Dear Friends,

The beginning of a new calendar year is time for many of us to think about the future and make the requisite resolutions to address a variety of issues that lie before us. Schools are much like people in this regard as we, too, look ahead with thoughts and plans for the coming year and beyond. Recently, you received a pamphlet outlining our Strategic Plan for the next three to five years, and the various initiatives we plan to undertake to continue the growth and development of St. Margaret’s. While it is not my intention to repeat the full contents of this important publication, I do feel that a few areas of focus are worthy of attention at this time.

First and foremost in our plans for the future is our focus on Curriculum and Programs. As a pre-school through grade-12 school, we appreciate and value the need to construct our various curricula, across the four divisions of the school, to serve our students in the very best manner possible and to be sure that our efforts are well coordinated and developmentally appropriate. It is not uncommon in multi-division schools like ours for each division to go its own way, and it is our every intention to make sure that this does not happen. In short, we believe that one hand does need to know what the other is doing.

Central to this important effort is the position of Academic Dean, a key administrative slot recently created and specifically designed to address these cross divisional concerns. Over the past year and a half, under the leadership of our very first Academic Dean, Dr. Deborah Natoli, we have made great strides. Our focus has increasingly been an “all-school” approach as our specific academic disciplines have carefully examined their curricula and developed “enduring understandings” to guide the construction of departmental philosophies and individual course syllabi. It has been a lively and rigorous process and we are clearly a stronger school for it.

Recently, we have been presented with a new challenge, as Dr. Natoli has decided to apply her many talents to the world of higher education and has moved on from St. Margaret’s to take a position at the University of Southern California. This is a wonderful opportunity for her and a major challenge for us as we work to sustain her many meaningful initiatives. While it remains to be seen exactly how and by whom this position will be filled, there is no confusion on our part as to the need for the continuation of this important work. As we move forward, we do so with a strong determination to sustain our commitment to curriculum coordination, faculty support and evaluation, collaborative programs with other educational institutions e.g. UCI Intern Program, and the development of a Learning Center to support students with learning differences. These, among others, are clearly established institutional needs and we determined to stay the course.

Finally, our Strategic Plan calls for us to continue to develop and improve our physical plant in a manner that serves our overall program. We have been blessed with very generous initial support and we are energized each day as we watch the Pasternack Field House and the DeYoung Upper School Classroom Wing take shape. These projects, however, are only the first of several critical efforts that comprise our campus master plan. Just as our plans for the development of curricula and programs are multi-faceted, so too are our plans for the development of our campus, and we look forward to gathering the support needed to make the new Performing Arts Center and new Middle School a reality. These projects are central to our mission and represent the tools for our teachers and students to broaden and deepen their many talents. In the meantime, however, our entire community has much work to do during the next ninety days to raise the needed $15 million in gifts and pledges to begin construction of these projects this summer.

Best wishes for a healthy and happy new year and a successful outcome for all our resolutions.
Warm regards,
Marcus D. Hurlbut