Click here for September 2011 Board Meeting Minutes

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HMS Board Bulletin
March 1, 2011

Welcome to Hilltop’s first ever Board Bulletin! This has been a long time coming, and we have a lot of news to share. We promise that future updates will be more frequent and correspondingly less lengthy!

The HMS Board of Trustees has been busy this year creating new structures that are designed to help the board run more efficiently and with greater transparency. The board has adapted the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) Principles of Good Practice for the Board of Directors and for Individual Trustees; has created several standing Board Committees that actively seek involvement from the HMS community; and has created a formal nominating protocol for board membership. We are also committed to reporting on board activities through a monthly newsletter, like this one —only shorter!

In this issue of the Board Bulletin, we will highlight the main activities of our Board Committees. Serving on the HMS board or on one of its various committees is a great way to offer your professional expertise, experience, and time to Hilltop. To find out more about the changes in the board structure, the board committees, and the nominating protocol, please visit the new Volunteer Opportunities tab on the HMS website or drop by the Hilltop lobby to review the packet of board materials, or contact any of the Committee on Trustees members listed below.

Please note that two committees are actively seeking additional members:

• Finance Committee. To learn more, contact Toby or Bruce Fenn ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 258-9176)
• Family Music Festival sub-committee. Help plan fun on-campus music festival for June 11, 2011. To learn more, contact Marc Bonneau (802-380-5455, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) or Stacey Hiler (254-2764, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )

Board Committee Work (Sept 2010 - Feb 2011)

The Committee on Trustees

Patrick Keppel, chair, Kate Jellema, Temple Peterson, Toby Welch (ex officio)

The Committee on Trustees was created to review board operations and recruitment practices, in fulfillment of the Strategic Plan charge that the board examine how it can function more efficiently and transparently. The Committee identified three main areas of reform: (1) the need to create a Board Committee Structure not only to help the board function more efficiently but also to act as a kind of ‘proving ground’ for eventual board membership; (2) the need for a clear and public Nominating Protocol that can help create more focused and purposeful matches between needed skill-sets and potential candidates and can educate them about their responsibilities, expectations, and roles as board members; and (3) the need to identify skill-sets and personal attributes (both ongoing and for specific purposes) that will allow the board to function efficiently and to meet its current goals.

The Committee recommended that the board (1) formally constitute the Buildings and Grounds Committee to round out our official list of standing board committees; (2) provisionally charge any of our other board committees (Executive, Development) now lacking a charter, using the language drawn up by NAIS, and appoint a board member as Chair; and (3) establish a committee reporting system, with an eye toward reducing the number of full board meetings and using a ‘consent agenda’ model to streamline action on agenda items that do not require discussion or focused energy. The full board voted to accept these recommendations.

The Committee then created a new Nominating Protocol and timetable for nomination, the goal of which is to make the process easier and less mysterious and also, importantly, more transparent and open. Prospective candidates will have much more information up front as to how the board functions and how their skills fit and can thus take a more an active and informed role in their candidacy. Also, as the in-house candidates will likely have already served the school either on one of the board committees, sub-committees, or in a school association, they will already have a fairly good idea of how the board functions. Another advantage of this protocol is that it will help us identify candidates who have skill-sets that are particularly useful to the HMS board.

The Committee adapted the NAIS Principles of Good Practice for the Board of Directors and Individual Trustees and developed a list of attributes and specific skill sets our board needs generally (ongoing) and specifically (for current or upcoming projects). The board decided it would always seek out candidates with demonstrated skill or experience in Law, Finance, Development/Fundraising, Contracting/Architecture, Education, Administration/Organization, and Community Connection. Ideally these skill-sets would be represented by board members at various term stages, something the Committee on Trustees was charged to manage. However, it’s important to note that these are recommendations and not quotas; the board will always try to recruit excellent candidates regardless of its specific skill-set needs.

Having created a new committee structure, adapted the NAIS Principles of Good Practice for Boards, and established a clear nomination protocol, the Committee needed to create a new communication infrastructure. The Committee created a new volunteer tab on the HMS website on which to post the new board activities and committed themselves to posting monthly board bulletins to keep the HMS community abreast of board activities. A few candidates have already started the process to becoming HMS board members.

Development Committee

Melany Kahn (co-chair), Kate Jellema (co-chair), Marc Bonneau, Lynn Cohan, Judy Robinson, Anne Weinberg, Lissa Weinmann, Toby Welch (ex officio)

At its May 2010 meeting, the Board approved the creation of a Development Committee, to report periodically to the Board. This committee was charged with overseeing and advising on the school’s overall fundraising activities. Our most important task is to set development policies, priorities and goals for each fiscal year which are in accord with Hilltop’s budgetary needs and strategic plan goals.

This is the largest Board committee, with 7 parent members plus Toby. In addition, we have many sub-committees, each of which has additional members: Annual Fund, Snowflake Auction, Tag Sale and Music Festival. The Music Festival sub-committee is actively seeking a couple more dedicated people to join the planning team.

In our initial meetings over the summer, we developed a yearlong fundraising plan. We also had a special educational session on Hilltop finances with Bruce Fenn, the Board Treasurer.

The committee decided to focus our attention this year on building a strong Annual Fund, with a goal of increasing participation throughout the community. We also put several fundraising and outreach events on the calendar: a holiday auction (December), a tag sale (May) and a family music festival (June). The music festival is a new event scheduled for June 11, the day after middle school graduation, with the primary goal of bringing people from the community up to enjoy our setting. All these fundraiser events have their own subcommittee, some of which have non-board chairs.

After much deliberation, the committee recommended to the board that the school not organize a spring auction this fiscal year, for 3 reasons: a gala event did not seem like a good match for these economic times, an auction held in town would not bring people up to campus, and without any staff support for development, we felt it would stretch our volunteer resources far too thinly.

The Annual Fund sub-committee created a hugely successful Annual Fund Week in October, raising an unprecedented amount of money (nearly $20,000) but more importantly, achieving an astounding 98% participation from the parent body, as well as 100% participation from the Board and nearly perfect participation from faculty and staff. The feedback was positive; people said the event was fun, engaging, convenient, and educational. Many said they learned for the first time the purpose of the annual fund and the fundraising significance of 100% participation.

After completing Annual Fund Week with the focus on the current school committee, the sub-committee developed a special campaign for grandparents. We kicked it off with a great Grandparents & Special Friends Day right before Thanksgiving. During that event, the Committee began to collect emails/data to enhance communication with grandparents and friends, gave out packets of HMS materials for the first time to visitors, had roving photographers in every classroom, and had a special session with Toby for all visitors. Word was that grandparents and friends felt well taken care of and that Hilltop left a good impression. We followed up in December with a special grandparent issue of Moments. In early February, we sent out a Valentine’s Day appeal. There has been a positive response to the Valentine mailing so far; people seemed to have been pleased to receive it, and we have already been receiving contributions as a result.

As the third and final phase of its work this year, the Annual Fund sub-committee plans to appeal to alumni/alumni parents and special friends throughout the spring.

The Snowflake Auction (December) was also a success, raising $2000 and transforming the lobby in a beautifully decorated festive, holiday spirit and concluding with a holiday caroling and cookie party on Friday Dec 17. The party was designed to increase the foot traffic through the lobby from all programs to experience the auction and perhaps even to start a tradition of holiday gathering for Hilltop families to mingle with teachers, staff, and other families.

As of February 9,we have raised $27,711 towards our $40,000 goal. Even though the school opted to forego the large auction event this year, we are hopeful that the spring events will help us reach this goal.

Other ongoing work: Cultivating, stewarding and thanking donors is one of the most rewarding aspects of work on the Development Committee.  In addition, over the next year, the Committee would like to:

• put together an advisory committee of grandparents;
• create a grants subcommittee;
• start a dialogue about the Capital Campaign for the barn renovation;
• initiate work on Hilltop sweatshirts and other merchandise;
• improve our alumni outreach;
• make renovations to the website to improve the Giving section; and
• participate in conversations about plans to mark the school’s upcoming 40th anniversary.

Building and Grounds Committee

Temple Peterson, Leland Smith, Nathan Rupard, Nora Gordon (ex officio), Toby Welch (ex officio)

One ongoing issue the Building and Grounds Committee has been exploring if we may be able to use the barn after all, even as we await a capital campaign to develop it further. The Fire Marshall has informed us that we only need to make some minor fixes and must close off the second floor to create a useable indoor recreation space. 

A rough estimate is that for $75,000 the space could be fully functional: adding bathrooms, bringing the space up to fire codes, and tidying up the electrical system, painting. The school could then use the space for indoor PE, yoga meetings, auction, kitchen, storage, etc. Note: This space will not be a gym, and the second floor still won’t be usable.

The challenge would be hooking up mechanicals, water and sewer, but the Committee believes the work could be done by a local contractor.

Note that this phase would not preclude barn renovation; rather it would be part of a five-year plan that allows us to use the property now but also keeps the larger vision in sight.

In December the Committee presented the Engineer’s report (subs to Breadloaf) on the barn from 3/5/08. The report presents designs on how the barn was built and gives several options to rehab or rebuild, arranged from least expensive to most expensive.

The Committee will price the first two options, which involve reinforcing the framing to get a Certificate of Occupancy for public safety. Because of the public safety codes we will need to hire an architect; Stevens and Associates do not do this sort of work.

Phase I of the rehab would be to remove the columns and tidy up the framing for public safety passage. Phase 2 would be to blow out the walls and reclaim the lounge and garden shed spaces.

Other Building and Grounds projects and issues:

• Toby and Nora are working on a master site plan to be completed by the end of the year.
• Nora is working on a maintenance log and schedule and is assessing the need for updating some furnishings.
• Temple is developing a contact list of emergency numbers and a list of parent resources and skills.
• The nap room floor in the Children’s House is not laid properly, so we will need to take the floor up and put it back down correctly, trimmed out with thresholds. This work could be done using volunteers.
• The roof of original farmhouse is at the end of its lifespan. There is some damage on roof shingles, because of the snowload bowing the sheathing. Re-framing will help. Temple recommended looking at standing seam metal, although architectural shingles would be cheaper.

Other repairs/maintenance the Committee has been working on include: (1) Acoustic panels for primary classrooms; (2) a coat of paint for the barn; (3) leaking skylights on shed roof; (4) boat house demolition or rehab; and (5) water system review (at present, usage creates pressure drops).

Strategic Planning Committee

Denise Paasche, Patrick Keppel, Melany Kahn, Leland Smith, Helen Cornman, Dan Filer, Jessica Turner, Kevin Campbell (thru 6/10), Toby Welch (began 8/10), Steve Phillips (began 9/10), Steve Procter (consultant)

The Strategic Planning process came to a successful close this year. In October, the Committee reported that some of the Strategic Plan goals are already being addressed or even have been achieved, because our process has worked to clarify our goals and interests. Also, in response to board concerns, approximate money values for goals had been added to the Plan, as had a section on development.

Starting in September, Toby was brought into the process. One of his concerns was to understand if we had the resources (time, people, and money) to make this plan work. So as an exercise, the Committee created tables of goals and ranked these goals. Faculty goals were included; e.g, revising the whole school curriculum.

Toby pointed out that looking at the Strategic Plan and its 31 goals from a feasibility standpoint is daunting. He wondered if maybe we should we look at extending the plan, creating a much lower number of goals in phase one. Could we have wider target capital campaign to fund the strategic plan? A number of goals were consolidated or left out because they had already been fully completed.

Board members shared his concerns and noted that we will need to settle the question of whether we can afford to have a full-time development director, because to tackle some of the more expensive parts of this plan we are certainly going to need to strengthen development. This discussion will take place during the budget review in April.

The board recommended that Toby pull out the day-to-day operational goals, and then pull out the more daunting goals, and look at them differently. If the goals are ranked in terms of cost vs. perceived benefit, then the ranking will fall out quickly. Also, Toby was asked to determine what he is passionate about and what he would emphasize in he first two years. He should identify goals that are achievable in the short term and bring those to successful completion. Doing so could help energize the community to support the more daunting projects.

The Committee reminded the board that the Strategic Plan is not etched in stone; it is a roadmap and can change as circumstances change. Many of the goals were already being worked on, so it was recommended that the board approve the plan in order to keep things moving.

In November, the final draft of the Strategic Plan was approved.

In January, Toby presented his priorities for the Strategic Plan, as noted on the Strategic Plan Committee’s priority ranking grid. These priority lists will also be used in the evaluation of Head and to set yearly agendas. Here is the Toby Top Ten:

• review communication vehicles;
• explore the creation of a foreign language program;
• review the administration structure;
• develop a whole-school curriculum map;
• review the assessment of faculty and administration;
• create a facilities plan;
• review after school and summer programming;
• review financial aid;
• create parent education curriculum; and
• board re-structuring.

Finance Committee

Bruce Fenn, Allan Stewart, Stacey Hiler (ex officio), Toby Welch (ex officio)

The Finance Committee welcomes Allan Stewart back to the committee. We are still looking for new members with skills in general business management and in salary and benefit administration.

This year the Finance Committee has looked at the school’s insurance to be sure we are covered correctly and that costs are in line. We have also spent time on a 5-year projection and have discussed tuition increases for next year and into the future. We are now looking at next year's budget and what challenges or opportunities it holds for us.

Diversity Committee

Denise Paasche, Bruce Berg, Toby Welch (parent, faculty, and staff members not yet determined)

In November and December, the board discussed the need to more formally address the issue of diversity at Hilltop. It was noted that the NAIS offers many useful resources and documents regarding diversity, and many other schools have a diversity statement on their websites as part of an official policy. The most sophisticated statements (e.g., that of Lexington Montessori School) are tied specifically to the school’s mission and to the Montessori philosophy and are stated positively; e.g., the language promotes the building of a multicultural school, respecting the individuality of each child, creating a cooperative community, working to explore difference among us and in the world, etc. These statements also take a broad view of diversity that includes differences in family structure, socio-economic level, culture, age, etc.The goal is “to create an environment where each person freely brings his or her whole self to school each day, comfortable that every individual will be honored and protected” (LMS Diversity Statement). There was also a concern that Hilltop’s Harassment and Bullying policies needed to be reviewed and updated, and that how these policies would be enforced in the event of an incident needed to be studied for each program level.

As a result, in December the board created an ad hoc Committee on Diversity charged to review Hilltop’s current policies on diversity issues and to propose changes and/or to suggest additional policies and procedures surrounding diversity issues.

In January, Denise and Toby reported that they had done some preliminary work, reviewing some existing diversity statements. At its February meeting, the Board approved the following charge for the new Diversity Committee:

Structure of the Diversity Committee:

The charge of this ad hoc committee is to make recommendations to the HMS board and Head of School. This committee will be comprised of trustees, faculty, administrators, and parents and will meet monthly starting this spring and continuing until mid-fall 2011, when the committee will recommend if a standing committee is desired.