Strategic Focus

In 2017-18, Dana Hall administrators and the Board of Trustees put forth an ambitious strategic plan that was designed to chart the School’s course through 2025 with a vision for the future that was both actionable and aspirational.

With that plan as our guide, we have advanced Dana Hall’s long history of leadership, innovation and impact and made significant gains in all facets of our program. I am proud to share some examples of our accomplishments to date.

Selected Vision 2025 Highlights

Teaching and Learning the Dana Way

Implemented a new daily schedule to better align Upper School and Middle School schedules for increased collaboration and cross-division educational opportunities.
Reviewed and revised the role of student work outside of class in order to make it more effective and aligned with curricular goals.
Examined the grades 5-12 department structure and explored cross-departmental and cross-divisional opportunities.
Focused on faculty skill development and curricula design through increased professional development.
Elevated, expanded, and refined the Forum program and related offerings to remain at the forefront of social-emotional teaching and learning.

E Pluribus Dana: Many Backgrounds, One Community

Accelerated recruitment and focus on retention of faculty and staff from diverse backgrounds.
Allocated time and resources in marketing and enrollment management to build the admissions pipeline in select U.S. areas with growing school-age populations; added to the range of countries outside the U.S. from which students are recruited.
Worked with intention to unite Upper School and Middle School students, boarders and day students, and students from within and outside the U.S. to reinforce the 5-12 community and support interactions between students of different ages, backgrounds and nationalities.

Rooms With a (Point of) View: Enhancing Residential Life

Continued program to renovate dorms and common areas to enhance the residential experience.
Expanded and increased resources for marketing strategies that communicate the unique benefits of boarding life.
Shifted culture of on-campus faculty to increase presence in the residential program and expanded weekend student activities to better leverage connection to Boston.

Places, Spaces, and Facilities: Architecting the Dana Experience

Opened Sisters Field, a new turf field, and leveraged existing athletic infrastructure on campus and in the Wellesley community, to attract and retain students pursuing competitive sports.
Reimagined and renovated the School’s signature teaching and learning space, the Upper School Building, to reflect and enrich the demanding, dynamic and experiential nature of a Dana Hall education.

Financing the Future

Our work does not end now, as we push forward with a focused sense of possibility and at a time when our mission has never been more important. Our success invigorates and inspires us as we engage in the process of writing the next strategic plan that will take us to 2031.

With immense pride and unyielding determination, we embrace our future and our charge to shape a brighter and better tomorrow for our students.

Katherine Bradley
Head of School

Fearless Futures:
The Campaign for Dana Hall School

Vision 2025:
Enriching and Extending the Dana Difference