Thayer Leadership Presents at Stanford University Conference

Head of School Chris Fortunato P ’26, ’28 and Associate Head of School Jed Wartman P ’30, ’32 traveled to the West Coast recently to attend the Challenge Success Conference at Stanford University. There, the two delivered a presentation to fellow educators detailing Thayer’s recent success in increasing student engagement. 

“It went great,” Wartman said of the 75-minute presentation, which was entitled “ENGAGEMENT is EVERYTHING: Strategies, Systems, and Structures for Moving the Needle” and offered as part of the two-day conference in early September. “We were well-received.” 

Thayer partners with Challenge Success, a nonprofit affiliated with the Stanford Graduate School of Education (Stanford GSE). At the conference Fortunato and Wartman discussed two Challenge Success student surveys conducted at Thayer, one in 2022 and the other in 2024, and the notable progress reflected in those surveys. Specifically, in 2024 Thayer’s percentage of full student engagement increased by 10% while national Challenge Success data stayed pretty much the same. 

“Our 10 percent growth was a wonderful anomaly,” said Wartman. 

Other positive trends found in Thayer’s most recent survey results include: a 10% decrease in consistent stress and worry among students; an 8% increase in student sense of belonging; and a 10% decrease in the number of students “doing school” — i.e., completing the work but finding no joy or value. The 2024 survey also indicated that 92% of Thayer students report having a trusted adult on campus. 

According to Wartman, Thayer has achieved these results by concentrating on three big areas: philosophy and policy; programming; and people. Drilling down a bit, Thayer has worked with Challenge Success on several initiatives including: expanded leadership and support roles; revised schedules to create more community time; a tweaked homework policy to make that activity more focused and meaningful; a new cell phone policy limiting phone use among students during the school day; the strengthening of student-teacher connections; and community-building programs such as the TA Talks program at the Upper School. 

“Relationships are one of the greatest factors in meaningful engagement,” Wartman said.