January 15, 2010


Dear Members of the Milton Academy Community,

Last year the board of trustees asked me to serve as Milton’s twelfth head of school. I was thrilled, and honored, and hopeful. This year, I can tell you that I have loved diving into the work of your School. Milton has been everything I hoped to find, and more. Heartened by the community’s warm welcome for me, Nancy and our children, I have immersed myself in the life of this rare and important place.

Invited last summer to come and tell me all about their Milton, faculty and staff gave shape and detail to what I had believed about the School. Their passion about being active in young people’s lives was palpable. Meeting the students quickly followed. At this point in the year, having taught classes from Kindergarten to Class I, attended chapel, practiced with all the fall varsity teams, dined in the dorms, ventured on stage for a cameo appearance in the Class IV play, I can relate my own experiences. In story after story I can confirm the intellectual vitality, the energy and fun, the openness and the kindness of the students in this Academy. Parents and alumni, in Boston, New York and Washington D.C., have verified for me the transformative and lasting power of the Milton experience. I agree with them.

In September I asked students to focus on three things: unity, kindness and trust. Unity means celebrating our diversity while also championing what binds us together. Kindness means speaking with honesty and conviction—daring to be true—while addressing every person with fundamental respect. Building trust means being true to who you are. Being known in an authentic way is a prerequisite to trust, just as building trust in one another is a prerequisite to reaching our potential as individuals, and as a School.

Listening and participating have been my focus. Both have helped me appreciate, in a tactile way, Milton’s particular excellence. Both have helped me establish that essential foundation of mutual trust and respect.

I can promise you what I have promised all the Miltonians I’ve met thus far: I can see all around me that Milton honors its deepest values every day. I will do everything in my power to help Milton meet the challenge of sustaining those values long into the future. We’re ready to press ahead with an ambitious agenda. The time is right; the elements are in place:

• Board of Trustees
  Milton people love to question, and the openness to self-evaluation is a particular strength. To sharpen its own operation, the board has undertaken a comprehensive self-study under the direction of Brad Bloom, board president. Trustees are meeting this January to review the study’s findings and consider what measures would assure best practices in all board work.
  
  
• Faculty Council
  This group of elected faculty, chartered by vote of the faculty and the board last spring, functions well as an effective tool for communication between the faculty, the administration and the board, and for assuring a faculty role in deliberation about the School’s future.
  
  
• Planning for the Future
  We have planned conversations with parents and alumni around the world over the next year. We will also undertake the self-study of the School required for our re-accreditation with the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). In 2010–2011 we will take advantage of valuable data and feedback to clarify and further define our goals.
  
  
• Fund Raising, 2009–2010
  I am pleased to report that the final weeks of December—a time when many people make year-end charitable gifts—ended with an inspiring eight percent increase in annual support for our School. Plenty of hard work remains to reach our goal of $3.35 million, but we are encouraged at this point in time. Our plans for the capital campaign continue to evolve. You will hear more about the campaign as we move through the planning phase over the next year.
  
  
• Financial Stability
  Gifts to Milton:
  We are grateful that so many hold Milton as a philanthropic priority, particularly when news about giving to many institutions was disheartening. Milton alumni, parents and friends raised over $12 million in gifts and pledges in 2008–2009. Further, support for the Annual Fund reached $3.35 million last year, only five percent off our previous year, an exceptional achievement in a challenging time. Annual Fund gifts from Milton parents topped $1 million and set a new standard for parent giving.
  
  Strategic refinancing of existing debt:
  After a comprehensive review of Milton’s long-term debt; capital projects; contingency planning; and fund raising status and planning, the administration proposed consolidating existing outstanding obligations into one set of streamlined bond issues, taking advantage of historically low interest rates. The board approved an omnibus refinancing of our existing debt and capital project needs; trustees agreed that this plan is both affordable and strategically correct. It allows Milton to amortize our debt appropriately over the years ahead, while we also build for the future.
  
  Annual budget:
  During this challenging economic period Milton has managed resources scrupulously, focusing on maintaining the identity of the School. The budget for this fiscal year cut expenses; froze salaries; reduced full time positions by four percent; increased financial aid from 18.5 percent of gross tuition revenues to 20.5 percent (approximately $700,000); and implemented a relatively small tuition increase. We need to apply equal scrutiny this year and in the following years. While we have not been as dependent on our endowment as some institutions, the reduction of the revenue stream from endowment will dictate some difficult but necessary choices.
  

When I began last July, the board charged me with learning about the identity, quality and culture of the School and to bring energy and direction to a community passionate about the value of learning and about pursuing excellence across all aspects of School life. With administrators, faculty and staff, we have made great progress in the first months. The fall was as full of energy and action as you would expect. I’ve included an update on important aspects of Milton life, so that you can learn firsthand about matters that interest you; that update follows this message.

I believe deeply in the unique environment and educational experience that is Milton’s long tradition. The relationships, the opportunities, and the intellectual vitality at Milton develop students and graduates with the attributes and competencies to succeed in a world that is changing by the second. They have embraced the diversity around them; they are practiced critical thinkers; they are fearless and creative self-starters; and they act on their beliefs, leading lives that “Dare to be true.”

I look forward to communicating with you in the future, and although I’m not likely to be able to answer each of you, I am eager to hear your thoughts and ideas. Please email them to me at head_of_school@milton.edu. Thank you very much for your interest in Milton. We welcome and depend upon it.

Sincerely,

Todd B. Bland
Head of School

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A Milton Update: Fall 2009  

Admission
While predicting outcomes last year was difficult, Milton did very well, with a 14 percent increase in applications, and enrollment among those admitted students at historic highs. Thus far, this year’s inquiries and visits are tracking at that same pace. We’re hopeful that in the next several months we will match 2009 in enrolling talented and diverse students from all over the country and around the world.

Arts
The main stage production this fall was Archy and Mehitabel, a musical written by Joe Darion and Mel Brooks and based on a series of stories penned by New York Evening Sun writer Don Marquis. Class IV students starred in and provided tech support for Lady Dracula. An evening of “Student-Directed One-Acts,” a relatively new and popular Milton tradition, showcased in November. Directed by Peter Parisi, 1212 plays typically take on challenging subject matter. The first this year, Doubt, is on the horizon. The Winter Dance Concert, an annual student favorite, will play to full houses the first week of March.

Athletics
The favorite moment of the fall came at the end—Milton-Nobles weekend. On soggy fields, Milton teams tied or won against the Nobles contenders in nine of the eleven contests. In other great news: Milton's varsity girls' soccer team advanced all the way to the New England semi-finals, having finished their season with a 12-3-2 record; and Milton's varsity boys' cross country team placed third in the Independent School League, going on to finish third in the New England Championship race. This winter, boys’ varsity basketball won the Rivers Tournament, and for the second straight year Milton’s varsity hockey squad won the Tabor Tournament.

College matriculations
Last year, many of the most selective larger institutions (and all the Ivies) reported record application numbers as well as deeper and stronger pools. Those numbers dictated some shifts in admissions practices (such as fewer colleges accepting counselor calls, higher percentage of denies in the early action/early decision round).  Financially pressed, nearly all institutions strain to provide the financial aid that is needed by all but a few families. Despite the shifting, more selective landscape, the number of Milton students admitted to the most selective schools held strong. Milton students' family financial realities are playing an increasingly significant role in where students choose to matriculate.

K–8
After a full year as a new division, led by Principal Marshall Carter, the administrators have involved the faculty in a mini- strategic planning. They are focusing on several issues including curriculum, innovation, and the best administrative structure to serve K–8 effectively.

AIM: An Assessment of Inclusivity and Multiculturalism
Continuing the Milton tradition of self-evaluation, we have undertaken a comprehensive assessment of our working and learning environment. Beginning with an understanding of our strengths, we want to rely on qualitative and quantitative data as we plan for the future. The instrument we’re using was developed by the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS); it is called An Assessment of Inclusivity and Multiculturalism (AIM). We began with a faculty-staff professional day on January 4, and will broaden the study to include other constituents in the extended community.
 
Upper School Principal Search
Led by Rod Skinner ’72, director of college counseling, the Search Committee has interviewed 14 candidates from among more than 100 who were interested in the position. From those interviews, the committee will choose three to four finalists. Finalists will come to campus for a visit and interviews with the Upper School community in early February. Members hope to be able to make their recommendation to me by mid-February.