University School of Milwaukee
Strategic Plan

A Vision for Our Future.

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A vision for our future.

University School of Milwaukee is built on a rock-solid foundation, with nearly six decades of excellence in its current form and well over a century of history and tradition dating back to our predecessor schools. This tradition of excellence compels us to continuously look for ways to improve, and this new strategic plan sets a course for us to continue that work in the coming years. I am so thankful for the more than 1,000 members of our school community who provided feedback about their personal experiences that enabled us to begin to shape our plan.

This strategic plan, like the others that came before it, will make us a stronger school. Building on our traditions of excellence, we will strive to ensure that all of our graduates can be proud to be alumni of this great school; that every teacher, staff member, and administrator can feel confident their work is making a difference; that our school families feel part of a strong and welcoming community; and, most importantly, that every student can excel and thrive, and their USM experience will serve as the foundation of an education for a lifetime.

Click here to read a transcript of Steve Hancock’s video introduction

Welcome to University School of Milwaukee’s strategic plan website. This new site showcases the results of nearly 18 months of work by many in our community. I am thankful that USM approached this plan from a position of strength. We have a solid foundation of an excellent academic program, robust enrollment, a growing endowment, and a commitment to staying debt-free. I am excited to launch this new chapter for USM, and I look forward to the many ways we will report on our success as a school over these next several years.

Our tradition of excellence compels us to continuously look for ways to improve. As part of our research, we surveyed more than 1,000 members of the school community, including faculty and staff, alumni, parents, and current students. We asked for their input on all aspects of school life, from our academic programs to the community and culture we want to create. Additionally, we sought feedback by hosting sessions with the faculty, my leadership team, the community, and the Board of Trustees throughout the year. We looked deeply at who we are and who we endeavor to be. We sought to be objective in identifying areas where we excel, while understanding the opportunities where we can achieve greater success.

During this process we carefully examined our mission. This work resulted in refining the school’s mission statement to reaffirm our commitment to the Common Trust and enhance our focus on academic excellence as we develop students who are learners, leaders, and citizens. I am excited to share the new mission statement with you now:

University School of Milwaukee cultivates excellence in learning, leadership, and citizenship for prekindergarten through 12th grade students. Students are engaged, known, and valued within our passionate independent school community guided by our Common Trust.

From this revised mission statement, we developed three school-wide priorities that are detailed in this site. First, we are an academic institution, and our commitment to educational excellence must always be at the forefront of all we endeavor to do as a school. Here, again, we are approaching this work from a position of strength, but we always have the opportunity to advance our long-standing traditions in order to help our students become better and stronger.

I am excited to introduce Amy Hand as our first assistant head of school for teaching and learning. Amy has wide experience from several independent schools around the country. She will spend her first months getting to know our teachers and students by visiting every classroom. I am excited for the research that she will gather and the direction we will lead together.

Learning can take place anywhere around our amazing campus. Kip Jacobs, from the esteemed Class of 1974, will move out of his 7th grade classroom to take on a new role at school as outdoor education coordinator. Kip is ready and excited to help partner with teachers to utilize the many resources that our campus has to offer. These are just a few of the initiatives we will be launching to help USM develop learners, leaders, and citizens in new and unique ways.

Our second priority will focus on the foundation of our Common Trust as we continue our ongoing work to strive for a diverse and inclusive community at USM that is reflective of the world in which we live. We have made great strides over the past two years, yet we know this work is constantly evolving. Our Common Trust is a galvanizing feature of who we are, and I look forward to the sense of belonging that can occur when we always treat each other with respect, trust, honesty, fairness, and kindness. I look forward to continuing to work to further define and clarify these values.

Our third priority centers around leveraging all of our tremendous resources to make certain our brand of educational excellence can live on forever.

There are many details of our plan found in the following pages. However, this is a continuously evolving project. I look forward to sharing more details and results as the months and years progress. Our continued dedication to educational excellence will guide us to become the best versions of ourselves. We are proud of the bold and exciting directives we have set, and we welcome the opportunity to accomplish our goals together.

Thank you.

USM must always keep educational excellence at the forefront of all we do, and we expect that graduates of the school will exhibit a number of specific characteristics that are indicative of who they are as learners, leaders, and citizens. The expectations around these characteristics—our Portrait of a Graduate—will help us as we design and propel our curriculum to elevate our commitment to our students and their families throughout every grade level.

Develop a comprehensive Portrait of the USM Learner, Leader and Citizen.

Building off of the school’s Portrait of a Graduate statement, we will seek to better articulate the principles that guide pedagogy, curriculum, and learning design. These principles will define the essential elements of every learning experience at USM, including our longstanding commitment to knowing and valuing each child. This work will also help us to redefine the knowledge, competencies, and outcomes expected for all students.

Cultivate excellence in learning

With a focus on cultivating skills essential for success in both learning and life, we will bolster our definition of educational excellence and define exactly how USM prepares students for a lifetime of learning. We will also strengthen and diversify our assessment practices as we honor the range of learners we serve, supporting the emotional, physical, and intellectual well-being of students throughout their educational journeys.

Cultivate excellence in leadership

As we continue to design the student learning experience to promote and foster leadership skills, we will formalize and enhance leadership opportunities both in and out of the classrooms. We will seek to create new programming that promotes peer mentorship within and across academic divisions, and encourage and support student and faculty exploration, both locally and nationally, to test, learn, and build leadership competencies.

Cultivate excellence in citizenship

Broadening the contexts for real-world learning, community engagement, and service for all students will serve as a springboard to create new opportunities to promote service beyond our campus. We will look to infuse in our curriculum and extracurricular activities the values and behaviors that promote citizenship and community, and will expand the number of opportunities and spaces in which all community members can engage, demonstrate, and model our shared understanding of responsible citizenship.

USM’s values, culture, and community are essential ingredients to achieving our vision for educational excellence. Our survey results have indicated that the values of the school’s Common Trust resonate with our constituents throughout the USM community. Through this strategic plan we have an opportunity to clarify these values and leverage them in practice to bring our community together.

Define and clarify values to cultivate unity in our Common Trust

It is critically important that we develop a shared understanding of the core values of our Common Trust—respect, trust, honesty, fairness, and kindness—both in concept and in practice as we continue our work to align all school policies, pedagogy, and practices with these values. A new Board of Trustees Diversity and Inclusion committee will focus on strengthening and further defining our commitment to inclusion and belonging in service of our mission as we engage all members of our community in this work.

Engage and create meaningful relationships throughout our school community to fortify our culture.

We will deepen connections between students and their teachers that are at the heart of intellectual growth and the USM experience while continuing to cultivate a strong partnership between families and the school. Enhanced communication amongst faculty and with administrators, in USM’s one-school, three-division campus model, will help to foster a collaborative school culture, and graduates will regularly be invited to reconnect with their alma mater, providing for networking opportunities that offer personal growth to current students and alumni.

Create “The Center for the Common Trust” to cultivate learners, leaders, and citizens.

By providing visibility, focus, and accountability around our Common Trust values, USM will invest in strengthening our community and culture. Support for innovative research, including grant-based opportunities, will allow students and faculty to enhance learning and action, while events will promote our Common Trust throughout the USM community and beyond. Professional development, partnerships, and collaborations will also be oriented to enrich the learning and cultural experience at USM.

USM has enjoyed the benefits of prudent financial management and strong fiscal health for many years. Nonetheless, this strategic plan requires USM to look with fresh eyes at our financial resources and investments and ensure that they are put fully at the service of achieving our mission and definition of educational excellence.

Continue to make the USM educational investment affordable and accessible for our families.

While maintaining our strong enrollment, we will focus on student-teacher ratios to ensure we are delivering on our mission for all school families. We will continue to use our robust endowment to minimize tuition increases, support tuition assistance, and fund professional development, and will strategically manage operations to provide an exceptional education to all students while continuing our policy of carrying zero debt.

Design and implement practices that position USM to attract, develop, and retain exceptional faculty and staff.

Achieving our vision for educational excellence requires us to invest in our leadership, faculty, and staff as our most important resources. The development of a national recruitment strategy will allow us to identify and attract top talent, with a focus on recruiting a diverse faculty and staff that will enrich and broaden our students’ educational experiences. Professional development will be aligned with strategic and curricular goals, and competitive compensation and benefits packages will allow us to retain talented employees.

Explore the transformative ways facility development and campus design can provide environmental conditions for educational excellence.

As we continue our work to evolve the campus landscape plan to address immediate environmental needs and longer-range outdoor education opportunities, we will also develop the next capital campaign strategy to fund strategic physical and programmatic developments that support our mission. We plan to evaluate the existing Preschool, Lower School, and Middle School dining hall to create a new dining experience for these students, and will also explore the building of a fieldhouse for additional athletic facilities and promote the physical health of all community members.

A Vision for our future

Karin Werner

Board of Trustees President

“The USM Board of Trustees is proud to present USM’s new strategic plan as a vision for our future. As Head of School Steve Hancock and his talented team of administrators, faculty, and staff work to further develop the action items for this plan over the coming months and years, our board is committed to working in partnership with the school to provide the resources necessary to turn these visions into reality. On behalf of my fellow trustees, I am so proud to represent our incredible school.”

Jackie Darr

USM Strategic Design Planning Committee Co-chair

“Since the Portrait of a USM Graduate was first introduced in 2017, the school has recommitted itself to developing learners, fostering leaders, and preparing citizens, and this new strategic plan serves as a continuation of that work. As the parent of two soon-to-be “lifers” I am so excited about what the future holds for USM—not only for other current and future students, but also for them as proud alumni.”

Todd Schoon

USM Strategic Design Planning Committee Co-chair

“As both a current parent and the parent of a Class of 2022 graduate, I know first-hand how special and important our Common Trust, first established nearly four decades ago, is. As a trustee, I am excited that this plan helps to further embed its values into our school community and culture. Today starts a new chapter for USM—our past is already strong, and our future is incredibly bright.”

Trustee Chairs and committees

Betsy Rosenblum

Learners, Leaders, and Citizens

Sue Bolly, Assistant Head of Upper School; Jackie Darr, Trustee; Julie Gilpin, Parent; Elaine Griffin, Head of Middle School; Amy Hand, Assistant Head of School for Teaching and Learning; Dr. Gina Haughton, Head of Upper School; Sri Lazzaro, Trustee; Michael Tauscher, Head of Preschool and Lower School; Karin Werner, Board President

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Betsy Rosenblum

Sue Bolly, Assistant Head of Upper School; Jackie Darr, Trustee; Julie Gilpin, Parent; Elaine Griffin, Head of Middle School; Amy Hand, Assistant Head of School for Teaching and Learning; Dr. Gina Haughton, Head of Upper School; Sri Lazzaro, Trustee; Michael Tauscher, Head of Preschool and Lower School; Karin Werner, Board President

Sumeeta Krishnaney ’92

Community, Culture, and the Common Trust

Lafayette Crump ’91, Trustee; Dr. Kevin Dahlman ’92, Trustee; Charlie Housiaux ’02, Dean of Students; Brigid Miller, Trustee; Melissa Perez, Parent; Rochelle Robinson, Parent; Patrick Tevlin, Chief Advancement Officer; Karin Werner, Board President; Susan Zarwell ’87, Director of College Guidance

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Sumeeta Krishnaney ’92

Lafayette Crump ’91, Trustee; Dr. Kevin Dahlman ’92, Trustee; Charlie Housiaux ’02, Dean of Students; Brigid Miller, Trustee; Melissa Perez, Parent; Rochelle Robinson, Parent; Patrick Tevlin, Chief Advancement Officer; Karin Werner, Board President; Susan Zarwell ’87, Director of College Guidance

Todd Schoon

Resources for the Future

Stuart Cushman, Director of Strategic Operations; Stephen Guy, Trustee; Angela Johnson, Parent; Lettie Minor, Associate Director of Enrollment Management; Mike Pokel, Trustee; Greg Smith, Trustee; Karin Werner, Board President; Mike Williams ’70, Trustee

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Todd Schoon

Stuart Cushman, Director of Strategic Operations; Stephen Guy, Trustee; Angela Johnson, Parent; Lettie Minor, Associate Director of Enrollment Management; Mike Pokel, Trustee; Greg Smith, Trustee; Karin Werner, Board President; Mike Williams ’70, Trustee

Lafayette Crump ’91

Diversity and Inclusion

Charles Brennan ’86, trustee; Kathy-Ann Edwards, Trustee; Steve Hancock, Head of School; Dr. Gina Haughton, Head of Upper School; Sri Lazzaro, Trustee; Tami Martin, Trustee; Kara Nelson, Trustee; Betsy Rosenblum, Trustee; Karin Werner, Board President

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Lafayette Crump ’91

Charles Brennan ’86, trustee; Kathy-Ann Edwards, Trustee; Steve Hancock, Head of School; Dr. Gina Haughton, Head of Upper School; Sri Lazzaro, Trustee; Tami Martin, Trustee; Kara Nelson, Trustee; Betsy Rosenblum, Trustee; Karin Werner, Board President

Thank You to Our 2021-22 Strategic Design Committee Members:
Jackie Darr (co-chair) | Todd Schoon (co-chair) | John Bonnell | Stephen Guy | Steve Hancock | Dr. Gina Haughton | Sumeeta Krishnaney ‘92 | Dr. Avis Leverett | Betsy Rosenblum | Chuck Taft | Laura Vande Hei | Karin Werner | Susan Zarwell ‘87