We are a group of 16 parents, alumni, and community members. As a Board of Trustees, our job is very different from that of a typical Board of Directors. We do not direct (translation: we don’t tell the Head how to run the school). Rather, we are, quite literally, entrusted with the mission and long-term stability of the school. Everything we discuss either addresses how St. Mary’s realizes its mission or pertains to the fiscal or legal health of the school. We don’t tell the Head what classes to offer, which students to admit, or which teachers to hire. Instead, we listen as he tells us how various changes and additions support the school’s mission. If there is a price tag attached to a particular proposal, we look at ways to fund it and consider how the costs will change or be absorbed in future years. We are also de facto ambassadors for the school: on campus and in the community, we educate others about St. Mary’s and sing its praises. And finally, we support the Head of the school in every way possible, by sending him to conferences, listening to proposals, approving new funding, and overseeing annual evaluations of his work and ours.

Most of our work is determined by our Strategic Plan, an impressively comprehensive document that lists major tasks – financial benchmarks, proposed program changes, campus maintenance and improvements, fundraising goals – that the Board needs to accomplish in the coming years. Our Finance Committee Chair believes firmly in Mr. Micawber’s maxim (“Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.”), and we spend time weighing each budget item carefully. In addition, we are always working to improve the Board itself so that it comprises a diverse range of expertise, interests, and contingents. The most exciting part of our job is listening to our Head of school and others present ideas for new programs. As soon as any of these ideas becomes a reality, it will be announced to the St. Mary’s community, and we will have the satisfaction knowing that, whatever it is, it has been well-planned, carefully analyzed, and responsibly budgeted.