Welcome to the 2021-22 school year at Shorecrest!

We have had a busy summer here on campus with lots of activity in the Admissions Office, and the completion of construction on our facilities as we successfully conclude the Transform campaign. 

Facing forward into the new school year, it will be an exciting year of renewal, of coming together and strengthening our sense of community. In fact, the importance of independent schools has never been more clear than it is today. Why?

We get to define our Mission and Core Values, and state what is important to us. 

We live our values. 

We create our own culture 

And everything that we do is scaffolded by our Mission and those Core Values. 

The four pillars of our mission clearly state our priorities:

We intentionally create a culture that emphasizes:

In addition, we live and we teach our Core Values:

Everything that we do at Shorecrest is scaffolded by our Mission and Core Values. Our purpose and our code of conduct can be summarized by our Mission and Core Values. 

A key indicator of the health of an independent school is its enrollment. Shorecrest’s enrollment is incredibly robust and has exceeded our expectations. Opening Day Enrollment stands at 1000 students for the 2021-22 school year. We are slated to start the school year with the most new students ever at Shorecrest – 194. Attrition was also lower than anticipated, with 91.3% of possible students returning, a retention rate that is above the NAIS average of 88%  and is higher than Shorecrest has experienced in recent years. 

It is interesting to note that this year, we have new students entering in every grade and equally distributed among the school divisions. We are welcoming new families from all over the United States and the world! 

Families have moved to the area from states including Alabama, California, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia. Internationally, new families are joining Shorecrest from: Australia, Bermuda, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, England, Russia and Turkey. (Please let us know if we have missed your hometown!) 

Here on campus, the changes in the school’s facilities over the summer are noteworthy. The new Weiss Family Pavilion provides a large outdoor space for learning and performing; it is so impressive in the way that the architecture harmonizes with Charger Commons. If you haven’t had a chance to visit the completed second floor of Charger Commons, I urge you to stop by and take a look. The space and décor are breathtaking. Large airy classroom spaces, the spaciousness of the library, robotics room and makerspaces, a new community room along with beautiful rooms for TLC and ample offices for the Advancement and Business Office. If you would like a formal tour, please contact Michael Gillis. 

The refresh of the Raymund Center, which formerly housed Haskell Library, is also exciting. It is my new home, where I sit with a glorious view of the campus landscape. The entrance to the building has been flipped, and visitors enter on the opposite side of the building into a renovated Admissions Office. The Raymund Center now includes two large classrooms for Lower School Spanish, a new Lower School music room, spaces for Marketing / Communications, Helping Hands and meeting rooms, along with soft seating for students to socialize. Over 63 classroom and office moves took place this summer, and there is a real sense of excitement that our facilities truly embody the sense of community that defines Shorecrest.   

Of course, we continue to navigate the challenges of educating our students with the realities of COVID-19. Please know that our goal remains intact: to keep students learning in a safe and healthy environment, in person, on campus, and with as little disruption as possible. With the guidance and recommendations from the Health & Safety Task Force, we continue to seek the best pathway forward for Shorecrest.

 

Once again, we are thrilled to welcome you back to campus in person. Looking ahead, if you are interested in setting up a time to meet with me, I would be delighted to do so, to get to know you and your hopes and dreams for your child. Please send me an email and we can start that process right away.

 

I look forward to a productive and successful new school year as we embark on our journey #ShorecrestTogether.

 

All the best,

Nancy