Stephan Haimo, LFNY alumnus (’74) and parent, will begin his fifth year as Chairman of the Board of the Lycée this fall. We sat down with him to talk about the role of the Board, its major initiatives and plans for the coming year.
Stephan Haimo, Chairman of the Board of the Lycée Français de New York.
What is the role of the Board of Trustees?
The Lycée Français de New York is a not-for-profit, independent entity chartered by the State of New York. Unlike a for-profit corporation, the school does not have shareholders and is governed by a Board of Trustees. The primary responsibility of the Trustees is to oversee the management of and set the long term strategy for the school. The Board has a broad mandate to guide the operations of the school, but it is the head of school with his team who is in charge of the day-to-day running of the school.
The Trustees hire and periodically evaluate the performance of the head of school, and oversee the financial stewardship of the institution. In that general capacity, they meet six times a year and organize an annual retreat. During each Board meeting, the head of school presents information about operations, finances, current developments, and very importantly the general direction and strategy of the school. In the past year, the Board has discussed and approved a number of new initiatives proposed by the head of school in the area of information technology, professional development of faculty and staff, and student life.
In addition to periodic Board meetings, LFNY Trustees are actively involved in special committees of the Board, for example, in the areas of development, finance, investments, alumni relations and school facilities, and they also participate actively in strategic planning.
Who makes up the school’s Board?
There are 16 trustees on our Board plus the two APL co-presidents and the head of school. As the term “trustee” implies, we have a duty – a trust – to exercise our judgment in the best interests of the school. Trustees receive no compensation for their work on the board, volunteer their time and resources to the school and often have a leadership role in fundraising. They bring a wide range of skills and experience in support of the school and, for those Trustees who are parents, a track record of active engagement in school life. We have trustees with skills in finance, technology, law, education, real estate and management…and also parenting skills. Four of our trustees are alumnae and two of our trustees bring special expertise in education that is important in guiding the long-term future of the school.
What’s on the agenda of the board for 2013-2014 school year?
We are busy! Building on work started last year, we are in the process of developing a strategic plan for the school to take us through the next five years. Under the leadership and guidance of Sean Lynch, the head of school, the Lycée has spent a lot of time deliberating, with input and counsel from the school’s executive team, parents, faculty and staff, on ten key topics that we believe will set the direction of the school in the years to come.
We want collectively to be at forefront of innovation and advancement in education, technology, and student life.
Our great ambition and what rests as the core of this school is to drive our students to bilingual and academic excellence in a pluricultural setting. At the same time, we also need to examine the core values we cultivate in our students – empathy, inquisitiveness, integrity –values we feel our community wants to foster in our students and that will give them the ability to handle with competence the many challenges they will face in the years ahead – in college and in life.
Sean Lynch and I will be presenting more on the five year strategic plan later in the school year.
What would you say are the Board’s primary accomplishments under your tenure? What goals can we look for in the future?
The Lycée has a long legacy going back 75 years, and I am humbled by the challenges my predecessors faced — starting a new school in 1935 during the Great Depression; building a collection of real estate that was unparalleled and gave the school a wonderful legacy; and then starting 15 years ago on a journey that led to building our new facilities under very challenging financial circumstances.
What this Board has done is manage the transition to a new head of school. I would say finding and hiring Sean Lynch has certainly been one of our major accomplishments. Just recently, the school also refinanced its debt, locking in for 15 years an interest rate at historical lows that secures a strong financial base for the future. We have continued to attract to the school highly qualified staff and teachers, and to add resources in professional development where we haven’t had them before. Very important also, is that we have increased dramatically the amount of student aid from the Lycée to our families to over $2 million/year.
You have been connected to the Lycée for many years, both as an alumnus, and now as the father of two alumnae and two current students. How has the school changed over time?
There are constants at the Lycée. My older and younger children share a high level of cultural awareness, a love of language and an ability to move between languages and cultures in a seamless fashion that is exceptional. The pluricultural environment of the Lycée that fosters so much questioning, contrasting and comparing has provided all my children with an openness to and, I hope an acceptance of, different points of view.
What is different today from ten years ago is the student-centric focus of the school. The school is placing an emphasis on excellence in education at all levels. Today, there is a greater attention to professional development for teachers and staff, much further focus in the area of counseling for our students, whether it be through college counseling, advisory or support for students with special needs. I also see a school that is making tremendous strides in extracurricular activities, in areas of the arts and sports, fostering of creativity and a spirit of teamwork in our students and throughout the body of educators and staff. These activities have made us much more integrated into the landscape of New York City schools than we were in the past, and that’s a great thing.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
My fellow Trustees and I are very confident in the leadership of the school under Sean Lynch and his team and the very bright future for the educational values and practices of the Lycée. We are cognizant of the numerous challenges in this complex and fast-changing world. We want collectively to be at forefront of innovation and advancement in education, technology, and student life, and we want to meet these challenges head on. We will need the support of our parent community and welcome the active participation of parents in all aspects of school life.
About the Author :
Elisabeth King joined the Lycée team in November 2011 as the school’s first director of communications. A francophile at heart, Elisabeth spent her junior year of college in Paris, and held her first job at the French Trade Office here in New York. She brings to the Lycée over 15 years of experience in media and communications in non-profits, government, news and business. She was previously executive vice president and director of strategy at ABI, Inc., a boutique public relations agency, and she worked as associate editor on two books co-authored by Todd Brewster and the late ABC News anchor Peter Jennings.