Imagining Deerfield

by Rory Cowan & Tom Heise, Co-Chairs, Imagine Deerfield

Imagine Deerfield as it has been, as it is, and as it can be. On July 25-26, the board of trustees met in New York City to launch Imagine Deerfield, Deerfield Academy's strategic planning effort. President of the Board of Trustees Jeff Louis welcomed attendees and gave his eloquent support to the enterprise. Head of School Margarita Curtis spoke appreciatively of Deerfield's strengths and offered her thoughts about the challenges and opportunities that await the academy in the years ahead. Then, in a series of stimulating discussions and presentations, those in attendance considered Deerfield Academy's past, present and possible future.

The members of the planning committee that will oversee the Imagine Deerfield process joined the board of trustees in New York City. The on-campus membership of the committee includes teaching faculty Scottie Buron, Sheryl Cabral, Chip Davis, Steve Taft, Andy Harcourt, and Tom Heise; Director of Admission Pat Gimbel, Director of Human Resources Jan Kari, Assistant Head of School and Director of College Advising Marty Lyman, Chief Financial Officer Joe Manory, and Dean of Faculty John Taylor. Trustees Rory Cowan, Phil Greer and Randy Hack are also committee members. The co-chairs of the Imagine Deerfield effort are Rory Cowan and Tom Heise.

There was a resounding re-affirmation of Deerfield's core values, strength and quality as an institution, even as the group contemplated changes, trends and new ideas in education and the world at large, and how the academy might respond to them. In its effort to assure the brightest possible future for Deerfield Academy, participants expressed strong approval of Deerfield's longstanding, distinctive blend of academic, athletic and artistic excellence and its commitment to community service. Imagine Deerfield is building on a superb foundation.

In September, the Imagine Deerfield effort returned to campus to continue the planning process, which will be broadly inclusive and participatory. Discussion groups, task forces and surveys will seek the input and ideas from all members of the Deerfield community. As she travels throughout the country during the upcoming year, Margarita Curtis will engage present and future members of the Deerfield family in conversations about the academy. The work and ideas of leading scholars, thinkers and educators will inform on campus conversations. Educators Ted and Nancy Sizer will come to Deerfield in October to speak to the community. Paul Farmer, the physician featured in Tracy Kidder's Mountains Beyond Mountains, will address the school later in the year.

The Imagine Deerfield process will provide the truest possible picture of what Deerfield Academy has been, what it is today, and what it ought to be in the years ahead. And it will produce a broad-based consensus and a carefully developed plan for the direction that Deerfield chooses to take. Our collective participation in this important enterprise will be an act of renewal and rededication-even as we imagine and plan an exciting Deerfield Academy future. The Imagine Deerfield effort will conclude in the fall of 2008 or the winter of 2009.