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Character and Leadership Development
The number of schools that maintain character and leadership development as a priority equal to academic achievement are rare. Doane Academy is one of them. It is part of our tradition that dates back to Bishop Doane’s vision and mission when he founded St. Mary’s Hall for young women in 1837. It was his bold and innovative expectation that the school’s graduates would know more and be more than socialites who would properly dress and politely serve tea. He wanted to inspire and equip his graduates to take on the world. Most of the significant programmatic changes in recent years fall under a shift in the School’s traditional college preparatory mission. Character and leadership development have been elevated to a level of priority equal to the academic expectations. The academic and extra curricular requirements are now an integral part of the strategy to strengthen character and leadership development. Some specific changes/additions include:
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Almost every school in the country, public and private offers at least a conversation with students about the importance of character and leadership. It would be educationally and politically incorrect to do otherwise. With all of the pressures for academic achievement and standardized test performance, however, character and leadership are most often relegated to a lesser priority on the school agenda, except when there is some serious crisis or violation of the social contract.