Online Portfolios to Connect Accomplishments to Attributes

What qualities are needed to be successful in today’s society? That’s a question Mercersburg has always taken seriously, and over the last two years, the school has considered, researched, and developed a new initiative in response.

The outcome of that work is a Portrait of a Graduate, character traits and competencies that should be evident before students leave campus and venture out into the world. “It’s incumbent upon us to step back and look at what the world needs of tomorrow’s leaders,” said Head of School Quentin McDowell P ’25, ’27. “How is what we’re doing here reflecting our effort to prepare them for that world and for their responsibility in the world?”

Mercersburg’s Portrait of a Graduate includes these attributes:

• Curious
• Compassionate
• Collaborative
• Autonomous
• Adaptable
• Resilient
• Reflective
• Prepared

The school will begin implementing the Portrait of a Graduate, which coincides with the civic engagement initiative, by helping students create portfolios detailing their unique gifts and abilities. The process will start in the fall with the Class of 2026. Students will be encouraged to maintain a log of activities, accomplishments, and awards that coincide with the various attributes.

“When we think of a portrait, we think of something that is created, that you’re painting it,” said Kristen Pixler P ’26, ’28, arts faculty member and Portrait of a Graduate task force leader. “It is not something that is predetermined but something you’re developing.”

Students will use an online interface to record and reflect on their activities, schoolwork, awards, and interests. They will be able to include links to documents, photos, and videos, connecting these to the various attributes of a Portrait of a Graduate.

“It gives us an idea of who you are outside the classroom,” said history teacher Dan Walker P ’19, ’23, a member of the task force. “It gives the full picture. It gives us more of an idea of what you do, and insight to who you are.”

The document can include leadership positions and how leadership is evidenced. For example, a student who is a team captain could share what she did to bring her team members together when they were struggling. She could write a reflection, sharing how she helped the team work through an issue.

Each entry in the portfolio needs to be verified by a faculty or staff member. In the team captain’s case, her coach could be the adult to confirm the collaboration.

Assembling the information can be an affirming process for students and a helpful tool for faculty members who write recommendation letters, Pixler said. Plus, it will prove very helpful when students begin the college application process.

As students meet in their advisory groups and share their portfolios, they also will have a better understanding of each other’s gifts and interests, and will be better able to support each other.

Students can connect up to five items with each of the eight attributes.

“Sometimes you don’t even think about how special the things are that you create, and make, and do, and how the connections that you have, what all of this means long term as it builds,” Pixler said, noting that the goal is not to have five items for all eight traits. “The goal is to show your unique profile of who you are. We hope that everybody gets foundational in all of it, but you’re going to have an ebb and flow. Somebody might be really, really compassionate, but they might not be as adaptable or autonomous, and that’s human nature.”