The Mark Day School Board welcomes you to the 2021-22 school year! Our Board is intently focused on securing Mark Day School's long-term success by ensuring that the school is well-positioned to thrive on the road ahead. Significant work has already been undertaken this school year, including at our recent Board retreat held on-campus earlier this month. Read on to learn more about the Board and our specific areas of focus for 2021-22...
Who is on the Mark Day School Board?
The Board is largely made up of parent and guardian trustees who serve in support and care of the school and contribute time and judgment based on their expertise, personal experience, and training they receive as trustees. Members are nominated and elected by the current Board membership. No parent or member represents any particular constituency, but rather the institution as a whole. The Board also typically includes a faculty trustee, an alumni trustee, and the Parents' Association president in addition to an outside member who comes from an educational or community leadership background. Trustees generally serve two three-year terms.
What are desirable qualities of a trustee?
The criteria for electing new trustees include strategic expertise and diversity in perspectives and experience. Depending on anticipated needs, we may look for specific expertise in fields such as finance, marketing, human resources, real estate, law, and others. These criteria enable the Board to be effective in furthering the strategic plan and the school's mission.
Does the Board get involved in classroom issues?
No. Trustees do not engage in issues related to school curriculum or program, personnel, staff, or student matters. The Board delegates all matters of day-to-day operational school management to Joe Harvey, Head of School. His experienced leadership, along with the stellar administrative team, faculty, and staff, inspires us as trustees to bring our best selves to every Board and committee interaction.
How does the Board get its work done?
The Board meets as a whole group every month to make decisions. Most of the substantive work is achieved outside of those meetings in small groups and committees. We currently have five standing committees:
- Advisory - Chaired by Board president Ethan Dornhelm, the Advisory Committee provides counsel for the head of school as needed and performs the head of school's evaluation.
- Development - Chaired by Ryan Brown, this committee partners with the Development Office on philanthropy, including capital and endowment campaigns, the Mark Day Annual Fund, and Parents' Association fundraising.
- Finance - Chaired by Julian Allen, this committee supports the administration in creating the School's operating budget, which is then debated and formally ratified by the entire Board. The committee focuses on maintaining the School's financial strength and sustainability. The Finance Committee includes an Investments Subcommittee, which is responsible for reviewing investment policy and monitoring performance of the school's endowment.
- Governance - Chaired by David Shapiro, this committee is responsible for all trustee issues, including nomination and election of new trustees, review of the bylaws, education of trustees, and Board self-evaluation. Included in the Governance Committee are the Risk Management Subcommittee, chaired by Sharina Belani, and the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Subcommittee, chaired by Lindsay Bartsh.
- Site - Chaired by Andrew Kawahara, the Site Committee works to ensure site permanence for Mark Day School and to plan for and lead enhancements to the campus.
In addition to standing committees, from time to time the Board takes on special projects and organizes committees or task forces to lead them. This year the Board has two:
- Campaign Steering Committee - Chaired by Aimee Foreman, this committee is leading the long-term planning for the school's endowment campaign to support teaching and learning at Mark Day School.
- Strategic Planning Task Force - Chaired by Andrew Kawahara, this group is currently leading the development of the school's next strategic plan, in coordination with the administrative team. Please see "Board Priorities" below for more about our ongoing Strategic Planning work.
What are the 2021-2022 Board Priorities?
With a constant eye toward the future, the Board uses the school's Strategic Plan as a roadmap. It is a dynamic vision for teaching and learning in the current century; broadening and strengthening our community; and building on our financial strength. In 2021-22, we will specifically take aim at:
- Drafting our next Strategic Plan: Part of the regular good work of any school, and a requirement of our CAIS accreditation, is updating our Strategic Plan. As noted above, the Board has established a task force to work with various constituents of the school, including parents and guardians, teachers and staff, alumni, and students to develop a plan to help the school evolve and grow into the future while also maintaining the characteristics that make our school so special. Strategic planning was the main focus of our Board retreat held on-campus earlier this month.
- Planning the school's next endowment campaign: The Campaign Steering Committee is currently finalizing the case for support for the school's upcoming endowment campaign, which is focused squarely on our world class faculty and staff. This campaign will help ensure that we continue to attract and retain the very best teachers around, by supporting faculty compensation, enhanced professional development opportunities, and an expanded intern teacher program.
- Budgeting: Mark Day School has a long track record of financial stability brought about by thoughtful and detailed consideration of our annual budget. Even as the 2021-22 school year begins, the Board, led by the Finance Committee, is already digging into draft budgets for the 2022-23 school year. This involves multiple iterations to fund the school's vital programs including indexed tuition, compensate teachers competitively, and set tuition levels all while accounting for new complexities arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Stay tuned for upcoming editions of In Step With The Board to learn more about our work in service of Mark Day School.
Wishing you all the best and a wonderful 2021-22 school year,
The Mark Day School Board of Trustees
Ethan Dornhelm, President
Julian Allen, Treasurer
Lindsay Bartsh
Sharina Belani
Ryan Brown
Silvia Buckley, Faculty Trustee
Prathap Dendi
Sara Egide
Pam Emo, PA President
Scott Faber
Aimee Foreman, Vice President
Alexander Fraser
Rika Gopinath
Reetika Grewal
Joe Harvey, Head of School
Chelsea Ialeggio, Assistant Treasurer
Andrew Kawahara
Scott Lamson '06, Alumni Trustee
Megan Mariani
Chris Mazzola
Ashley Ransom, Trustee Emerita
David Shapiro