A planned transition

"It's exciting to work at a school that is on an upward trajectory." This comment, made to me by a colleague on the faculty not long ago, clearly captures the attitude of those at Woodstock School who are most directly focused on the life of the school-as well as the broader community of alumni and supporters from all over the world that continues to engage with our work. As we look back at the calendar year 2006, which spans two academic years, we see that this is a time of transition at Woodstock in many respects. There is no question that the momentum carrying the school forward into the next decade, in the context of "India Poised," the slogan of a recent promotional campaign, is a positive force strengthening our connection with our rich past even as it ensures our place in the future.

A year ago at this time, David Jeffery wrote in his article for the Quadrangle that the "overall improvement in the school's reputation and position is one consequence of ten years of planning and implementation of change that has both been dependent upon the support of the broader Woodstock community and which has also energized, expanded, and broadened that community." As David and Denise make their own transition back to life in England, near their sons and families, and I have taken over as interim principal, the focus on sustainable improvement continues. We are taking on the hard work of owning our plans as a community-prioritizing and implementing them at a pace that will carry the momentum while allowing us to absorb change at a rate manageable for those of us who are living through it.

"There is plenty of evidence that a planning culture exists at Woodstock School," according to Andrew Hoover, a Bombay American School administrator who recently paid us a midterm evaluation visit on behalf of the Middle States Association (MSA), the body that validates schools' improvements. Woodstock's plan is articulated in Achieving Excellence, a document adopted by the Board in 2005 to guide the unfolding vision toward 2010, which builds deliberately on the careful work of the past-going back to1996 and the long-range plan, Service Through Excellence. A shared vision galvanizes the community, focuses energy, and motivates staff and students to work to their potential and to find meaning in what they do through mutually agreed-upon connections to shared ideals.

In 2006, several concrete steps were taken toward realizing the priorities of Achieving Excellence: to strengthen the adult-student community and the programs in which they are engaged, to complete modernization of the physical plant, and to secure the future by building endowments. First of all, a Planning Team was formed, comprised of 25 staff, students, and other stakeholders who meet regularly. Team members review a wide range of proposals and ongoing projects: from renovating the high school, recycling waste, and improving student writing to enabling independent and collaborative learning by introducing tablet PCs. The Planning Team reviewed the initial conclusions of a Business and Strategic Planning Exercise, conducted by a group of board members, administrators, and staff in July, in conjunction with a team from the business advisory branch of Grant Thornton (GT), the school's statutory auditing firm. The GT study strongly recommended a tuition increase to bring Woodstock's income from fees closer to that of other private international schools. The Planning Team will decide how to make the wisest use of these funds to benefit students, using criteria developed in a companion compensation study conducted by Hewitt Associates. Based on the advice of the Hewitt Study, we have made a commitment to providing better compensation, benefits, housing, and quality of professional life for our staff over the next two years.

The Planning Team is not merely charged with vetting ideas that are initiated elsewhere; in fact, the Team develops and facilitates initiatives- including the successful application for an International Credential, which takes the school through a scrutiny of the twelve MSA Standards, ranging from business practices to governance to student services and programs and our own 13th standard on the quality of life in the residences. The purpose of the process is to ensure that an international perspective permeates every aspect of the program; the result of this self-study was an 80-page report, endorsed for approval by Andrew Hoover, and likely to be a prototype for the review board, as Woodstock is one of the first schools to complete the study.

The efforts of the Development Office have resulted in the establishment of new student scholarship endowments, which provide a tangible way to ensure that despite the necessary increases in tuition, we will still be able to recruit and serve students who come from the families we are most committed to serve, including Christian workers and nation builders. The endowments will supplement the amount we commit from our fee income to student grants each year and will benefit such students as the children of Christian medical workers.

We're delighted to report that Woodstock has secured permission to begin the long awaited construction of our new Win Mumby Gymnasium (as reported elsewhere). Other projects recently completed or under way include the renovation of several staff and employee housing units and, within sight, the long-awaited renovation of the senior boys' Hostel. These projects are part of an overall Master Plan for facilities improvement, which amongst other things, has seen the installation of new 11KVA electrical transformers. Electrical outages, supply fluctuations, damage to electrical fixtures, fittings, and equipment, including highly sophisticated communication and electronic devices, are now largely a thing of the past.

Please come visit your alma mater and see for yourselves how well we're doing! We welcome each and every one of you and thank you for your continued support of and involvement in Woodstock School.