President's Report: Thinking Strategically

Recently we began a strategic planning process at Regis High School. We convened eight Task Teams and recruited approximately 15-18 people to each one. The chairs and co-chairs of each Task Team, along with the principal, board chair and me, make up the Steering Committee which is overseeing the process. Regis is being assisted in this process by the consulting firm CCS, under the direction of Regian Eric Javier ’94.

The Task Teams gathered for the first time on October 10 and after an opening prayer and welcome, I led the group through a PowerPoint presentation that provided current school information in each of the pertinent areas. Following an overview of the process by Mr. Javier, our new Director of Development James Kennedy ’02 made some closing comments and we sent the eight groups off to classrooms on the fourth floor to begin their deliberations.

The excitement in the room that evening was palpable. In addition to classmates connecting with friends or their former faculty members, everyone was excited to contribute to this process of planning where Regis should be headed as we look towards the second decade of our second century. The discussions that ensued were lively, profound, spirited, and some even confrontational—Regians tend to have strong feelings! It was wonderful.

In addition to the Task Teams, we held “Town Hall” meetings with various constituent groups—alumni, alumni parents, current parents, faculty and staff, and students. Fully aware that not everyone could possibly attend such a meeting, CCS formulated an e-survey to solicit input from our community far and wide. Over 3,000 people completed the e-survey.

The Task Teams will receive the input from the Town Hall meetings and the e-survey, and continue to meet through the fall, and then they will turn their work product over to the Steering Committee who will pull things together and present a plan to the Board of Trustees in the spring.

Where will this all go? That’s a great question! I don’t really know. I started by saying that we are not questioning our mission statement which has been recently ratified by the Board, and so all discussions should begin with the assumption that our mission as a Catholic, all-scholarship school for boys who demonstrate superior intellectual and leadership potential—with a preference for those who could not otherwise afford a Catholic education—remains in place.

I am confident that this process of strategic thinking will strengthen who we are at Regis as we consider an environment that has changed in innumerable ways over the last century.

In this edition of the Regis Magazine, we provide you with our annual report as we thank all those members of our community who have generously supported our mission over the last year. One of the key elements of our environment that has changed over the last century is the way Regis is funded. The generosity of the Foundress and her family, which had a lasting impact, has come to an end, and we now depend on the generosity of you. I thank you for your support—at a record level last year—and I humbly ask for it again. We are able to do what we do, including the remarkable work of REACH which you will read about in the supplement, because so many believe in our mission. Thank you.

For all the ways that you support our mission and make us stronger, I am very grateful.

Be assured of my prayers for you and your families.


Daniel K. Lahart, SJ
President