Connected Through
People
Nobles is anchored in its people. Lifelong connections among classmates and faculty are a hallmark of our history. However, spikes in the cost of living in the Boston area, with housing and childcare among the most expensive in the country, could make enrolling at Nobles unattainable for many families and choosing a career at Nobles untenable for many educators. We are dedicated to bridging these gaps to ensure we can continue to attract and support the people who make our community thrive.
2.1
Deepening Student Well-Being
Nobles has long believed that striving for excellence, building community, and promoting student well-being are inextricably linked and mutually reinforcing. Our school is established on a foundation of human connection and meaningful relationships. Students are surrounded by caring adults who know them well and offer support and guidance through important life moments.
Champion students thriving
Enhance student-centered well-being programs
Gather regular feedback from students and graduates to inform program evolution and stay relevant to meet evolving needs.
Conduct annual reviews of the faculty advising program to identify new ways to support student growth.
Align the Personal Development curriculum with core values and research-based practices.
Expand opportunities for students to take risks, learn from failure, and build resilience and a growth mindset.
Intentionally incorporate the natural campus landscape into wellness programming.
Continue to deepen equity, inclusion, and belonging practices across all student experiences as essential to community and personal well-being.
Draw upon research-based best practices to guide student skill development and family education.
Elevate the well-being impact of Afternoon Program
Leverage expertise in adolescent and sports psychology to enhance students’ physical, emotional, and social well-being.
Reexamine participation requirements to ensure all students engage in physical activity and develop healthy lifestyle habits.
Strengthen structures and support
Enhance the coordination of staffing
Audit the existing student support staffing structure—including nurses, counselors, faculty advisors, and other specialists—to improve collaboration and impact on students.
Leverage the reimagined Shattuck Schoolhouse to centralize and deepen student support systems.
Use research and data to drive progress
Apply national best practices to remain a leader in balancing student well-being with smart rigor.
Collect and analyze student data to identify meaningful trends and inform wellness programming.
Educate and empower adults
Provide sustained, mission-aligned training for faculty, staff, coaches, and advisors to champion student well-being.
Develop and implement an annual parent/guardian education program grounded in our mission and commitment to student well-being.
2.2
Investing in Affordability for Educators
Nobles recognizes the growing demands on faculty and staff, and sees an opportunity to reaffirm and elevate the teaching profession.
Expand support for employee housing
Increase on- and off-campus housing
Identify the ideal locations and scope of additional on- and off-campus housing.
Implement the phased development of additional housing while continually assessing the evolving needs of faculty and staff.
Determine a standard for campus housing
Create a housing policy to ensure an equitable rotation of access to school-provided housing.
Establish quality standards for on- and off-campus housing.
Commit to market-leading compensation
Establish salary targets
Ensure all faculty and staff are compensated within the top quartile based on regional and national benchmarks.
Continue to utilize local and national benchmarking groups for ongoing analysis.
Integrate strategies to ensure equitable compensation for all educators.
Incentivize mission-aligned work
Identify opportunities to intentionally direct compensation that reflects Nobles’ institutional vision, with a focus on early career teachers, multifaceted educators, and employees facing acute financial pressure.
Determine creative ways to support faculty and staff in balancing their multifaceted roles across school life.
Create mentorship pathways for emerging educators to become varsity program leaders.
Address employees’ financial strains
Evaluate opportunities to offset the extraordinary cost of childcare for employees.
Expand benefits to address healthcare, retirement, and other financial challenges.
1.3
Empowering Our Educators
Nobles will continue to attract, support, and retain the best educators. We will invest in employees at various stages of their personal and professional lives so that they can afford to commit to this meaningful career.
Invest in professional growth for faculty and staff
Examine hiring practices
Evaluate current hiring practices through the lens of industry best practices and a rubric for cultivating a thriving employee community.
Identify creative recruitment strategies to tap into non-traditional markets, recognizing the growing challenges in hiring educators.
Analyze retention practices
Study recent retention data for current and former employees, identifying themes and correlations to continue to invest in faculty and staff thriving.
Research best practices and implement creative solutions to further bolster employee retention.
Develop inspiring and transformative professional and personal growth opportunities
Research opportunities for educator exchanges with schools around the world.
Develop faculty and staff Experiential and Community Engagement Learning (EXCEL) trips.
Expand professional growth and collaboration opportunities for coaches.
Support faculty and staff well-being
Continue to invest in areas that offer a high quality of life connected to working at Nobles, identifying opportunities to boost morale.
Prioritize a robust healthcare support structure, including a wide variety of health insurance plan options and resources that support physical and mental well-being.
Evaluate ways to ensure all staff experience a full sense of belonging in the Nobles community.
Design a staff sabbatical program to recognize long-serving staff members.