Strategic Plan in Action
Work Begins on Campus Master Plan
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Establishing a campus master plan is one of St. Margaret's strategic plan goals for physical plant management, but given its potential impact on the school's future, it may as well be listed in every section of the strategic plan itself. "Some of the facilities changes we're beginning to consider could affect the nature of the residential program, for example, in very positive ways," said Headmistress Margaret R. Broad. "If we decided to move in the direction of smaller, more family-like dorms, it would foster community building, facilitate the co-curricular program, and contribute to faculty recruitment and retention, all of which are other important strategic goals." Mrs. Broad is quick to add that everything is still on the table at this point, from the simplest-dorm showerheads that are high enough to allow hair-washing-to the sublime-a campus cappuccino shop. The process began, however, with two firm decisions:  St. Margaret's will stay at its current riverfront location in Tappahannock St. Margaret's will not significantly increase its maximum enrollment"There are advantages to being our particular size, such as really knowing our students." Mrs. Broad said. "We want to solidify our position as a strong, small school." Since April, SMS has been working with The Blanchard Group of Richmond, a campus master planning firm that includes more than 40 other independent schools up and down the East Coast among its clients. The firm began its work by holding open discussions with SMS students, faculty, staff, and administrators to identify the current and potential relationships between the school's programs and facilities. Over a period of several weeks, the firm's principal, Jeff Blanchard, heard a wide variety of suggestions for facilities improvement, including: housing students in dormitory groups that are not much larger than the school's average class size, redesigning classrooms to promote flexible seating arrangements and easy use of technology, improving dorm, classroom, and office storage for students, faculty, and staff, and placing near each other people who frequently work together (e.g., student services staff, academic team members). Mr. Blanchard pointed out that many of these ideas may be a matter of better using or reconfiguring available space. Others may require renovation, restoration, or major construction, which is why the plan will prioritize facilities projects over a 10-year span. "We're at a wonderful juncture, where we can sit back and think very carefully about what we have, what we need, and what we can create to further strengthen our programs and support our mission," Mrs. Broad explained. Planning is continuing over the summer, as Blanchard Group staff tackle the tedious task of measuring existing spaces from wall to wall and floor to ceiling so they can compare current SMS room sizes to industry standards, such as square feet of classroom space per pupil. They then will generate several campus models for discussion. Models will take the expressed needs of the entire community into consideration and test a maximum enrollment of 165. The final plan is expected to be ready for presentation to the SMS Board of Governors at its January 2002 meeting. |
Saving B House is important not only to St. Margaret's, but also to the state and region. The structure typifies colonial Tidewater architecture and contains design elements that have not been as well preserved in other homes of the period. According to a history of the home written by former SMS English teacher Hannah Mallory Perkins '40, B House was the site of a near-riot protesting the Stamp Act in 1766. A cannonball fired by a British warship in 1814 hit the house and shattered the original parlor mantle. Later, after the end of the Civil War, the building housed a private school for girls. SMS acquired it in 1927 from a Brockenbrough descendant, Virginia Supreme Court Justice Joseph William Chinn.
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