Dear Drew Community,
On Wednesday, we came together for FutureFest to celebrate something that has been a long time in the making — Drew’s Strategic Plan: 2026 and Beyond. Built for What’s Next.
To everyone who joined us, thank you. It was wonderful to see students, families, faculty and staff, alumni families, trustees, and friends of Drew together—not only celebrating where Drew is now, but imagining where we can go next.
Throughout the evening, we spent some time looking backward before we looked ahead. We thought about how much the world has changed in the past 10 years, and even since many of us were in high school. And then we asked a much harder—and much more interesting—question: What might the next 10 years bring?
We don't know exactly what that future will look like. That is precisely the point. Our responsibility isn't to predict the future for our students, but to prepare them to enter it with urgent optimism–with curiosity, confidence, adaptability, purpose, and the belief that they can help shape what comes next.
That thinking is at the heart of Drew’s Strategic Plan: 2026 and Beyond, which I am so excited to officially share with you.
This plan reflects more than a year of listening, learning, questioning, and imagining together. Students, faculty and staff, families, alumni, trustees, and members of our broader community shared their experiences, perspectives, and hopes as we asked what our students will need in the years ahead—and what must remain unmistakably Drewalong the way.
I am deeply grateful to the members of our Strategic Planning Steering Committee and Board of Trustees, whose thoughtfulness and care helped turn questions and possibilities into a plan for Drew’s future.
What emerged is ambitious and forward-looking, but also deeply rooted in who we have always been. We know and believe in teenagers.
We know that the future is deeply human. Young people flourish when they are truly known, when a teacher sees what is possible in them, and when they are challenged to stretch beyond what they thought they could do. At Drew, strong relationships and high expectations go hand in hand, giving students the confidence and support to take meaningful intellectual risks, wrestle with complex questions, and grow.
Our plan builds on that foundation through three interconnected goals: Future-Ready Students, Learning without Walls, and Planning with Purpose. Together, they represent one promise: an education that develops the whole human and prepares every student for what’s next.
Through these goals, we will deepen academic challenge and hold high expectations for what our students can accomplish; extend learning beyond the walls of a traditional classroom; and plan thoughtfully and sustainably so Drew can continue evolving for generations of students to come.
Most importantly, this plan isn't meant to sit on a shelf. The work has already begun. This year, our students and faculty will engage more deeply in future thinking—from professional learning with the Institute for the Future and Institute for Global Learning to student dialogue, exploration of future careers, and opportunities to identify signals of change, question assumptions, consider multiple possible futures, and connect what they see on the horizon of choices and actions they can take today.
Preparing students for the future doesn't mean chasing every new technology or trying to predict what comes next. It means asking them to think deeply, embrace complexity, connect ideas across disciplines, and apply their learning to questions without easy answers. And it means giving young people the skills and confidence not just to meet change, but to help shape it.
That is the Drew I know. A school built for teenagers. Defined by high expectations and intellectual discovery. Powered by relationships. Rooted in our city and connected to the world.
And ready for what’s next.
Thank you to everyone who helped us arrive at this moment. I hope you'll spend some time with the plan, see yourself and our community reflected in it, and feel as optimistic as I do about the future we're building together.
Sincerely,
Saya Mckenna
Head of School
.jpg&command_2=resize&height_2=85 "Alumna Spotlight: Zuzana Licko ‘79")
