Strategic Vision

Westtown School is a dynamic educational community. Throughout our history, we have evolved to better support each new generation of young learners and prepare them for leadership of a more just, equitable, and peaceful future. Lighting the Way, our long-range strategic vision, captures the essentials of Westtown’s history, while highlighting three bold priorities for the years to come. Our vision builds on fundamental ideals of Friends education, centuries of spirit-led learning and growth, and our core Quaker calling to seek out and honor that of God in every person. Lighting the Way describes how we will further illuminate three vital parts of the Westtown experience: knowledge, community, and environment.

The adoption of Lighting the Way recognizes that extraordinary change comes from extraordinary goals. Our three priorities will not be fully realized in a matter of weeks, months, or even years; rather, some of our biggest aspirations will be pursued over decades. As we pursue those aspirations, we will give life and meaning to our highest ideals each and every day. Lighting the Way describes the Westtown of the future — marked by mastery and mindful use of technology, a deep sense of belonging throughout a diverse, anti-racist community, and intentional, sustainable relationship with our environment. In envisioning such a future, we make a statement about who we are today. Thank you for being part of the journey.

Read on to learn more; you also can find a single-page summary of Lighting the Way here.

Knowledge, Illuminated

To ensure that today’s Westtown students will flourish in a world marked by technological and social change, we will direct our rigorous academics, robust co-curricular opportunities, and life-changing residential program toward the skills they will need to navigate the future, while grounding them in Quaker values and spiritual discernment.

Community, Illuminated

To empower our students to lead the world toward a just and compassionate future, Westtown will bring together a multiplicity of voices, and deepen our ability to honor that of God in all by engaging our whole community in the task of building a need-blind, anti-racist, genuinely inclusive school.

Environment, Illuminated

To provide students with an uplifting and beloved campus on which to live, learn, and grow, Westtown’s stewardship of our facilities and natural spaces will prioritize an exceptional educational program, while modeling environmental and financial sustainability.

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Our Vision

ENVIRONMENT

Will Addis – Middle School Principal
We will inspire learning in simple, accessible, high-quality, innovative spaces, which together create a harmonious campus aesthetic, through a balance of renewal, renovation, and new building.
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COMMUNITY

Nathan Bohn ’83 – Dean of Enrollment Management
We will dramatically increase diversity in each division in terms of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and other facets of personal identity.
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COMMUNITY

Marissa Colston – Upper School History Teacher
We will cultivate positive racial identity, allyship, and cultural competency, raise awareness of unconscious bias, mitigate the detrimental effects of privilege, and work towards dismantling structural racism.
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ENVIRONMENT

Kate Donnelly – Director of Facilities
We will pursue carbon-neutrality in our campus operations.
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COMMUNTIY

Jay Farrow ’75 – Dean of Access and Equity, Admission Associate
We will maximize access to Westtown by expanding our ability to enroll students without regard to their financial capacity through robust philanthropy and auxiliary revenue.
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ENVIRONMENT

Carolyn Hapeman – Dean of Finance & Operations
We will seek mission-aligned and environmentally-sensitive ways of generating auxiliary revenue while minimizing the impact on our student community.
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KNOWLEDGE

Matthew Herrera – Director of Information Technology
We will show students how to use technology mindfully, so that they develop positive self-images, healthy relationships, and strong community ties.
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ENVIRONMENT

Tim Mountz – Farm Manager
We will enhance the connections between our program and our open land, forests, lake, and creek.
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KNOWLEDGE

Karyn Payton – Lower School Principal
We will help students hone the essential skills of critical thinking, communication, and empathy, and empower them to draw out those skills in other people.
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KNOWLEDGE

Megan Rose – Middle School English Teacher
We will challenge students to develop the tools and ethical foundation needed to build innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing problems.
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KNOWLEDGE

Mauricio Torres ’08- Upper School History Teacher
We will teach students to be informed, effective participants in civil discourse.
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COMMUNITY

Kelly Yiadom – Lower and Middle School Director of Equity, Justice, and Belonging

We will engage all Westonians in the work of creating a supportive environment for students, especially those from marginalized identity groups.
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COMMUNITY

Our Vision

COMMUNITY

COMMUNITY

Marissa Colston – Equity and Inclusion Specialist
We will cultivate positive racial identity, allyship, and cultural competency, raise awareness of unconscious bias, mitigate the detrimental effects of privilege, and work towards dismantling structural racism.
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COMMUNTIY

COMMUNITY

Kelly Yiadom – Lower and Middle School Equity and Inclusion Coordinator
We will engage all Westonians in the work of creating a supportive environment for students, especially those from marginalized identity groups.
Read More

ENVIRONMENT

Our Vision

ENVIRONMENT

ENVIRONMENT

Kate Donnelly – Director of Facilities
We will pursue carbon-neutrality in our campus operations.
Read More

ENVIRONMENT

ENVIRONMENT

Tim Mountz – Farm Manager
We will enhance the connections between our program and our open land, forests, lake, and creek.
Read More

KNOWLEDGE

Our Vision

KNOWLEDGE

KNOWLEDGE

KNOWLEDGE

KNOWLEDGE

Mauricio Torres ’08- Upper School History Teacher
We will teach students to be informed, effective participants in civil discourse.
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The Strategic Vision Process

Following the completion of the school’s previous Strategic Plan — The World Needs More Westonians — at the end of 2018, Westtown initiated a careful and collaborative process to discern our strategic priorities for the coming years. The school engaged a group of Trustees and administrators to serve as the Strategic Vision Team. The result is the school’s new Strategic Vision. Over the course of 12 months they: held brainstorming sessions with faculty, staff, administrators, and trustees; identified prominent themes; distilled ideas and feedback into content; and determined criteria to ensure ongoing support of the Vision. Approved by the Board of Trustees in early 2020, this brief, bold document lifts up our excellent, future-oriented academic program, our work in diversity, equity, and inclusion, and our stewardship of our beloved 600-acre campus.

Please click on the video below to watch a recording of the Strategic Vision webinar, presented on July 9, 2020.