Strong Episcopal schools can’t exist without strong Episcopal school boards. Whether you are an experienced trustee or a newly minted member, your work on the school board will shape the institution and the people in it far beyond the term of your individual service. Board leadership is critical to a school’s success in fulfilling its mission and living into its Episcopal identity. As you reflect on your leadership and prepare for the upcoming school year, here are four strategies for success.
1. Understand and embrace your school’s Episcopal identity.
An important job of Episcopal school trustees is to articulate and honor a school mission that goes beyond academic or institutional excellence. While educating for wisdom, knowledge, and skills is critical, they are not the “end all, be all” of why our schools exist. In its vision for education, the Church of England noted that our schools also focus on hope, community, and dignity in our work with young people. While we take seriously our responsibility to prepare students for the next academic step, we are equally committed to preparing them for an abundant and fulfilling life focused on something other than themselves. As our prayer book reminds us, we know that such a life is superior to simply “chasing after selfish goals.” This is at the heart of what it means to be an Episcopal school. As a trustee, you are called to safeguard this critical mission.
Each school lives out its Episcopal identity in its own unique way. It is up to the school’s leaders—the head of school and board—to revisit, review, and articulate regularly the school’s core values as an Episcopal school, to help the wider constituencies of school and church understand how those values are lived out, and to ensure that these values inform the deliberations and decisions of the board. “Fiduciary responsibility is critically important, especially today,” notes the Rev. Preston Hannibal of the Diocese of Washington, “but the bottom line is not always the most important good to lift up, particularly as an Episcopal school. Our ‘business’ is that of educating young people in a particular way, and we need to think about the best use of our talents and resources to fulfill that mission. We value relationships; we support students, faculty, and families over the long haul. Sometimes these priorities are more important than simply maximizing the bottom line.”
In addition, every Episcopal school exists in some relationship to The Episcopal Church. Parish or cathedral day schools normally have a corporate relationship with their sponsoring organization. All trustees need to understand the history of the church-school relationship, the dynamics of the current relationship, and how the church and school live out their shared life and mission. Trustees share with the head of school and rector or dean the responsibility to steward a collaborative church-school relationship, even and most importantly in times of conflict or disagreement. Trustees of diocesan and independent Episcopal schools also need to be able to answer the question, “What is the school’s relationship to our diocese and to The Episcopal Church?”
2. Learn as much as possible about “independent schools.”
Episcopal schools, including parish day schools, are part of the “independent school” community, and yet few trustees bring an in-depth understanding of this particular educational sector to their work on the board. This is as true of clergy and parish leaders as it is of school parents and alumni.
Independent schools have their own set of practices, professional norms, and market realities that differ dramatically from those of public schools, other non-profits (including churches and congregations), and for-profit businesses. Practices that may make sense in another context may or may not make any sense at all for the school. Early childhood programs have additional dynamics unique to educating very young children. Trustees need to understand not only the “business” but the culture of independent schools and/or early childhood programs.
Thankfully, there are excellent resources readily available. The school’s accrediting body, its state or regional independent school association, regional or diocesan Episcopal school networks, the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), and, of course, the National Association of Episcopal Schools (NAES) all offer publications, training, and online resources for trustees. NAES collaborates with many of these organizations to advance effective governance in Episcopal schools of all types.
3. Focus on what makes your school unique.
Innovation in educational programs including how we think about teaching and learning are influencing schools along with the post-pandemic changes that remain, especially regarding online learning. Public school reform movements, changing demographics, and economic instability have created additional challenges for schools of all kinds. Amidst this rapid change, it can be easy for trustees to lose sight of their own school’s purpose, strengths, context, and culture.
No two Episcopal schools are the same,” observes The Reverend Ryan Newman, a former Episcopal school head and current Executive Director of the Commission on Schools for the Diocese of Los Angeles. “In their unique role, trustees are vested with the sacred responsibility of nurturing the institutional sacraments—the school’s narrative, strategic mission and vision, and guiding ethos. We must prioritize the ongoing discernment and empowerment of transformational opportunities that will reshape our communities while also ensuring that we preserve and continue developing the intrinsic values that define us as Episcopal schools within our distinct contexts.”
The Rev. David Madison, Executive Director of NAES puts it this way: “There is no shortage of independent schools from which families can choose; however, it’s our job to clearly articulate what makes Episcopal schools unique. Our approach to worship is one that is true to our heritage but also makes room for a variety of faith expressions. Our focus on formation takes seriously the teachings of Jesus while also being in dialogue with other traditions. Our focus on community recognizes the importance of caring for mind, body, and spirit as well as our interdependence on each other. Our focus on belonging takes seriously the worth and dignity of every human being. These four ‘pillars’ are a wonderful way to summarize how Episcopal identity informs our work. The trustees, along with school leaders, have the responsibility to highlight our approach for prospective and current families alike.”
“We are schools that believe in something and stand for something,” says Hannibal. “ That’s why parents and teachers choose our schools, and it’s what fuels our work.”
4. Help the board to be the best it can be.
Ideally, the school board embodies a rich combination of personal qualities and professional skills that will advance the school’s long-term success and vitality. These usually include professional expertise in areas such as law, technology, entrepreneurship, finance, education, or real estate; and personal qualities such as leadership, love for and commitment to the school, a deep understanding of the school’s history, hard work, and good sense. Episcopal school boards also include current and former parents, alumni, rectors or bishops, parishioners, vestry members, and faithful Episcopalians.
As trustees, this disparate group of individuals must come together to deliberate and act as one body for the long-term well-being of the school. Trustees must have a “long view” and remember that their leadership is in service to future generations of students, not just the ones who are attending now, especially if they are also parents of current students. The future of the school—whether it flourishes or flounders, lives or dies—depends on the board’s ability to govern well and wisely.
There is one additional important element to helping the board be the best it can be: supporting the board/head of school partnership. The board has one employee: its head of school. Strong boards understand that healthy partnerships, like any relationship, don’t just happen. Rather, they are the result of intentional time, energy, and trust. The board sets the vision for the school while the head of school implements that vision. The best way to erode trust is to stray from best practices relating to the roles and responsibilities of the board versus the roles and responsibilities of the head and their team. Operational matters belong solely to the head and are not the purview of board members. Schools thrive when they have a strong board/head of school partnership that reflects this understanding.
Good governance and helping trustees serve their schools well requires training and expertise. An iterative program of board education and orientation, the commitment by each trustee to fulfill their role with integrity and enthusiasm, thoughtful succession planning for board leadership, and the ongoing cultivation of new board members can help individual trustees and the board as a whole to work more effectively on behalf of the school they love.
Finally, trustees can help their board be the best by implementing a regular process of self-assessment. How well are we fulfilling our roles as a full board and as individual trustees? Are we cultivating and recruiting new talent? Do we have the right people around the table? Are our board committees active and engaged? How are we balancing our attention to short-term and long-term planning?” And, perhaps most importantly, “Are we ensuring that this school will continue to serve the generations yet to come as an expression of God’s transforming love?” A regular and formal self-assessment of the board and its work will ensure that you are on the right track to being the best board you can be.
Episcopal schools can neither survive nor thrive without the dedication of their trustees who volunteer their time, talent, and treasure in service of a grand and sacred experiment: the education of generations of young people, mind, body, and soul.