Pathways Program Will Help Structure the Tabor Learning Experience

Tabor Academy students have always found their way to the school’s strategic programming in the marine and nautical sciences, global education, and leadership. Beginning next year, Tabor will highlight and expand access to these programs by introducing its Pathways program. The school will offer three voluntary pathways, analogous to college majors: Oceans, Global Education, and Leadership.

“The Pathways program began as an idea by the former Dean of Academics, Christina Kennedy, and was supported and encouraged by Head of School Tony Jaccaci,” Interim Dean of Academics Matt Voci explains. “We want to find a way for students to engage in and receive a tangible credit for the work they do in signature programs that we’re particularly proud of.”

Participation in the Pathways program will be voluntary; students who wish to enroll in a pathway must express interest before the end of their sophomore year. Once a student enrolls in a pathway, they will access a roadmap of themed academic coursework, co-curricular and extracurricular activities, and external opportunities. Each pathway culminates in a summative project, presentation, or portfolio that draws on the totality of that student’s time in the pathway.  

Voci offers an example. A student who has taken and enjoyed a nautical science class can enroll in the Oceans pathway. They’ll take related coursework; they’ll prioritize joining the SSV Tabor Boy crew, the sailing team, or the crew team; they’ll consider participating in external opportunities at, for example, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. All told, their series of experiences will fulfill the pathway distribution and credit requirements, and their Tabor story, Voci says, will make a lot of sense. “Tabor is a very special place, and our students want to tell a story of their time here at Tabor,” Voci says. “We’re trying to help them craft those stories.”

Director of Global Education Jonathan Sirois, who will also direct the Global Education pathway, says that the program “will provide ample opportunities to make meaningful, intercultural connections leveraged by our incredible location and an uncommon commitment to local-global learning.” Sirois also adds that he hopes the pathway “inspires young Seawolves to nurture their role as citizen-scholars and positive change-makers.”

Director of Student Affairs Kellsie Ham has similar hopes for the Leadership pathway. “We hope students see that leading can happen in the classroom, on a team, in the dorm, or through service, and that all of those contributions matter to a community,” she says. “The Leadership pathway is designed to help students notice where they're already leading and to be more intentional about how they show up. If a student leaves Tabor feeling confident about stepping up and supporting others in meaningful ways, then the Pathway is working.”

Director of Nautical Science Virginia Land McGuire, co-director of the Oceans pathway, says that “for years, Tabor students have taken advantage of our spectacular oceanfront location to inspire their academic journey at Tabor.” She continues that the formalization of the Oceans pathway gives Tabor “a mechanism to acknowledge these students’ special focus at graduation.”

The Pathways program will also naturally form smaller communities within the Tabor community, as students who take similar coursework and engage in similar experiences form an informal cohort. “We want students who are juniors and seniors who have participated in certain experiences to share that with freshmen and sophomores who have interests in common with them,” Voci says. “It was important to us to develop pathways that people feel connected in.”

The Pathways program will begin in fall 2026, and Tabor will hold an introductory meeting with the current freshman class — the first class that will have access to the program — in February. “At this point, there’s a lot of excitement,” Voci says. “It’s aspirational. We’re thinking about how to make the pathways feel like a cohort. We’re thinking about how to balance forming a concentrated field of study that doesn’t take up too much of each student’s time. We have students doing exciting research opportunities. We have students who are traveling the world. We have students who engage in leadership programs and who study leadership. We’re trying to get a place where we can tell those stories together and make it something that is special to Tabor.”