Delbarton
Dear Friends of Delbar ton School,
In September 1939, a tiny pioneering group of Benedictine monks and middle school students began the work of Benedictine Catholic education for young men in Morris Township, New Jersey. For the past 84 years, Delbarton’s mission has been lived out by monks, lay faculty and staff, students, families and alumni. The school we are today is the fruit of their work and their experiences As Fr Stephen Findlay, O S B, the second and longest serving Headmaster of Delbarton School frequently noted, “our children are warmed by fires lit by others.”
Now, it is our time to move that work forward into the remaining years of this decade. To honor what our predecessors have achieved and built, and to show the path we intend to follow into the future, I am proud to share with you From Strength to Strength: A Strategic Plan for Delbarton School, 2023-30.
The Planning Team included Board of Regents Vice Chairman Amon Johnson P’21, ’22, ’25, Headmaster Fr Michael Tidd, O S B , Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Dr David Donovan P’19, ’22, ’24 and Delbarton Regent Michael Szymanski P’18, ’21.
For fourteen months, the entire Delbarton family identified key issues and developed strategic goals and objectives for Delbarton’s continued fidelity to our Benedictine Catholic educational mission and our institutional flourishing. Our planning work was done always with a view to the present and eternal good of the young men confided to our care.
I am grateful for the many hands, minds, hearts, and voices who contributed to this plan I invite you to read through the plan - one that will continue to position Delbarton School as a premier all-boys Benedictine Catholic school with a storied past and with an equally vibrant future serving young men in our community.
I ask that we all join in continued prayer for the Benedictines of St. Mary’s Abbey and for the mission and community of Delbarton School
Yours in Christ and St. Benedict, Fr
Michael Tidd, O S B Headmaster
Delbarton
Sixty-one members of the Strategic Plan Team met on campus for a retreat on October 29, 2022.
Delbarton School Mission Statement
Delbarton School, an independent Roman Catholic learning community guided by the Benedictine monks of St. Mary’s Abbey with their lay colleagues, welcomes diverse young men and develops them as brothers and leaders in lifelong service to God and neighbor, challenging them to build character and pursue excellence by educating the whole person in mind, body and spirit.
From to Strength Strength
Domain 1 Academics
Strategic Goal: Delbarton School will support and steer our educational community to meet the emerging needs of twenty-first century learners, so each student may attain his God-given potential: mind, body, and spirit.
Objectives: To realize this goal, Delbarton School will...
n Financially commit to a productive student-teacher ratio to nurture every student
n Communicate, promote, and celebrate our current course offerings and explore new opportunities for interested students.
n Investigate, assess, and address family perceptions of the Guidance and College Counseling process, and communicate the school’s continuing efforts to guide students and parents in this process of self-discovery throughout their time at Delbarton.
n Research the various factors affecting the balance between student workload and wellbeing, and implement well communicated community-wide initiatives to address these factors positively.
n Form students, faculty, staff, and parents in the value of academic integrity, and commit to strategies for making truthfulness a Delbarton cornerstone value, and spirit.
Delbarton
Domain 2 Advancement
Strategic Goal: Delbarton School will fully engage our entire community to grow the culture of philanthropy (focused on cultivation, education and stewardship) to support Delbarton’s present and secure Delbarton’s future.
Objectives: To realize this goal, Delbarton School will...
n Leverage the philanthropic infrastructure of the Brotherhood Campaign (identify, engage, cultivate, and steward) to broaden the donor community and build an integrated donor-centric approach to fundraising.
n Evaluate the resources and roles within the Advancement Office to ensure they are aligned with and advance Delbarton’s strategic goals
n Prioritize the promotion, growth and management of Delbar ton’s endowment as a primary focus of all Advancement efforts.
n Develop a specific strategy to enhance alumni giving, including a dedicated philanthropic mission for the Alumni Association and a collaboration strategy across constituencies (alumni, parents, current students, etc )
n Promote a community-wide understanding of Delbar ton’s financial model (through transparency and communication) and of the essential role of philanthropy in making a Delbarton education possible.
Domain 3 Benedictine and Catholic Identity and Mission
Strategic Goal: Delbarton School will serve as an enduring and exemplary model of Benedictine Catholic education and Catholic social teaching for the entire Delbarton community and the wider local Church.
Objectives: To realize this goal, Delbarton School will...
n Recruit and retain faculty and staff who actively support and advance the Benedictine Catholic identity and mission.
n Following the Benedictine Hallmark of Hospitality, we enable students of all faiths to grow in spiritual awareness through participation in service, retreats and worship.
n Establish explicit and ongoing faith formation programs informed by our Benedictine Hallmarks and defined behavioral expectations for faculty and staff
n Foster an introduction to monastic life to current students and young alumni.
n Set clear parameters for what diversity means at Delbar ton, to ensure that DEIB goals are congruent with Catholic faith and morals.
n Recruit and retain a critical mass of Catholic students and staff who actively support and advance Delbarton’s Benedictine Catholic identity and mission.
Domain 4 Enrollment
Strategic Goal: Delbarton School will attract, enroll, and retain a diverse population of qualified students to achieve and maintain accessibility and opportunity in a lifetime brotherhood to which students and families aspire to belong.
Objectives: To realize this goal, Delbarton School will...
n Consider outcomes beyond college placement to include the formation of the whole student and lifelong experience.
n Expand the idea of the Delbar ton Brotherhood to people and ideas beyond the campus.
n Define “diversity” at Delbarton.
n Increase diversity of faculty and staff.
n Enhance marketing and communications’ messaging to more accurately represent the Delbar ton experience, both during enrollment and beyond.
n Evaluate the current financial aid distribution and eligibility model so that financial aid can be better used as a strategic enrollment and retention tool.
n Look to the needs of our student body beyond tuition.
n Examine the accessibility of the application process (e g , application, testing, timeline, etc.).
n Broaden our inquiry and application pool to ensure the most diverse and qualified student body to widen the top of the admissions funnel.
Delbarton
Domain 5 Facilities
Strategic Goal: The strategic goal is ensuring that Delbarton stays at the forefront of facilities and technology, and that we maintain and build facilities that are capable of supporting Delbarton’s mission, providing the best overall experience to the students, faculty, and the greater community under its tutelage.
Objectives: To realize this goal, Delbarton School will...
n Continue developing the Delbar ton Campus Master Plan with a view towards renovating and renewing Old Main and the Science Pavilion.
n Develop a capital expenditure and asset management plan to maintain Delbarton’s facilities at a high level of mission effectiveness.
n Continue developing the Delbarton Campus Master Plan with a view towards providing as many on campus facilities for students and athletes as possible in a new Student Center.
n Continue developing the Delbarton Campus Master Plan with a view towards adding parking to accommodate campus needs while maintaining its bucolic environs.
Domain 6 Finance
Strategic Goal: Delbarton will pursue long-term operating self-sufficiency with an emphasis on targeted endowment growth and a formal commitment to clear financial policies, including disciplined cost control, mission-aligned tuition management and long-term capital planning.
Objectives: To realize this goal, Delbarton School will...
n Educate and engage constituents on the role of the Delbar ton’s endowment and its ability to help Delbarton achieve its goals relative to its peers.
n Work to minimize the current tuition gap and increase our ability to meet all students’ financial aid needs throughout their time as Delbarton’s students
n Affirm our commitment to financial transparency by formalizing Delbarton’s operating reserve and endowment spending policies, and a commitment to long-term full cost capital planning.
n Analyze and affirm enrollment goals and optimize class size (students per classroom)
Domain 7 Governance
Strategic Goal: Delbarton School will initiate a conversation with the St. Mary’s Abbey monastic community to develop and propose a governing structure that maintains the Benedictine mission, and the advancement and sustainability of the institution in response to current and future challenges within the universe of independent Catholic schools.
Objectives: To realize this goal, Delbarton School will...
n Ensure continued infusion of Benedictine values and traditions in the School by the Head of School by identifying best-in-class Head of School succession planning drawn from the experience of other independent Catholic schools.
n Convene a task force of the Board of Regents to dialogue with the monastic community regarding the most appropriate governance model for Delbar ton School that will advance the School’s Benedictine Catholic mission and sustain the monastic community
n Ensure the Board of Regents has been regularly trained and educated in the Hallmarks of a Benedictine School.
n Review governing documents to ensure decision making authority is well documented and appropriately communicated to all constituencies, and establish a process to review practices to ensure they are consistent with the governance structure and documents.
Delbarton
Domain 8 Student Life, Community Belonging and Diversity
Strategic Goal: Delbarton School will develop a community-wide approach to narrow differing degrees of Belonging in order to strengthen the Delbarton Brotherhood.
Objectives: To realize this goal, Delbarton School will...
n Developamulti-facetedinstitutionaltoolfortheidentificationandassessment of student well-being and their sense of Belonging in Delbarton School.
n Deepenitsunderstandingandresponseto student stress indicators through enhanced programming beneficial to student well-being.
n Improve and enhance communication about the Catholic foundation in Catholic Social Teaching ofexistingCommunityBelongingandDiversity work,andencouragecommunitywide collaboration to address concerns and misunderstandings around these topics.
n Developacommunity-wideapproachtounderstandingourparticular Community Belonging and Diversity needs, goals and vision.
Our Foundation WE BELIEVE
n That God calls us into this community.
n That community life forges character, integrity, and respect for all.
n That God works with us and through us, inviting us into a deeper relationship with Him.
n That conversation and reflection foster personal growth
n In selflessly serving our neighbor and honoring the accomplishments of one another.
n In the power of love to help us realize our Godgiven potential.
n In the importance of seeking truth, beauty, goodness, wisdom, and justice.
n In the strength of our Brotherhood.
n In Succisa Virescit: “Once cut down, one will grow back stronger.”
n That here, we belong.
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PROFILE GRADUATE
At commencement, a Delbarton graduate embarks on a lifelong journey of conversatio (conversion of life) by living out the Hallmarks of a Delbarton Benedictine education.
A Delbarton graduate is…
Glorifies God in All Things
He seeks God in an active spiritual life, through personal prayer and participation in the life of his religious community.
Love of God & Neighbor and Prayer & Worship
Loves Learning
He is passionate about learning for a lifetime. He thinks critically, works diligently, lives with a sense of purpose, and seeks to acquire, create and communicate knowledge and ideas.
Discipline and Work
Listens with the Ear of His Heart
He honors Christ’s presence in others through active listening, engages in critical self-reflection and acts with integrity and honor in all aspects of his life.
Listening and Obedience
Demonstrates Humility and Patience
He displays resilience, handles adversity with grace, and demonstrates empathy in his relationships.
Moral & Spiritual Development and Humility
Lives Honorably in his Community
He honors Christ’s presence in others by upholding the dignity of all people. He serves the common good in his communities, particularly among those in need.
Community & Stability, and Hospitality
Regards Creation as Sacred and Practices Moderation
He stewards Creation and cares for his common home. He uses the resources entrusted to him for the good of others as much as for himself.
Stewardship
Delbarton
Thank you to all in the Delbarton community who contributed time and talent to our Strategic Plan process. We are very grateful for your participation!
