“If we do this right and well, a graduate from 20, 30, 50 years ago would read our mission statement, read the core values, read the strategic plan, and see Nobles in it,” Head of School Cathy Hall said. This approach, focused on preserving the identity of Nobles, will guide the new strategic plan, a six-to-ten-year roadmap for the school released in the fall of 2025 with 81 distinct initiatives and backed by a $130 million capital campaign. The plan features noticeable impacts, not just behind-the-scenes administrative changes beyond the student body’s purview. Understanding this plan means understanding what this community values most and how Nobles plans to respond to the rapidly changing landscape of education.
Students will experience direct impacts from the strategic plan through prominent campus renovations and significant curriculum adjustments, as well as through more subtle alterations that will accumulate over time to create a more robust change. These less apparent initiatives include strategies for the thoughtful use of artificial intelligence and the expansion of team experiences and other opportunities that combat the pressure to specialize early. In addition to physical changes like the Shattuck Schoolhouse and Omni Rink renovations, curriculum alterations will shape how Nobles students learn and capstone their experience here. Hall described the rationale behind a cross-disciplinary approach to future classes. “Nobles seeks to add new learning opportunities that are increasingly interdisciplinary, experiential, and hands-on, and that are adaptive to emerging technologies,” she said.
The Class I experience will undergo modifications while preserving traditions. “We are exploring ways to ensure the spring of senior year feels much more like the culmination of their learning journey at Nobles. Our seniors will still have plenty of time for spike ball and traditional senior fun, but we also hope they experience unique capstone learning opportunities in their final months at Nobles,” Hall said.
Investment in faculty is crucial to the strategic plan and will yield long-term benefits for students’ experiences. “If the faculty are thriving, it will enable the ability for students to thrive,” Chief Financial and Operations Officer Steve Ginsberg said. The plan commits Nobles to the highest-tier compensation, expanded faculty housing options, and more professional development opportunities, such as the faculty EXCEL trips to France and Rwanda last summer. “The opportunity for adults to have the EXCEL experience, to collegially connect with their colleagues, was identified as a real professional development opportunity,” Ginsberg said. These policies address the affordability challenge, which threatens to serve as a barrier for students attending Nobles and a deterrent for faculty seeking to build long-term careers here. Hall said, “It’s making sure that the faculty we hire today can afford to be here in 50 years. It’s about making sure every student that we look to enroll knows they can afford to be here for their entire journey and fully participate.” By strengthening connections between faculty, ensuring their experience is well compensated and enjoyable, and providing the complete Nobles experience to every student, Nobles hopes to encourage tenure among faculty and inspire teachers to care even more deeply for the school and its students.
Hall’s goals with this strategic plan extend beyond her time as Head of School. “If I am really investing in the school’s future, I am not issuing fixed policies as the solution, but instead focusing on building an engine of ongoing learning and evolution, one where we are constantly looking to get better and take it as a given that we always have room to grow,” she said. “My focus is on building systems of ongoing growth today that can endure for decades to come.”
For current students, the strategic plan’s impact may take time to fully realize in their day-to-day lives. “There are multiple audiences for this plan, including current students, who we want to feel excited about it and will experience some of the most immediate developments, and students applying to Nobles, who will likely feel the real impact of this plan years down the road,” Ginsberg said. This plan holds promise for the future of Nobles as the school maintains traditions while modernizing and enriching the educational environment for both students and teachers.
