Crafting Experiences That Foster Community Connections
It was very exciting to share the updated mission and vision statements with all of you when we unveiled our new strategic plan earlier this fall.
Mission
The Ellis School educates girls and young women to become bold, authentic, and intellectually vibrant changemakers.
Vision
We are a leader in developing girls and young women who tussle creatively and boldly with real-world problems and who are ready, excited, and committed to making a positive change in the world. We focus the school’s programming on prioritizing our girls’ growth around four key pillars:
- to be forces for positive change in the world—completely undeterred by challenging situations and experts at finding creative solutions to difficult problems
- to be secure and confident in themselves, with a clear sense of what they value and strong voices with which to speak up for themselves and others
- to be caring, empathetic individuals with real integrity, cultural competency, and an ability to make authentic, meaningful connections in a diverse world
- to be genuinely curious and intellectually ambitious, delighted by learning, and equipped with all the skills necessary to be successful, independent, life-long learners
It’s been particularly exciting this year to watch our faculty create one experience after another that build connections with our larger Pittsburgh community—experiences that open our girls’ eyes to challenges in our neighborhood and surrounding area, introductions to individuals who are making a real difference in tackling those challenges, and opportunities for our students to do their own creative problem solving as they explore age-appropriate ways to have an impact themselves.
Whether it be our youngest students doing environmental projects in Frick Park, our Middle School girls considering city planning issues in Pittsburgh, or our juniors developing prototypes to address client problems in their engineering class, Ellis students are connecting with and having a real impact on the larger world around them. I believe these are some of the most important kinds of experiences our students have—the kinds that build their confidence in their own ability, and desire, to make a real difference in their world.
