BC High Announces Strategic Plan
BC HIGH ANNOUNCES STRATEGIC PLAN, PLANTS SEED FOR THE FUTURE
ON MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, IN BOSTON, AND BEYOND
“Vision 2026” Prioritizes Student Well-Being, Access and Affordability,
and Spiritual and Intellectual Growth in Just and Inclusive World
Boston, Mass. (February 15, 2022): After several years of positive enrollment trends, remarkable growth, consistent fundraising efforts, and rapid expansions in technology to prepare for the evolving innovation economy, Boston College High School is excited to share “Vision 2026,” the five-year strategic plan that will guide the school’s ongoing formation of students for faith, for depth, for reconciliation, and as global citizens.
The BC High Board of Trustees, chaired by Fr. Michael McFarland, SJ, President Grace Cotter Regan, and the school’s leadership team worked collaboratively and from a position of strength to develop a bold vision for the future of the school, one that aligns with and supports the principles of a Jesuit, Catholic education.
“The Strategic Plan is founded on four defining pillars: a powerful formative student experience that integrates care and learning; a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion; access and affordability for students and families of all backgrounds; and financial stability and sustainability,” said Fr. McFarland. “Together these pillars serve the school’s mission to form leaders of competence, conscience, and compassion who seek to do all things for the greater glory of God.”
BC High’s priorities over the next five years include providing transformative experiences in the pursuit of human excellence; recruiting, supporting, and retaining faculty and staff who are deeply committed to the school’s mission and values; attracting a diverse student body that embraces and furthers the Jesuit, Catholic tradition; enhancing and building state-of-the-art facilities to accommodate student needs; and strengthening the school and its students as a leaders in Boston and beyond.
“The last two years have demonstrated, perhaps more than any other time, the importance of cura personalis – care for the whole person – and with it our core responsibility to develop and further relationships and experiences that best support spiritual and intellectual growth and overall student wellness,” said President Regan. “Meeting the needs of our students in a post-pandemic world requires investing in our campus and our curriculum in ways that advance and promote education of the head, the hand, and the heart.”
In support of these aims, and given the increasing incidence of mental health issues in adolescence, BC High is taking immediate steps to address student health and wellness. This includes implementing a new “House System” for the 2022-23 academic year that allows students to connect more deeply with the adult members of the community and with each other.
“Our House System is way to make a large school like ours feel smaller. By creating a ‘community within the community,’ each boy is known and his ‘story’ and experience is fully understood, appreciated, and valued,” said BC High Principal Adam Lewis. “When boys are known and loved – and they really feel supported – they will learn better, they will lead better, and they will develop stronger, deeper, and more supportive relationships and connections. Simply put, our House System fosters a greater sense of belonging, and it does so within the context the Jesuit tradition and the world in which we live.”
In addition, the Strategic Plan prioritizes the development and enhancement of new wellness facilities and technologies with a comprehensive Campus Master Plan that will further help address student health and wellbeing. This includes renovation and expansions of existing spaces and development of new areas, including the stadium, innovation space and athletic facilities .
“It is important that the physical space of our campus – the areas in which students learn and are cared for – complement our philosophical approach to teaching and learning. With a large and diverse community, aging infrastructure, and a 40-acre campus, we are taking into account many factors and looking to the future and the area around us,” said President Regan. “It is exciting to think of the relationship between the space in which our students learn and are formed and the technological and physical needs that will continue to arise as we grow and accommodate a more diverse and dynamic community of learners.”
The full Strategic Plan, including additional details around the House System and Campus Master Plan, is available for review online.
About Boston College High School: Boston College High School is a Jesuit, Catholic, college-preparatory school for young men in grades 7 to 12. Founded in 1863, the school enrolls approximately 1,500 students from more than 140 communities in eastern Massachusetts. For more information, please visit bchigh.edu.