The Campaign Priorities
A Faculty That is All In
$75 Million
Everything we hope for our students rests on the strength and renewal of our faculty.
A faculty that is “all in” knows that human connection transforms lives. This knowledge propels Deerfield faculty to create and nurture meaningful relationships with students across all areas of campus life: in the classroom, of course, where we seek to inspire a deep and enduring love of learning, but also on the playing fields, in the art studio, in the dorm, and at the sit-down table.
Our faculty work collaboratively to achieve the Academy’s mission. This level of adult engagement is the foundation of everything we do at Deerfield, because we know, from decades of experience and research across disparate fields, that young people flourish when faculty are fully present in their lives and committed to relationships of trust, challenge, and wise mentorship. That is the professional standard we expect and celebrate—and that our campaign will support.
We will make significant investments in our faculty, even as the high-engagement, all-in model erodes elsewhere. The kind of learning and engagement that we value is impossible without first creating the conditions, and then sustaining the relationships, that allow young people to thrive.
Goals
- To ensure that Deerfield has the best residential boarding faculty in the United States and establish an industry-leading approach to faculty compensation, benefits, recruitment, retention, and pedagogy;
- To increase salaries for mid- and late-career faculty;
- To move closer to fully endowing our commitment to salaries; currently, approximately one third of faculty expenses are endowed;
- To endow positions, including Head of School, Dean of Faculty, Director of Athletics, and the Director of the Center for Global and Civic Engagement;
- To provide robust support for sabbaticals;
- To support our existing commitment to childcare; and,
- To ensure that we can offer full tuition remission for the children of faculty and staff who attend Deerfield.
“At Deerfield, academic excellence, joy, and student flourishing are not competing aims—they reinforce one another. Here, young people thrive in a culture of optimism and challenge, where adults model qualities of resilience, character, and compassion.”
