The All-Schools Council, a group made up of administration and faculty from the primary, lower, middle and high schools, was given a larger role this year by Lab Schools Director Charlie Abelmann, but four students added to the council only participated in one of the meetings.

The mission of the council has been the same for many years: to meet quarterly in order to discuss schoolwide goals and foster communication. However, Dr. Abelmann said that in the past this goal was often not achieved, as the group rarely met.

In order to revitalize this group, which Dr. Abelmann saw as extremely important, the director both re-established the group’s meeting patterns, as well as took on two new initiatives. The first of these was to find a consulting firm to work with the council on strategic planning, and the other was to involve students in the council.

The student members, selected at the end of winter quarter through an interview, are junior Rachel Zemil, sophomores Ben Cifu and Anika Gupta, and freshman Zach Sharp.

Although the council has met four times this school year, students have only attended one meeting. They will continue on the council next school year.

“I felt like I was a very valued member of the council,” Anika said. “They encouraged my involvement in discussions and I felt amazing to be a part of such a great group of administrators.”

Dr. Abelmann said Dialogos, the strategic planning firm selected by the council, will interact with stakeholders related to the schools and will have an “open and honest dialogue about the school” in order to discover the strategic priorities and vision Lab should have moving forward.

The firm will begin its conversations with members of the Lab community as soon as next week.