New Healey Director to Lead Establishment of Six School Boards in Archdiocese of Boston

December 5, 2019

Six schools in the Archdiocese of Boston will be among those launching and developing Boards of Specified Jurisdiction via the Healey Education Foundation’s new learning and mentoring network in 2020. Chris Martin, Director of Schools, who joined the Healey Education Foundation in September, will guide the lay-empowered Boards as they focus on their schools’ sustainability through effective visioning and strategic planning, financial management, enrollment management, development and marketing.  

Our Lady of the Assumption (Lynnfield) is one of six schools in the Archdiocese of Boston cohort that will implement a Board of Specified Jurisdiction.

The six schools are:

  • Mission Grammar School (Roxbury)
  • Our Lady of the Assumption School (Lynnfield)
  • St. Mary of the Assumption School (Brookline)
  • St. Mary of the Hills School (Milton)
  • St. Theresa of Avila School (West Roxbury)
  • St. Theresa of the Child Jesus School (Somerville)

Financial support for this initiative to strengthen and reposition Catholic elementary schools for long-term sustainability and growth will be through a collaboration between the Archdiocese and the Healey Education Foundation. Martin, who has been meeting regularly with school leaders, will continue to aid in their hiring of advancement and admission staff and in the naming of chairs and key committee heads to start-up Boards.

Sharing the School’s Vision and Value

Martin is also managing the Comprehensive Assessment phase for an in-depth look at each partner school’s family experience, student achievement and fiscal results. This phase, which will draw on the expertise and support of various members of the Healey team, will include a market analysis and review of the school’s current enrollment management, development and board governance practices. The Comprehensive Assessment report equips the Board of Specified Jurisdiction with insights and recommendations to establish the school’s value proposition and strategic direction.

“As long as parents are handing over hard-earned dollars to Catholic schools for their child’s education, our schools must make the case that it is worth it.” — Christine Healey, President, Healey Education Foundation

Introducing The Baker Group

Martin has built relationships with each of the Foundation’s Boston-based partner schools as he looks to bring Healey practices into the work of delivering on their missions and visions. “Meeting the principals, staff and, most importantly, students has reinforced for me how important our partnership with the Boston Catholic Schools Office truly is for the future of Catholic schools,” Martin said. “I’m delighted and honored to learn from these schools, especially as we aim to highlight and build upon their strengths. We’re also bringing in the expertise of other passionate partners like Chris Baker and The Baker Group to ensure we give all students in the surrounding communities an opportunity to attend academically strong Catholic schools.”

Read more about The Baker Group and The 6 Essential & Interconnected Enrollment Management Functions. Healey Education Foundation welcomes Christine Baker, President and Founder of The Baker Group, as a consultant member of its team in assessing and advising six schools in the Archdiocese of Boston.

Christine Hailer Baker, President and Founder of The Baker Group, will work with the schools as a consultant member of the Healey team. The Baker Group helps shift community thinking around enrollment and underscores the critical role everyone plays in reaching enrollment goals, by integrating research, admissions practices, financial aid strategies, retention and marketing.   

“We’re pleased to be collaborating with such a highly regarded authority on enrollment management for private schools in the United States,” said Christine Healey. “We could say she ‘wrote the book,’ but in fact she was a partial author and editor.” (Among many accomplishments, Chris Baker edited The Enrollment Management Handbook, an NAIS-sponsored guide for Trustees, Heads of School and Admission Officers who want to know more about Enrollment Management.)

“As long as Catholic schools are accepting tuition, they should look to best practices from the private independent school sector to understand the 2020 parent consumer,” Healey continued. “The school’s value is not just made in the first year of enrollment, but every year the school must demonstrate the case for a positive student-centered experience based on academic excellence and Catholic values.”

Baker has dedicated her professional career to that very practice. As a Catholic and graduate of Boston College she welcomes the opportunity to share what she knows will strengthen the future of Catholic schools. She also is an active member of her parish, St. Mary’s Catholic Church, in Holliston, MA.

“Growing up I attended many different schools as my family moved around. However, I will never forget my year in fourth grade at Sacred Heart School in Hampton, New Hampshire,” she shared. “As I was preparing to leave, Sister Joan gave me a little statue of the Blessed Mother. Many years later that piece still sits on my dresser, a reminder of what Catholic education means to me. I am thrilled to be partnering with the Healey Education Foundation to bring strong enrollment management strategies to the Catholic schools of Boston.”