About EHS

Strategic Plan: Student Life

Student Life is the “field of action” on which students and faculty are able to harness the powerful impact that culture and peers have on individual student goals and achievement. Because Episcopal is 100 percent boarding, the occasions that faculty have to teach, model, and engage with their students are countless; opportunities for personal growth through community life, athletics, and spiritual reflection abound. Episcopal students want to excel, and a comprehensive, intentional, and personalized Student Life Program empowers students through a wide range of experiences that develop self-confidence and a deeper understanding of personal responsibility.

Goal One: Campus Culture

Promote a culture that serves as a foundation for healthy, balanced, spiritual, and fulfilled lives.

Strategy One

Strategy 1: Develop initiatives regarding healthy living habits (nutrition, sleep, relationships, substances), and emphasize with students the importance of self-discipline as well as the long-term ramifications for the daily decisions they make.

Approach: The School will approach this strategy on a number of fronts, beginning with a close examination of the demands on students of school and extracurricular commitments. Emphases will be placed on educating students about the importance of sleep as well as on timely discussions around current student life issues. Nutrition education will be expanded to include a focus on ninth graders, and students will be engaged in an ongoing dialogue on the topics of drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. As part of this strategy, students will be provided with the time and space to engage in reflection, meditation, and religious expression through the weekday Chapel program and opportunities to contemplate texts of many cultures that speak clearly to the presence nature of God active in the world. In addition, faculty and students will engage in discussions that lead to a deeper understanding of social justice and ethical treatment of others, both within the EHS community and in the world beyond, and, finally, the School will implement a transitional spring program for seniors targeting issues they will face as college students.

Strategy Two

Strategy 2: Maintain a strong and balanced athletics program that emphasizes sportsmanship, perseverance, teamwork, and achieving one’s personal best while promoting routines of physical exercise that lead to lifelong health.

Approach: The School will a focus on promoting league affiliation and competitive opportunities with schools of similar size and athletics philosophy and on recruitment and retention of coaching staff who reflect the values and high standards of EHS. The School will also work to ensure an athletics schedule that is balanced and reasonable, considering the full agenda of the EHS student athlete and giving special attention to lower teams.

Strategy Three

Strategy 3: Construct a Student Center which will provide a relaxed gathering place to further promote a healthy social experience for the student community, and renovate Blackford Hall as a central, accessible location for student services (i.e., Dean of Students, Counseling, College Counseling, etc.).

Approach: A significant effort will be made to identify facility needs pertaining specifically to a student center, including surveying young alumni and current students and visiting peer schools. The School will then determine costs and work the project into the School’s development plan.

Strategy Four

Strategy 4: Plan and carry out a thorough renovation and upgrade of McAllister Health Center.

Approach: The School will survey students and research features of contemporary health facilities as well as those of peer schools and small colleges.

Goal Two: Integrity and Responsibility

Develop within each student a sense of personal integrity and responsibility for self, school, community, the nation, and world.

Strategy One

Strategy 1: Maintain focus on institutional commitment to teaching integrity with emphasis on ethical conduct in the “on-line community.”

Approach: The School will conduct ongoing review of expectations and practice and engage a student panel annually to provide insights and recommendations. In addition, the School will establish clear guidelines for faculty with regard to online presence.

Strategy Two

Strategy 2: Inspire students to actively engage – both on and off campus – with topics related to community and global citizenship such as sustainability practices, human rights issues, disaster relief efforts, public health initiatives, and community service.

Approach: Identified action items include launching new initiatives to inspire student discussion of current events, increasing community education of and involvement in sustainability initiatives on and off campus, and creating the part-time role of Environmental Program Director at EHS. In addition, the School will increase opportunities for student involvement in service program and consider assigning an additional faculty member to serve as Assistant Director for Service Programs.

Strategy Three

Strategy 3: Encourage curiosity about and engagement with the world beyond EHS and create more opportunities for students to generate initiatives, collaborate, and lead.

Approach: The School will increase program offerings that allow Episcopal students to connect with students from other schools and people in communities around the region, country, and world. In addition, the School will provide support for students to create their own service goals and projects, personalizing these initiatives throughout the students’ years at EHS.