August 13, 2010

Montgomery School is an independent co-educational day school serving prekindergarten through grade eight in Chester Springs, PA. The School is dedicated to the development of each child in mind and body through academics, fine and performing arts, and athletics in an enriching cultural and physical environment.  The school is equally committed to the development of each child’s character, with an emphasis on integrity, respect, responsibility, and service to others.  

The specific and intentional language, such as “dedicated to the development of each child,” “an enriching cultural and physical environment,” and “integrity, respect, responsibility, and service to others,” guides us in how best to realize and fulfill the mission. Most recently, the development of the Strategic Plan, completed in 2009, was quite appropriately focused on just that. In my September e-Letter, I look forward to sharing with you the progress we have been making in the implementation of the Strategic Plan.

Community involvement is always at the heart of Montgomery School’s successes. In the last ten years, this couldn’t have been more evident. Our state-of-the-art campus was created through the hard work of the board of trustees, the administrative team, and the philanthropic generosity of our parents, past parents, alumni, and grandparents. In all, the Growing Minds Expanding Vision Campaign generated $6 million to enhance our extraordinary 60-acre campus. Our program has been enriched in part as a result of this campaign, creating opportunities for Montgomery to become the leader that it has in the area of technology use, with our teachers earning regional accolades from ADVIS and from the national organization Facing History and Ourselves. Additionally, we have enhanced our social studies and language arts programs, broadening their scope to make our students more aware of the global society they will enter. Our environmental sustainability programs have also become models for other schools. Montgomery School has generated great interest throughout Pennsylvania and the Northeast for the work we do with the organic garden, the Program For Environmental Awareness and Sustainability (P.E.A.S.), and through our 8th grade solar car project. (Recent graduate Jeffrey Hu’s ’10 car finished fourth at the nationals in June.) When our students enter the work force in the 3rd and 4th decades of this century, we can be secure in knowing that they will be well prepared to lead and succeed with a strong awareness of the challenges that will face them and the world, and with the skills and compassion to do so.

This next decade will be a remarkable one for Montgomery School. In five years, we will celebrate the School’s Centennial. This is a remarkable milestone for any institution. Nearly 100 years ago, Gibson Bell created a vision of a school where “...the development of the mind and physique is of little value without a like development of character.” Today, our mission statement directly reflects Doc Bell’s commitment to the whole child and to a strong understanding of a world that 100 years later is more complex than Bell could have ever imagined. Our dedicated Board of Trustees ably guides the School to meet the challenges of today and has a solid vision for the future. Through the Capital Campaign and the economic challenges of the last several years, the Trustees have been the stewards of the mission ensuring that the School is in a strong place philosophically and financially. They have done this with prudence and the cumulative vision of a diverse makeup of leaders who are committed to Montgomery School. Half of the trustees are current parents, and the rest are past parents and community and educational leaders from throughout the Delaware Valley. Lastly, Montgomery is fortunate to have such a loyal parent and family base. Through the last decade, the parent community has joined the Board to see its vision through. The volunteer efforts of our parents, through MSCA events and the Annual Benefit, and as Admissions Parent Ambassadors and Annual Fund representatives, have been exceptional. It is telling that during the last school year, Montgomery had its highest retention rate for enrollment in recent times, and its most successful year fundraising for Annual Giving ever. I cannot thank you enough for all you do.

As we look forward, we are continually faced with the challenges of the global economic environment. The impact on our enrollment is felt most notably in prekindergarten and kindergarten where we have only one section in each. Nevertheless, we have the largest Middle School in Montgomery’s history with three 6th grade sections. We have been adjusting our marketing and recruitment strategies as we look to broaden the geographic area from which we attract students. We will be offering transportation this year to the Collegeville area and will begin considering transportation to other areas where bus transfers can make bus rides over an hour. This year the Board of Trustees has created an enrollment committee whose role is to set the vision, strategy, and policies for long-term enrollment growth. In the last few years, enrollment has been the major topic of all independent school advocacy groups. In particular the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) and The Association of Delaware Valley Independent Schools (ADVIS) have confirmed time and again that the most effective marketing for our schools is word-of-mouth. This year we will formalize our Parent Ambassador group to help us with enrollment and retention. I am pleased to say that Marion van der Veen, parent of Jackie ’13 and Emma ’17, will chair the group. Marion will also serve as a non-board member of the Enrollment Committee of the Board of Trustees. 

The subtext of this letter has been community participation. Montgomery School and all independent schools can measure their success directly on the active involvement from their families. Montgomery School families, past and present, parents and grandparents, are volunteers at every level from active participation on the Board and in the MSCA, to attendance at our Golf Outing and Annual Benefit, and contributors to our fundraising efforts. Last year we had record-breaking attendance at all of our events, and nearly 90% of our parents contributed to the Annual Fund. The dedicated members of the MSCA and the Board of Trustees spend a great deal of time advocating for Montgomery. I am pleased to announce our four new Trustees, the new leadership of the MSCA, and our Annual Fund chair for 2010-2011.

New Trustees: Ron Anderson, CEO and President of Malvern Federal Savings Bank, Joan Bevans P’14, Jeff Camp P’15, ’17, and Maureen Fendrick P’11. Brief biographies of these and the rest of the Trustees can be found by visiting this page.

MSCA Leadership: Co-Presidents Deb Pompei P’12 and Janice White P’13, ’16. Co-Treasurers Elisabeth Erickson P’13, ’16 and Kristen Kline P’13, ’17. Secretary Cindy Chirillo P ’17, ’18. Lower School Coordinator Stephanie Lukens P ’13, ’17. Middle School Coordinator Christine Roussey P ’12, ’14. Father’s Club Alan Walter, P’14.

Annual Fund Chair: Jacki Romano P ’15, ’17.

In a last piece of Farmhouse news, many of you know that Tearson Morrison, Director of Admission and Financial Aid, is expecting her second child, due in late October. This is exciting news not only for Tearson, Jason, and Aiden ’16, but for all of the Montgomery family. I am delighted to announce that Deb Goggins, Director of Annual Giving and a vital member of the Development Office, will serve as Interim Director of Admission. We are currently working with a consultant to fill the vacancy in the Development Office.

My mother always made an announcement at our Fourth of July family gatherings. “Summer is over,” she would say. While my mother’s intuition was always insightful, and I still call on her wisdom to guide me every day, her Independence Day exclamation used to drive me crazy. While I know that summer seems to go fast, my announcement is “Summer is not over.” Don’t fret. Enjoy these weeks of August with your families. But know that when Welcoming Day rolls around on Thursday, September 2, the joy and excitement of greeting our new families and students and reuniting with old friends makes the fall a wonderful, optimistic time of year. 

Sincerely,

Kevin Conklin
Head of School

p.s.  Remember, “Summer is not over!”