Strategic Plan 2021

In 2019, St. Luke’s School kicked off a Strategic Planning Process with one clear goal:

Ensure a St. Luke’s Education remains exceptional into the future.

To accomplish this goal, a Strategic Planning Team of volunteer trustees, parents, faculty, administrators, and alumni began an exploration that included: examining macroeconomic and regional trends, conducting current and prospective parents surveys and phone interviews, looking at what peer schools were saying and doing, analyzing admission data and engaging the St. Luke’s community in interviews, focus groups and a day of community brainstorming.

One question became the North Star of the Strategic Planning Process:

What will students need to thrive—now and into the future?
Strategic Plan 2021: Prepared to Thrive is St. Luke’s answer to this question.

Prepared to Thrive draws on the wisdom and experience of the St. Luke’s Community. It is grounded in research and inspired by an understanding that the best schools prepare students—not for the world we’ve known—but the worlds they will enter.

Download the full plan by clicking the image or following the link above.

Or scroll down for plan highlights, communications, Strategic Planning Team, and Working Groups.
 

Four Interconnected, Strategic Priorities

The strategic plan is built on four strategic priorities, each of which offers stand-alone importance but also intersects with and reinforces the others, uniting behind a single goal: An education that produces graduates Prepared to Thrive.

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  • Well-Being Photo Area

  • Well-Being Text Area

    Well-Being
    Using evidence-based practices, St. Luke's will become a leader in addressing Whole-School Well-Being, blending exemplary programming with rigorous verification of its impact on the social, emotional, cognitive, and physical well-being of students, faculty, staff, and families.

    A Well-Being Working Group will lead the development, execution, and tracking of goals over the next 1-5 years.

    Please check out the full strategic plan for more details.

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  • Student-Led Learning Text Area

    Student-Led Learning
    St. Luke’s shifts students from “doing school” to learning for a purpose, ensuring that every graduate will know how to direct their learning, spot opportunities, build and work with a team, and reflect on their growth.

    A Student-Led Learning Working Group will lead the development, execution, and tracking of goals over the next 1-5 years.

    Please check out the full strategic plan for more details.

  • Student-Led Learning Photo Area

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  • Leadership Photo Area

  • Leadership Text Area

    LeadershipLab
    St. Luke’s leadershipLab will empower students to find and use their voices, practice hands-on leadership, explore moral questions and responsibilities, and discover the art and impact of Civil Discourse.
     
    A leadershipLab Working Group will lead the development, execution, and tracking of goals over the next 1-5 years.

    Please check out the full strategic plan for more details.

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  • Faculty Text Area

    Faculty Excellence
    While each of the four Strategic Priorities connects and reinforces the others, Faculty Excellence is the foundation of the entire Strategic Plan. Exceptional teachers will bring the skills, the heart and know-how that inspire students to thrive.

    St. Luke’s will recruit, develop, inspire and retain the next generation of exceptional, mission-driven faculty & staff. A Faculty Excellence Working Group will lead the development, execution, and tracking of goals over the next 1-5 years.

    Please check out the full strategic plan for more details.

  • Faculty Photo Area

David Pakman, Trustee, Strategic Planning Co-Chair

St. Luke’s is not a product. It’s a living organism, made up of people with brains and ideas and changing needs. And like all organisms, we need to adapt to a changing world by evolving."

Strategic Plan Video Presentation

The strategic plan was formally unveiled at St. Luke's State of the School in November 2021. In the video below, former Head of School Mark Davis gives background on the plan while working group leaders provide details about the four strategic priorities.

Strategic Plan Background

Letters & Articles

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  • Video 1

    Videos



    Hear from former Head of School Mark Davis as he's joined by Strategic Planning Team Co-Chairs, Associate Head of School and Chief Financial Officer, Julia Gabriele, and Trustee David Pakman, for a discussion of the Strategic Planning Process—how it began, where we are now, and where we are headed next.

  • Video 2

    Videos



    Learn more about the phases of the strategic planning process and what students will need "to thrive, to navigate, to bounce back, to forge a path for themselves regardless of the changing environment." From a presentation delivered by former Head of School Mark Davis during State of the School in November 2020.
 

St. Luke's Mission

An exceptional education that inspires a deep love of learning, a strong moral compass, the commitment to serve, and the confidence to lead."

Strategic Planning Team

The goal of the Strategic Planning Committee, and ultimately the Strategic Plan itself, is to ensure that a St. Luke’s education remains exceptional. All strategic choices must serve the school's mission.

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  • David Pakman

    Co-Chair, Parent, Trustee
    Bio

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  • Julia Gabriele

    Co-Chair, Associate Head of School & Chief Financial Officer
    Bio

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  • Sonia Bell

    Director of College Counseling
    Bio

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  • Amber Berry

    Former Head of Middle School
    Bio

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  • Zach Brusko

    Computer Science Teacher
    Bio
 

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  • Rob Cioffi

    Parent, Trustee
    Bio

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  • Fred Crawford

    Parent
    Bio

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  • Mark Davis

    Head of School Emeritus
    Bio

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  • Liz DeFilippo

    Parent, Alumna ‘93
    Bio

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  • Yoli Finley

    Trustee
    Bio
 

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  • Susan Garnett

    Math Teacher, Alumna ‘06
    Bio

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  • Michael Kramer

    Parent, Trustee
    Bio

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  • Liz Perry

    Parent, Assistant Head of School for Academics
    Bio

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  • Rich Riley

    Parent, Trustee
    Bio

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  • Jill Stute

    Parent, Trustee
    Bio
 

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  • Jody Truwit

    Parent, Trustee
    Bio

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  • Emily Walsh

    English Teacher
    Bio

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  • Chris Wearing

    Parent, Trustee
    Bio

Working Groups

Execution is the responsibility of “Working Groups” of educators and trustees who have established one-, three-, and five-year, measurable goals. Outcomes will be tracked and reported every year. Working Groups will have both the freedom to innovate and experiment, but also accountability to real metrics and progress.

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  • Well-Being

    • Joan Cook
    • Mark Davis, Head of School Emeritus
    • Evan Downey, French Teacher
    • Andrew Gerber, Parent, Trustee
    • Elaine Juran, English Teacher
    • Jean Myles, Librarian
    • Kari Olsen, Director of Counseling Services (Chair)
    • Trish Ryan, Parent, Trustee
    • Darlene Seitz, Parent, Trustee
    • Noel Thomas, Upper School Dean of Students, Head Coach
    • Jody Truwit, Parent, Trustee

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  • Student-Led Learning

    • Ginny Bachman, Director of Admission & Financial Aid
    • Sonia Bell, Director of College Counseling
    • Susan Garnett, Math Teacher, Alumna ‘06
    • Kim Gerardi, designLab Teacher
    • Hunter Martin, History Teacher
    • Michael Mitchell, designLab Director
    • David Pakman, Parent, Trustee
    • Liz Perry, Parent, Head of Upper School (Chair)
    • Jen Pokorney, Parent, History Teacher
    • Jim Rogers, Trustee
    • Jessie Samuel, Science Teacher
    • Peggy Sarkela, Trustee
    • Jim Yavenditti, Parent, Director of Studies

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  • Leadershiplab

    • Rob Cioffi, Parent, Trustee
    • Brinley Ehlers, Math Teacher
    • Christy Hahn, Parent, Trustee
    • Janet Jochem, Upper School Science Department Chair
    • Maggie Lauer, Music Teacher
    • Michael Kramer, Parent, Trustee
    • Jacqueline Nelson, Director of Equity & Inclusion (Co-Chair)
    • Kate Parker-Burgard, Center for Leadership Director (Co-Chair)
    • Emily Walsh, English Teacher
    • Chris Wearing, Parent, Trustee
    • Mike West, Parent, Director of Athletics (Co-Chair)
    • Beth Yavenditti, Director of Global Education and Leadership Studies Department Chair

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  • Faculty Excellence

    • Amber Berry, Head of Middle School
    • Kelsey Clegg, Human Resources Manager
    • Jim Foley, Assistant Head of School for Leadership & Innovation (Chair)
    • Julia Gabriele, Associate Head of School & Chief Financial Officer
    • Rich Riley, Parent, Trustee
    • Jill Stute, Parent, Trustee
    • Dj Wolff, Alumnus '03, Trustee

Strategic Plan 2021: Rooted in St. Luke’s Values

This Strategic Plan was created to ensure a St. Luke’s Education remains exceptional into the future. Families can trust that this planned evolution remains firmly rooted in the mission, values and beliefs that have and will always define St. Luke’s School:

St. Luke’s School is a secular (non-religious), private school in New Canaan, CT for grades 5 through 12 serving over 30 towns in Connecticut and New York. Our exceptional academics and diverse co-educational community foster students’ intellectual and ethical development and prepare them for top colleges. St. Luke’s Center for Leadership builds the commitment to serve and the confidence to lead.
377 North Wilton Road New Canaan, CT 06840
(203) 966-5612 | admissions@stlukesct.org