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Setting the Table

Yesterday marked our annual Board of Trustees retreat, where we welcomed new Head of School Jim Hamilton to have a thoughtful conversation about leadership transition and future strategy. While part of this conversation was about how our Board might best support the new Head of School moving forward, the bulk of our time was focused on the strategic direction of Berwick. Everyone in the room was committed to seeing this amazing community forge ahead. Over the course of the next 18 months, our Board will be authoring the next Berwick Academy long-range plan, and there was a great deal of focus on continuing the momentum we have created as an institution in recent years.

As part of this exercise, I was asked to present some thoughts on issues that strike me as pressing as I leave the Hilltop. I distilled my thinking into the challenges of program, people, and projects that will face Berwick in its next chapter. Additionally, members of our Board helped us take a deeper dive into a local demographic study and a more refined understanding of our financial model. Finally, we worked together to focus on the most important strategic questions for our Board to grapple with during this period of transition.

I share this with you to make you aware of just how thoughtful and thorough the Head of School transition process has been at Berwick Academy. One outside presenter yesterday suggested that transition is “fraught with opportunity” – articulating the tension between excitement and risk that will always be present during these times. For me, working with our trustees in such a generative way reminded me of just how lucky I have been to work with such committed stewards of this school. Our Board has established a culture of professionalism and authenticity that allows for free exchange of ideas and a willingness to name hard issues. This is one of the many reasons that I believe Berwick has “out governed” so many peer institutions in the past decade. It is also the reason that this community is a hard one to leave for someone like me.

As we head into the final stretch of the academic year, I simply wanted our parents to know how thoughtfully the table has been set for what lies ahead at Berwick. I continue to marvel at the dedication and commitment of the group of people who so nobly hold Berwick Academy in their trust.

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