An Open Letter to ISW's Faculty
June 9, 2023
Dear ISW Faculty,
Today is the concluding day of ISW’s fifteenth year, and my youngest daughter is graduating. As you all know well, The Independent School of Winchester was founded as a gift to the community with the intention that the school would long outlive me and continue to nurture students for many years to come. I am so proud of all we have accomplished together!
Today, though, I write as a parent, with a heart filled with gratitude. As of tonight, all three McDonald girls--Ming, Grace, and Liana—will have graduated from this school. They are very different humans with different interests, strengths, and needs. And yet you served them so very well—giving each of them just what they needed when they needed it. All three speak highly of you daily (literally!), and the two who have made their way through college constantly reference their gratitude for the foundation you gave them. Thank you.
I also write as a teacher. At a time when educators are abandoning the profession in droves, thank you, my colleagues, for maintaining your commitment to serving the future. This generation has already lived through the smartphone revolution, the COVID pandemic, political upheaval, national controversies over race, gender, and orientation, and environmental disasters, and, like all of us, they face an uncertain future. More than ever, they need skilled, experienced, loving teachers who will help them develop their talents and find the kind of confidence that is only born of hard work and a loving launch to life. Our students will undoubtedly be called upon to use their expertise to find solutions to thorny problems—both local and global. The work we do here at ISW every single day prepares our students to take on those issues with expertise, civility, and a love for their fellow human beings that will guide and temper every decision.
Thank you, ISW Faculty Past, Present, and Future. I could not be more grateful—as a parent, as a colleague, as a Head of School, and as a human who thinks often about the world our grandchildren will inherit. Thank you for holding the future in your wise and kind hands.
Peace and love,
Claire
Elementary Portfolios Enhance Learning!
Since ISW’s founding, we have embraced the tradition of Student-Led Conferences from Kindergarten to High School in June of each school year. Students arrive for this event in blazers and khakis, and they take seriously the task of presenting their year to their parents. Our teachers work with students to prepare for this event for weeks—considering the entire year’s accomplishments, setting goals for the summer and the upcoming school year, and thinking about what went well and what needs more work.
It is truly amazing to witness even the youngest child’s ability to think analyze the year and to set goals. They know what they are doing well and what needs work—if only we will allow them the time and space to articulate their thoughts. As students get older and more experienced at this process, teachers provide structure but far less input. Students’ final conferences at the end of the senior year often include hugs and bittersweet tears as students prepare to continue their academic journey at the college level.
This year, we will augment this process with the creation of student portfolios at the elementary level. Daily student work will be collected in a folder that is sent home on a monthly basis, which means students will not be bringing home schoolwork every night. Instead, parents will have the opportunity to see several weeks’ worth of work at a time.
As students gather their work throughout the year, (with their teacher’s assistance) they will pull a few items each month to include in their Annual Portfolio. (“Look at my perfect multiplication sheet—I finally got the 8s down!” “Here’s a story I wrote in September and another in May! See how much better my handwriting is?”) The portfolio will stay in the classroom throughout the school year, and students will use it for the “show and tell” aspect of the Student-Led Conference at the end of the school year. Parents will get a sneak peek at the portfolio in November when we host adults-only conferences.
Portfolios have long been a key ingredient in progressive education, which honors the student’s agency in their own learning process. We are delighted to formally add this component to the Student-Led Conferences that we have always treasured.
Dr. Claire's Opening Remarks to the Faculty 2022-23
Before we forge ahead with talk about our campus, and book discussion, and administrivia, I want to take a moment to thank you for committing to being part of the ISW faculty for the 2022-23 school year. ISW may be a secular school, but our work is truly sacred. We are entrusted with keeping our students safe while also challenging their minds. We are entrusted with, quite literally, shaping the future.
In a year when educators are abandoning the profession in droves—many for very good reasons—you chose to continue your commitment to the children of our school and to the future of humanity. After two and half years of mind-bending, heartbreaking cultural and political challenges, our children and young adults desperately need first class educators. They need YOU: people who believe in and live out our school values of respect, responsibility, integrity, empathy, and commitment to education every single day. Thank you for choosing to stay in this incredibly important profession.
One of my favorite humans retired from being an administrator after more than 30 years in independent schools this past June. I was crushed because she is brilliant and incredibly knowledgeable about kids, and I didn’t think she was done. I know, none of my business, but you know me—dean of the world. Happily, she decided to return to teaching and as part of a Facebook exchange about this decision, she wrote the following advice to a new teacher of first graders. “[The students] are physically exhausting…hydrate all day long. Give brain breaks, switch gears every 15 minutes or so, give them opportunities to stand, sit, walk, move. Make 'respect' central to everything. Let them see you enjoying them, liking them. Focus on the good stuff each day, let the other stuff go at the end of the day, reminding yourself that you have done the best you could.” It seems to me that it applies to all of us.
Welcome to the new school year. And thank you.
Building Strong Relationships--by design, one interaction at a time
ISW is delighted that we were able to keep our doors open five days a week over the past two years and that we had (to our knowledge) zero community spread of COVID within the school. Our students benefited enormously from in-person instruction as well as the opportunity to interact with other students on a daily basis. That said, we also recognize that there are significant downsides to wearing masks and maintaining physical distance. In contrast to the experience of students who attended ISW pre-pandemic, our students in the last two years have had fewer opportunities for growth in the so-called “soft skills”—skills like sharing, waiting for a turn, partnering on an assignment, listening to different perspectives, etc.—skills that are difficult to cultivate in a physically distanced environment. While the soft skills don’t show up on standardized tests, they are critical for personal happiness and for success in almost every walk of life.
Throughout the spring and summer of 2022, our faculty has engaged in on-going conversation around concrete steps we can take to develop, encourage, and deepen these skills for our students. We have developed the following plan, which I wanted to share with you in the hopes that you will reinforce these skills, as appropriate, in your homes. Our plan is to implement as much as possible within current health and safety guidelines.
Classroom Greetings: Teachers will greet each child one-to-one at the classroom door in both the morning and the afternoon. We will use the student’s name, make eye contact, and give specific instructions about what to do next. We may even resume shaking hands if/when our county return to “low” COVID transmission!
Classroom Geography: Kindergarten and Lower Elementary classrooms have returned to low tables, which encourages the sharing of materials, accommodating one another while moving about the classroom, and taking turns. Upper Elementary, Middle, and High School classrooms will make use of a variety of classroom arrangements that encourage collaboration.
Partnering: We will reinstitute team work on some assignments. Students benefit from hearing one another’s ideas and wisdom. Partnering also encourages listening skills.
Community Building: In the Elementary School, we will reinstitute Reading Buddies, a program in which older students read to younger students–promoting leadership skills and the modeling of positive behaviors by the older students for the younger students. We are also planning to restart Indoor Recess in the Commons on inclement weather days. Students are encouraged to share recess resources (puzzles, Legos, board games, etc.) and organize themselves into teams. We will continue to host cross-division events (like the Fun Run, Community Day, and Readathon), all of which encourage students to learn from peers of all ages.
Community Meetings: The Elementary program will reinstitute an old and beloved ISW tradition, Monday Morning Meeting—a gathering of all the elementary students and morning teachers to chat about the upcoming week including experiential education and special events. We also use this time to highlight students doing the right thing (e.g., wearing the correct uniform) and students who have recently had significant “wins,” including sports, dance, etc. As Head of School, I model organization strategies by using my planner to conduct these meetings. We end each meeting with the That Was Easy Button, which encourages students to catch each other exemplifying ISW Core Values of Respect, Responsibility, Integrity, Empathy, and Commitment to Education. The Middle and High Schools will continue to enjoy their respective weekly meetings (Advisory for Middle School and SGA for High School) during which the planning of group social projects occurs.
In short, daily learning opportunities will be structured with an eye to the adults our students will eventually become–adults who are empathetic, kind leaders who hold themselves to the highest standards of conduct throughout their lives.
We are delighted to get the 2022-23 school year started and our students on the road to building outstanding interpersonal skills!
ISW Commencement Address 2022: Dr. Dorothy Fontaine
ISW welcomed our own Dr. Dorothy Fontaine as our Commencement Speaker this year.
Dr. Dorothy has been teaching for over 30 years in a variety of settings—from the independent school world to colleges, from Princeton Review to private tutoring. She taught in the English department at Wakefield School, The Plains, where she was appointed Director of Faculty Development in 2005 and Head of the Middle School in 2006. She was named Outstanding Educator in 2005. She has conducted workshops and trainings on a variety of topics throughout the United States. Most recently, Dr. Dorothy has taught High School English at ISW since 2020. Dorothy holds a BA in Literature from the University of Houston Clear Lake, an MA and a PhD in English from Rice University, and an MEd in Instruction and Curriculum from George Mason University. Dorothy is renowned for never, ever turning down any professional development or workshop or training of any sort. This woman truly loves education. We have yet to discover a topic that does not interest her, including fish and banking—both topics of expertise.
ISW Graduation Speech 2022
I am not a role model.
I have attended 12 different colleges and universities as a student.
I have graduated from only 3 of them.
I used to own a pet shop.
I used to be a banker.
I used to breed African fish for sale.
I have been a secretary and an accounting clerk.
I have set foot in 18 different countries—so far.
I used to fill prescriptions for a living.
I have sold hockey equipment.
I studied martial arts in my 40s.
I have fished for piranha in the Amazon.
I have witnessed the mating dance of the Blue-footed Booby in the Gálápagos.
I am not an exemplar. I am not a role model.
I have a husband who played the trombone in high school, but took up the viola in his 50s.
I have a husband who is building his own 2-seat airplane.
I have a friend who reads scripture in the original ancient languages.
I have a friend who teaches stage fighting and movement for a living at a famous performance college in NY.
I have a friend who writes for medical journals.
I have a friend who heals people with her own and redirected energies.
I have a friend who, through two marriages, is a devoted mother to 12 (she gave birth to 9 of them herself).
I have a friend who tirelessly works nationally and travels internationally on behalf of children with cancer.
I have a friend who writes science fiction novels and teaches Latin.
I have friends who keep bees.
I have a friend who is mechanic who is, basically, an engine whisperer. A true automotive artist.
I have friends who train dogs.
I have a friend who acted on a dream and founded a school.
I have friends who are scientists working to save native ecosystems.
I have girlfriends who are airline captains.
I have a friend who unfailingly worked hard at a government job she hated for 35 years for the good of her family.
I have a brother-in-law who is an artist.
I have a sister who sews quilts for those whose hearts are hurting.
Not one of these people is a role model.
All of these people. Doing all of these things. And this is merely a sliver of who they are—little tiny nuggets of the hearts and souls and minds that make them up.
They are not role models; they are not exemplars for your life going forward.
Those of us who love you, who see the promise—and doubt—in you, who support your strengths and encourage you in your weaknesses all want you to live an authentic life. A life that is one that you build for yourself in honour of who you are and who you want to be. We see certain strengths in you and want to nurture those, but in our more honest moments we know that these strengths we perceive are only a fraction of who you are and the future you that you will inhabit. We will continue to give advice—we’re older; it’s our destiny—but we do understand that only you can discover what you truly are and what you truly need to accomplish.
These non-role models are the promise that who you are and what you are and who you choose to be and what parts of yourselves you nurture are not only enough for the world around you, they illuminate the world around you.
If any one of these people is extraordinary, it is because we are all extraordinary. Yeah, yeah—we are all unique, sure. More importantly, we are all enough. In and of ourselves.
You, personally, do not need a role model to follow to become your best self. You are all you need. You are enough.
Indeed, having watched you in our time together, you are more than enough.
Welcome, Jennifer Gyurisin!
The Independent School of Winchester is delighted to announce that Jennifer Gyurisin will serve as ISW’s Middle and High School Academic Dean and Research Coordinator, beginning mid-July. Jennifer will also be teaching two High School English classes.
Jennifer has been teaching for many years in a variety of settings, from high schools to community colleges to universities. She holds a BA in English with a concentration in Creative Writing from Hollins University, an MA in English from Virginia Tech, an MA in Children’s Literature from Hollins, and an MS in Information Science from Florida State University.
In addition to a decade of experience working in libraries, Jennifer also proudly co-owned the Winchester Book Gallery from 2006 to 2011. She brings an unparalleled passion for books and literature to ISW, a joy in learning, and a true commitment to students and their learning process.
Welcome, Jennifer!
Welcome, New ISW Faculty!
Joy Kinsey will be teaching Middle School Science. Joy holds a BS and an MBA from National Louis University as well as a Masters in Secondary Education from Shenandoah University. She has more than a decade's experience in independent and public schools, where she has served as an administrator and a teacher. She also homeschooled her son through middle school. In addition to a career in the business world, she has taught science, math, computer literacy, computer information systems, and business.
An Open Letter to the ISW Community on the Anniversary of School Closing
Dear ISW Community,
A year ago tomorrow, schools all over the country closed their buildings in an effort to slow the spread of the pandemic. We had no idea when we walked into school on Friday, March 13, 2020, that this day would be our last day of in-person education for six months. In the 365 days that followed, ISW’s students, teachers, administrators, and families showed a remarkable unanimity of purpose and commitment to keeping our community safe while staying true to our mission of providing an outstanding education for every student.
At ISW, it has been a difficult year for all: from 12 weeks of unanticipated but successful virtual learning to a lovely but lonely commencement ceremony, from an experimental YAA summer program to a building opening in August with 6-foot physical distancing, windows wide open, and a mask on every smiling face. In preparation for re-opening our building, we redesigned everything: the layout of every classroom, every single lesson, arrival and dismissal, lunch and recess, afterschool programs, performing arts programs including Huzzah (one of the few performing arts programs in the country that continued to offer in-person opportunities to students), our beloved rituals (including PJ Days, Thanksgiving, and Valentine’s Day), and our experiential learning programs.
We welcomed students back to our building with trepidation. Some students felt safer learning from home, and we found ways to meet their needs too. Over the course of the following seven months, we have held our collective breaths as case numbers climbed and climbed and, thankfully, have finally started to fall. Remarkably, we have been open and enjoying in-person education for all but a handful of days.
While acknowledging that the past year has been challenging for many and truly horrific for others, we want to thank our school community for their dedication to making in-person school happen. Students, faculty, administrators, and family, we see your sacrifices and your good faith. We see you rising above daily irritations and trials to do the right thing for one another. Parents, we see you coming to get your child who has the sniffles or some other symptom that in any other year would be considered minor but this year must be taken seriously. Teachers and students, we see you taking care of one another, and we appreciate you all.
In recognition of our outstanding community, we are declaring March 12 ISW Community Day! Each student and faculty member will take home a flower which represents both our thanks and the promise that spring is coming. Our masks may be covering our smiles, but our eyes see everything each and every one of you has done to help us make it through the last 365 days. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you!
With tremendous love and gratitude,
Dr. Claire
Highlights from Martin Luther King, Jr. Day 2021
At ISW, we are in school for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day–exploring and honoring Dr. King’s legacy with a day of learning. Some highlights:
- High School foreign language students, led by Spanish teacher Nicki de Medici, explore the intersection of Black and LatinX experiences. Many of the High School students continue their work on semester-long art projects that will culminate in a mural that celebrates many cultures.
- Middle School Humanities students, led by Della Payne, take a virtual tour of the National Civil Rights Museum and then research Black heroes, including Robert Stengstacke Abbott, Marian Anderson, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Pura Belpré, Jane Bolin, Gwendolyn Brooks, John Carlos, Shirley Chisholm, Alice Coachman, Bessie Coleman, Jesús Colón, Annie Lee Cooper, Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler, Celia Cruz, Benjamin O. Davis Sr., Dorothy Height, Mae Jemison, Marsha P. Johnson, Henrietta Lacks, Rosie Marie McCoy, Jesse Owens, Gordon Parks, Minnie Riperton, Bayard Rustin, Ethel Waters, Phillis Wheatley, and Maria P. Williams. Art students, led by art teacher Abi Gomez, continue the work in the afternoon.
- Upper Elementary students, led by teacher Jennifer Ratcliffe, examine the theme of courage as exemplified by Ruby Bridges, who was the first Black student to attend the all-white William Frantz Elementary School in Louisiana during the New Orleans school desegregation crisis on November 14, 1960.
- Lower Elementary students, led by teacher Laura Viner, read two biographies and create a book about Dr. King, including a section on important words to know and interesting facts to learn. They write and illustrate their own stories.
- Kindergartners and First Graders, led by teacher Kerry Silva, read three books related to Dr. King’s legacy. They complete a craft which focuses on the quote that “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, ISW! May we learn from his teaching and follow his example!
After School Conversations--Helpful Questions!
After School Conversations--Helpful Questions!
It’s the end of the school day, and your child hops in the car. You are so excited to chat about their day, so you roll out that old chestnut, “What did you do today?” And the answer, also as old as time, comes: “Nothing.”
We promise you that, over the course of the day, your student undoubtedly engaged in a wide variety of activities. Getting that out of them, though, is the trick. For a better response, we recommend that you choose one or two from a slightly more focused list of questions, prepared for you by our wonderful ISW faculty:
For all students:
- What was the best part of your day?
- What subject was easy? What was hard?
- What made you smile?
- Can you tell me an example of kindness you saw?
- Did anyone do anything silly to make you laugh?
- What did you create today?
- Did you help anyone today?
- Who did you talk to today?
- Can you tell me something you know today that you didn’t know yesterday?
- Did you like your lunch?
- What questions did you ask at school today?
- What are you looking forward to tomorrow?
- If you could change one thing about your day, what would it be?
- What made your teacher smile?
- What kind of person were you today?
- What made you feel happy?
- What made you feel proud?
- If you switched places with your teacher tomorrow, what would you teach the class?
For older students…
- What can you write in cursive?/ Can you read what I wrote in cursive?
- What’s happening in the book you’re reading in class?
- Who did you talk about in history class?
- What are your spelling words?
- What topics are you learning in math?
- What experiment did you do in science today?
If you have questions that have worked well over the years, please feel free to share them with us. We are always adding to the list!