks to an exciting, strategic direction. What will the Class of 2025 need to move from our Red Doors and into the world as scholars, learners and leading citizens of the world? How can we continue to honor Miss Spence’s stated purposes about learning at Spence as “an intellectual and moral adventure?” 

Central to this adventure is our profound commitment to educating girls and young women. Our abiding focus on identity, voice and confidence allows our young scholars to meet the complex challenges of today and to frame the ones of tomorrow. 

 

Essential questions frame the complex, dynamic and exciting shifts in today’s education. In imagining what we could do in the well-resourced and stimulating world of Spence, these questions speak to deepening academic excellence and to honoring the multiplicity and nuances in teaching and learning. Far from prescriptive, this plan serves as a provocative starting point from which possibilities can be explored and developed. This plan is both an invitation and a challenge to us all.

How can we design learning and curriculum that combine knowledge with skills necessary to lead transformational lives in a quickly changing world?

 

How can we design professional development to further innovation and pedagogy in the classroom?

 

How can we advance collaborative learning and intellectual risk-taking?

 

How will we continue to foster intellectual discernment and develop as educators in a world of complex and voluminous information and knowledge?

 

How can we better understand the power and the limitations of different assessments?

 

How do we preserve our commitment to heart and mind in a world that increasingly demands more of our students?

“Dramatic development in technology and research aimed at understanding how people learn are radically changing the practice of teaching, offering instructors new and exciting ways to engage with students.”
– President Drew Faust, Harvard Magazine (October 18, 2011), “A Landmark Gift for Learning”

Educational practice in today’s world is exciting and challenging. Our students have access to overwhelming amounts of information. Increasingly, we are learning more about cognitive capacities and how learning works best. The call for us to be stewards of our planet grows louder, and citizenship, always at the heart of what we do, now extends far beyond any single boundary both geographically and metaphorically. We know the world in which our students will walk will demand an understanding of multiple perspectives and that plurality will be the norm. How can we adapt our learning to meet these needs while ensuring excellence and our commitment to a strong liberal arts education? 

“Teaching is the factor that will actually make a difference among both the students and the community as a whole.”
– Natalie Berger ’15, student member of the Long Range Planning Committee

Teachers and their passion for the classroom represent Spence’s greatest and most significant asset. While continuously developing the skills of any faculty is essential, strengthening and re-envisioning professional development will be critical for ongoing excellence. The development of faculty cannot be seen as episodic; rather, it needs to be lifelong and sustained. Our faculty—remarkable, committed and accomplished—have a deep and abiding commitment to their growth as professionals. Investing both time and resources in this endeavor is critical.

With a history of wonderful support from parents, alumnae, faculty and friends, combined with progressive goals yet conservative stewardship of our financial resources, Spence has successfully upheld both its operations and strategic goals. This balance will continue to be central in our financial planning as we invest in strategic priorities while maintaining fiscal discipline and focus on sustainable financial strength, recognizing what are ultimately limited resources. 

This Long Range Plan, moving beyond response and into inspirational advancement, names priorities that enhance our promise of excellence. We are excited to further our deep commitment to teaching and learning at Spence. Join us with your enthusiastic support as we step into our institutional future.

The Spence Long Range Plan, Teaching & Learning at Spence 2025: “An Intellectual & Moral Adventure,” was approved by the Board of Trustees in December 2015. We thank the members of the Long Range Planning Committee, composed of trustees, parents, alumnae, faculty, administrators and students. Their collective, insightful and substantive input has shaped a plan that we know will serve as a powerful, strategic guide to the School in the coming years.