Envisioning High School
February 6, 2013
This weekend, The Independent School of Winchester is privileged to host local and national education and business experts for our Re-envisioning High School event. Building on the foundation of ISW’s elementary and middle school, the group is charged with creating a model for ISW’s progressive high school program, which will open Fall 2014.
The group includes ISW Board members, who are responsible for charting the long term trajectory of our school, as well as many of our fabulous teachers who are in the trenches every day--inventing and often reinventing our program. We have professors who are leading the charge toward experiential, hands-on learning in subjects from math to music. We have people with experience in the business world, in theater, in science education, and in school administration.
It promises to be an exciting weekend. Stay tuned for more details!
Curious about who is attending? Check out the list!
Our Facilitator:
Lynne D. Myavec is well into her third decade of working in schools – the great majority of those years spent in independent schools in North Carolina, Massachusetts, Missouri, Michigan and Pennsylvania; she has taught grades 1-11 and served in administrative roles for grades PreK-12. While her academic background and classroom experiences have been largely in the sciences (pre-med) and English, she has enjoyed work in social studies and math, as well. Lynne has twice served as Assistant Head of School (Community School in St. Louis and University Liggett School in Grosse Pointe, Michigan), allowing her to gain a perspective on the academic, physical and social-emotional development of children from their early childhood years to college entrance. Lynne is currently serving as Middle School Head at The Agnes Irwin School in Philadelphia; she is the very proud mother of adult twins and housemother to five high school girls from China.
Presenters:
Bob McDonald has worked in business, technology, and education for over 20 years. He taught at an alternative high school in Baltimore and later became Chair of the History Department at the prestigious Cranbrook Schools in Michigan. Bob has been involved in educational technology since the early 1990s–wiring classrooms, bringing the internet to students, and beta-testing interactive technologies. Most recently, he has worked for Moodlerooms and Kaltura, organizations that provide educational technology to colleges, universities, and corporations worldwide. Bob earned a BBA in finance from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and an MLA from Loyola University Maryland. He is married to Claire McDonald, and together they live with their three daughters, all ISW students, in Gainesboro.
Claire McDonald, Ph.D. is ISW’s Founding Head of School and the architect of ISW’s innovative structure. Claire’s entire adult life has been spent working with students, families and schools. She has worked in independent schools in Maryland, Michigan and Virginia, co-founded two non-profits, consulted on college placement, and taught history and economics to students of all ages. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the College of William and Mary, Claire holds a doctorate in economics and brings to the retreat many years experience in high school administration. She served as the Dean of Students at The Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore, Head of the Upper School at University Liggett in Grosse Pointe, MI, and College Counseling Consultant at Cranbrook Schools. Claire is married to Bob McDonald and is the mother of their three daughters, all of whom attend ISW.
Tom Murdock holds a BA in English from Princeton University. For 15 years he engaged students as a classroom teacher, a boarding school adviser, a wilderness expedition leader, and an English department Chair at Cranbrook Schools as well as St. Paul’s School. He has also served as administrator of a number of writing and art programs. Tom is Co-founder of Moodlerooms, an organization that provides Moodle, an open source learning management system, to schools, universities and corporations worldwide. He is currently VP of Marketing. Tom and his wife, Faith Shearin, have a daughter who attends ISW.
Participants:
Charles Todd Apple is an 11 year veteran of the Air Force and Air National Guard and a graduate of the University of Maryland University College with a BS in Management Studies. Over the past 25 years, he has lived in numerous countries and has been a director and participant in community theater all over the world. In 2005, Todd had the honor of being the PK-5th grade music teacher and the middle and high school drama and music teacher for two years at the International School of Panama. After Panama, Todd dedicated 4 years as a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math instructor for 5th grade with the Department of Defense Starbase program both in West Virginia and Hawaii. Since 2008, Todd and his wife, Theresa, have run their own youth nonprofit, Apple Creative Theater, focusing on theater by children 10-18 years old. He and his wife, Theresa, have two children who both attend Admiral Byrd Middle School.
Laura Champe Mitchell is the Co-Director of The Meadow School, a private, progressive preschool and elementary school located on a small suburban microfarm in the close-in suburbs of metro DC. The Meadow School uses arts and environmental science as its primary contexts for its project and inquiry approach to learning. Laura's career has always included direct or indirect connection to the world of education, from her early years as a high school teacher for the Close Up Foundation to many years spent in the world of adult education and training, to her current role co-founding and managing all aspects of running a school. Laura has a BA from William and Mary. Laura, her husband, and two sons (who both attend the Meadow School), live in Annandale, Virginia.
Brigitte DeHaven graduated from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore with a BA in music education and math education. She has worked in education in a variety of roles–classroom teacher, piano/vocal instructor, choral/theatre director and homeschooler–for more than twenty years. Brigitte is ISW’s Math Coordinator and Performing Arts Director. Brigitte lives in Cross Junction with her husband, John Britto, and their daughter, who is an ISW Middle School student.
Erin Gilbert earned a BA in Elementary Education from Fairmont State University, an MA in Special Education from West Virginia University, and a Virginia teaching license. She has worked as a teacher in many school settings as well as after-school and summer learning programs. Erin has also held several education leadership positions, including director of professional development at The National Summer Learning Association at Johns Hopkins University, Lead English teacher at a local middle school, and Site Coordinator for Energy Express. She currently teaches Upper Elementary Humanities, serves as Director of Summer Programs, is embarking on a new grant-writing position at the school. She lives with her husband and young daughter in Winchester.
Kate Gregori joined ISW’s Board of Directors in 2012. She has been working with non-profits for many years. Kate leads ISW’s development efforts, and she pioneered Clues and Blues in the Fall of 2012. She also volunteers with several local charities and civic groups and served as the Board President and Co-Founder of the Stillbrave Childhood Cancer Foundation. She currently resides in Winchester with her partner, Brendan McGowan, and their three children. Their son attends Kindergarten at ISW.
Rebecca Lloyd graduated from the College of William and Mary with a BS in geology. Becky has taught students of all ages, and she brings to ISW a background rich in hands-on, experiential learning. She served as a program presenter at Blandy Experimental Farms and at Oak Hart Farms, and she has worked in secondary schools teaching a wide variety of science classes. Becky teaches Middle School and Kindergarten science at ISW. Becky and her husband reside with their daughter, an ISW Kindergartner, in Inwood.
Susan Nyberg is the Chair of ISW’s Board of Directors. In addition to leading the Board, she also leads our marketing and external relations efforts. She holds a B.A. in International Studies from the University of Evansville and a Master’s in higher education administration from the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. Susan’s career has focused on education–from college admissions to continuing education to career development. As an ISW parent/teacher, Susan coaches Destination Imagination. She and her husband, Kurt Nyberg, have a daughter in ISW’s Middle School.
Bill Old’s involvement with education began almost sixty years ago with a job as a camp counselor in New Hampshire. He ultimately became the camp director of Kabeyun, a residential camp for boys. After graduating from college, Bill began teaching elementary school at Potomac School in McLean, VA. In 1968, he became headmaster of The Hill School, Middleburg, VA. He subsequently became headmaster of The Episcopal Day School, Jackson, Tennessee and then Powhatan School in Boyce, VA. In 1985, he left education and worked in the financial services industry as a financial advisor until his retirement in 2007. Since retirement he has returned to working with children as a swimming instructor with the City of Winchester. Most recently he has been running a swimming program for children at ISW. Bill holds a B.A. degree in English from the Virginia Military Institute and a Master of the Arts of Teaching degree from the University of Memphis.
Diane Sheehey holds a BA in International Relations from Tufts University and a JD from Hastings College of the Law. She worked for the Federal Judicial Center in Washington, D.C. before joining the Judge Advocate General’s Corps of the US Army. She freelanced as a legal writer while raising her three daughters and then made a career switch to teaching in 2003. Diane teaches Humanities and coordinates the Middle School program at ISW. Diane and her husband, Matthew Page Jones, MD, live with their daughters, one of whom is an ISW Middle School student, on a small working farm in Clarke County.
Stephanie Standerfer is currently an Associate Professor of Music Education as well as the Coordinator of Conservatory Assessment at the Shenandoah University Conservatory. She has given national presentations for the American Educational Research Association, the National Association for Music Education, the Society for Music Teacher Education, and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards as well as other division and state conferences. Her research is published in several national journals. She received a Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Colorado in Boulder and taught in public schools for nine years. She also holds Master of Education and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education specializing in the Social Foundations of Education. While at UVa, she worked for the Thomas Jefferson Center for Educational Reform with Dr. Daniel Duke, and the National Center for Gifted and Talented with Drs. Carolyn Callahan and Carol Tomlinson.
Corrine Taylor earned a B.A. in economics from the College of William and Mary and a Master’s degree and Doctorate, also in economics, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 1998, she joined the faculty at Wellesley College, and for the last twelve years she has directed Wellesley’s Quantitative Reasoning Program. She served as President of the National Numeracy Network from 2007-2011. Professor Taylor has led QR workshops, given invited lectures and keynote addresses, and served as a consultant to college and universities that are developing new QR initiatives. She has also led professional development workshops for secondary school teachers who wish to employ a QR approach in their classrooms.
Election day thoughts
You might have heard that there is an election being held today. Many of you (who watch TV or listen to the radio or use computers or ever leave your home) know that Virginia is considered to be a battleground state. You may also have noticed (especially if you happen to be on Facebook) that people are getting pretty worked up about this election. And they should be. Much is at stake.
One of things about ISW that makes me proudest is that, in these days of sharply drawn political lines, the student and adult members of our little community, which is incredibly diverse, move forward with tremendous respect for one another. We are all over the map politically; we come from many religious traditions; and yet we are united about a few key things. We believe that every student should learn at his or her own pace and that education ought to be both rigorous and, dare I say it, fun. We believe that no one should be glued to a seat in a classroom. We believe we should experience the world with all our senses and that we should go out into that world frequently. And we believe that you are never too young or too old to make a contribution to the world.
This has been a challenging and important election season. Would that we could find a way to bring ISW’s core values—respect, responsibility, integrity, empathy, and commitment to education—to our larger national conversations. With a little luck, one day our students will bring the lessons in civility that they learned here at ISW and at home to the larger world.
What's Cooking at ISW?
ISW is always brimming over with exciting events—proving over and over that excellence and rigor don’t have to be painful. As a matter of fact, there is a great deal of research that young brains are most open and receptive when they are challenged in a pleasant way.
Here’s a little sampling of our week:
- The butterflies are here! Our Lowers are very excited about studying them as part of our Smithsonian/NSF curriculum.
- Middle Schoolers planned and cooked a full Indian meal to celebrate their study of The Silk Road with Humanities teacher Diane Sheehey. Math specialist Brigitte DeHaven led this effort as a Quantitative Reasoning project—applying math to real world problems.
- Our Kindergartners have begun their study of community by creating a flag that represents themselves. Some of the themes they touched on were taking care of each other, friendship, playing nice, and having fun. They are very proud of the new flag hanging in the classroom. They also began making a giant map in the room. They started with drawing a picture of their bedrooms, then made a house and the bedrooms inside, and today they will make a piece of land to for their homes. Eventually they will add their roads, counties, states, country, continent, planet, and universe.
- Our 7th grade Algebra students were treated to a Skype session with Jerald Murdock, a Presidential Awardee for Excellence in Mathematics Teaching, a Woodrow Wilson fellow, former President of the Michigan Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the author of our newly-adopted Algebra program, and the grandfather of one of our newest students. Jerald plans to “drop in” via Skype as a guest teacher frequently!
- The teachers are very excited to have Ed Mayhew joining us Friday afternoon to train our faculty about how to integrate movement into the classroom experience. Turns out that students learn better when they move, and there are some terrific, ingenious ways to get them moving while continuing working on academics. Read about Ed’s approach here:
http://www.nvdaily.com/lifestyle/2012/10/winchester-author-promotes-fitness-in-area-schools.php
And finally, this week even the adults get in on the “learning can be fun” theme with our unique fundraiser, Clues and Blues, this Saturday. For more information about that check out ISW’s FaceBook page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Independent-School-of-Winchester/215591988461816
Or check out our Clues and Blues page: https://www.facebook.com/CluesAndBlues
It's the people...
Politicians are fond of saying "It's the economy, stupid." If I were to coin a similar phrase for education, it would be, "It's the people, stupid." (But of course in schools we never call anyone "stupid," so I won't be coining that phrase!)
It is all about the people, though. You want your child to get a great education?
Step One: find a school where the teachers are exceptionally well-qualified.
Step Two: visit the school and see the people in action.
Step Three: ask yourself, "Are these the people who can help my child achieve up to his/her potential?" If so, get yourself an application!
Here, we will help you with Step One:
Ready for Step Two? Call us at 540-877-5552 or email me at claire@iswva.org. I am looking forward to introducing you to our people.
Claire McDonald, PhD
Head of School
Head of School's Opening Remarks 9/4/2012
Welcome, welcome! Welcome back to our returning families. And a hearty welcome to our new families. Welcome back, teachers—Ms. Brigitte, Ms. Meghan, Ms. Diane, Ms. Becky, and Ms. Rebecca. And a big welcome to our new teachers, Ms. Laura and Ms. Erin and Ms. Karla.
As many of you know, ISW spent the 2011-12 school year talking about who we want to be as a school and as individuals. Students talked, teachers talked, the Board talked, parents talked. We formed a committee that met for hours. And in the end, we decided that ISW would embrace five Core Values going forward, five qualities that we expect from one another at all times:
RESPECT
RESPONSIBILITY
INTEGRITY
EMPATHY
COMMITMENT TO EDUCATION
That’s a mouthful, but it reduces to this: when you, adult or student, become a member of the ISW community you agree to do your best to hold yourself to the highest standards at all times.
Today, I want to focus on the last value: commitment to education. What does this mean in real life? For adults in our community, commitment to education means you don’t see school as a consumer good (like, say, clothes) that you buy for your child, hand to them and walk away. Education is more like health—yes, you certainly spend money on it, but in the end, it’s something you cultivate, not something you buy. This summer, the adults in our community cultivated the school and demonstrated their commitment to education by volunteering. We thank many people who spent part of their summer building and improving our program:
Ms. Meghan, who spent the summer obsessing about reading curriculum.
Ms. Laura and Ms. Erin, who were so excited about having classrooms that they each had the whole room painted and furnished within 48 hours of getting keys.
Ms. Diane, who has been working on developing our new Latin curriculum.
Ms. Brigitte, who had a new classroom, the math lab, to prepare for her students.
Math Committee, who spent hours choosing a new Algebra curriculum for our 7th grade advanced math students.
Mr. John (Butler), who dismantled, transported and reconstructed our new play set.
Ms. Kay and Mr. Bob, who transformed the Purple Palace into something a little more school-like.
Ms. Susan, who painted interior spaces.
Mr. John (Britto), who worked on technology in almost every room.
And Mr. Gerry, who put in new doors and installed all manner of items.
Thank you! Students, this year I challenge you to consider what commitment to education means to you. In preparation for this talk, I Googled “students demonstrate commitment to education” and found nothing about students. It was all about the adults. It was all about how teachers can somehow force their students to be committed. Apparently, Google doesn’t understand what the ISW community has always known—that this is your education.
And committing to your own education starts with the way that you talk about it. One of my daughters, who shall remain nameless, often sighs with relief announcing, “I have finished Ms. X’s homework.” And then she has to tolerate me saying, “Ms. X’s homework was completed years ago. She has her degrees. It is your homework you finished.” I also observed over many years working in several very high powered high schools that students had a penchant for saying, “I got an A!” when the test went well but, “He gave me a D” when it didn’t go so well.
Again, dear students, the work is yours, whether you earn a high score or a low one. So what does it look like when a student is truly committed to his or her education? First, the obvious—you own your work, good or bad. You show up to class on time, ready to learn. You do your homework--and not just to say it’s done but with a serious effort to understand your subject.
There are also other elements to commitment to education that are not so obvious. Perhaps the most important one is to ask questions. For those of you in upper elementary and middle school, you are undoubtedly beginning to think about what kind of careers you might want to pursue. Ask yourself if you are doing everything you can today to be prepared for that career you dream of and the career you haven’t even thought of. Ask your teachers and other students questions—and not just the easy ones like “Can you work that sample problem again for me?” Ask us, “Why are we studying this?” if it isn’t obvious. Ask us, “Can we study this more?” if you find something you really like. Feel free to say, “I don’t get this. Is there another way we can approach this?” If you have an idea for a field trip or a speaker or an activity, share it. We adults promise to take you seriously even if we can’t always make it happen. And finally, students, remember this: you are here to get an education for yourself—not for your parents, not for your teachers, not for me. For yourself.
You owe yourself the very best.
Kindergartners, Lowers, Uppers, Middles, thank you for your excitement, your inspiration and your trust. This school is, as always, our gift to one another. Welcome to the new school year.
What I think about when I tuck my children into bed at night
I happened to be listening to one of those Sirius radio stations that covers politics 24-7 last week, and I heard the First Lady talking about what she thinks about when she tucks her children in at night. It led me to consider the same question—what do I think about when I tuck my children in at night?
I think about two things—today and tomorrow, or, more specifically, their todays and their tomorrows. I think about how ISW was founded and about how our school contributes to everything our family seeks for our children.
There is a great wealth of research on brain development that demonstrates that students learn best when they feel safe and loved. A little stress is a good thing—as when an assignment is due and you know you have to buckle down and finish. As a matter of fact, though, when a young brain is too stressed—when a student doesn’t feel safe around peers or teachers or when expectations are far above or far below his capabilities—the brain shuts down much of the “hardware” necessary for learning to occur. At ISW, students want to come to school. Every returning student I have spoken with in the month of August has volunteered that he/she is more than ready to return. My own children, as I tuck them in at night, talk about how they can’t wait to get back to school. Are their brains ready for learning? You bet!
Ah yes, they love school today…but will they be ready for tomorrow? Will this child be prepared--to be self-sufficient, to create a fulfilling career that does more than pay the bills, to find a lifelong partner, to be a kind and thoughtful friend and to attract a supportive circle of friends? Will this child of mine make a serious contribution to the community by using his or her talents to the fullest? This is a tall order.
Here’s what I know about education. To answer the above in the affirmative as adults, young people must learn to take responsibility for themselves and their work, to treat others with respect and empathy, to act with integrity, and to commit themselves wholeheartedly to pursuing their passions. They must confront and conquer real problems—concepts that challenge them, skills that sometimes seem unattainable, people with whom they don’t have chemistry—in order to build their intellectual and emotional muscles.
And young people need caring, respectful, smart, fun-loving adults who are willing to learn alongside them and to help navigate the complicated journey to adulthood. If ever there were a school that provides the right opportunities and the right adults, it’s ISW.
Of course there are never any guarantees. But as an ISW parent, I am confident that our school provides my children and all of our students the best chances for a wonderful today as well as the tomorrows of their dreams.
What Makes a Community Work? Part One
We will spend the rest of the year highlighting the accomplishments of our students. But today, before the school year officially begins, I want to take a moment to honor the adults of our school community. ISW is a remarkable place, and everyone who visits us sees that immediately.
At ISW, our parents volunteer. It’s part of the deal if you decide to send your child(ren) here. We don’t spend a lot of time tracking hours or comparing ourselves to one another. We each take responsibility for the things that we are able to do and do well. It shouldn’t work, and yet it does. We don’t have what economists call “free riders” –people who benefit from other people’s generosity without contributing something of themselves. We don’t have a lot of entitlement at ISW. Our families are 100% committed to their children’s education. When we have a need, someone steps in to fulfill it.
As we return to school this fall, the fruits of our volunteerism are easy to see:
- The building, which we affectionately nicknamed “The Pink Palace,” is now a more traditional tan and black, thanks to ISW grandparent Kay Hallett and ISW parent Bob McDonald.
- Our students will enjoy a new play set assembled by ISW parent John Butler and a fence installed by ISW parents Mary and Gerry Axelson and Becky and David Lloyd.
- Our Lower Elementary, Upper Elementary, and Math Lab classrooms and the women’s bathroom all sport new coats of paint thanks to our teachers—Laura Viner (and her husband Jay), Erin Gilbert, and Brigitte DeHaven (and her husband John Britto)—and ISW parent and Board member Susan Nyberg. We also have a huge number of interior improvements thanks to the work of Gerry Axelson.
- We have a new fundraiser, Clues and Blues, headed by the very capable Kate Gregori. More on that shortly!
One of the biggest reasons that our community works is that we don’t see education as a consumer good—something you buy for your child, hand them and walk away. We see learning as a process and a delight that the whole family can participate in and enjoy. Learning only happens when you invest yourself. Families who choose to send their children to ISW and teachers who choose to work at ISW invest themselves wholeheartedly in the education process and in the school. And, as a result, our little school thrives.
Thank you, ISW adults, for all you have done this summer!
Claire
Welcome, Erin Gilbert!
ISW is very pleased to welcome our newest addition to the faculty, Erin Gilbert. Erin will be teaching Upper Elementary Humanities.
Erin Gilbert earned a BA in Elementary Education from Fairmont State University and an MA in Education from West Virginia University. She has worked as a teacher in many school settings as well as after-school and summer learning programs. Erin has also held several education leadership positions, including director of professional development at The National Summer Learning Association at Johns Hopkins University, Lead English teacher at a local middle school, and site coordinator for Energy Express. Erin holds a Virginia teaching license. She lives with her husband and daughter in Winchester.
Mathematics Beyond Rote Learning
At the start of my sophomore year of college, I had a revelation about math: you learn to take first derivatives for a reason. It turns out that skill is essential in all sorts of fields, from economics to physics and engineering. How is that I got all the way through BC Calculus in high school and didn’t know this? The answer lies in how math has been taught in the United States for the last 150 years: as a stand-alone class focused on learning to do calculations, with very little, if any, context or relationship to any other fields.
At ISW, learning to do calculations is just one step in learning math. Most of the time, it isn’t even the first step. Typically, the first step is putting manipulatives in the hands of students and giving them a problem to consider. Only after the concept is beginning to take form in students’ minds do we move to pencil and paper. And even after we have begun the very necessary process of practicing calculations and memorizing math facts, we work to engage our students in real world applications—especially applications in other subjects they are studying.
This coming year we are making some changes that we believe will take us even further:
- We have appointed Brigitte DeHaven as our mathematics lead teacher. She will teach math, 3rd grade through Algebra, and she will serve as an advisor to our entire staff. Brigitte will coach teachers—across the curriculum--in designing projects that use and expand our students’ math skills.
- This summer we formed a committee of teachers and parents to look for a new algebra curriculum for a small group of very talented 7th graders. We adopted Discovering Algebra: An Investigative Approach by Jerald Murdock, Ellen Kamischke and Eric Kamischke. We are excited about this program as it begins every chapter with real world applications—fractals in nature, parabolas in water fountain streams, etc.
According to a January 2010 study from Johns Hopkins, the math curriculum that schools use is not nearly as important as two other elements: how the students are taught and how the teachers are prepared.
One of the key recommendations of the Hopkins study is that students tackle problems in groups using cooperative learning. ISW has always used cooperative learning in teaching mathematics, and we plan to continue and expand that process as we adopt this new math program.
As for professional development, we are exceptionally lucky at ISW to have two wonderful advisors for our math teachers:
- Corri Taylor, who is the Director of Quantitative Reasoning at Wellesley College, former President of the National Numeracy Network, and an ISW Board Member.
- Jerald Murdock, who is a Presidential Awardee for Excellence in Mathematics Teaching, a Woodrow Wilson fellow, former President of the Michigan Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the author of our newly-adopted Algebra program, and the grandfather of one of our newest students.
Our goal is to graduate students who never, ever ask, “What will we use this for?” because they already know the answer.
Claire McDonald, PhD
Head of School
Welcome, Laura Viner!
In March we posted about being in search of talented, passionate, loving teachers, and our search is (for now, at least) at an end. ISW happily announces that we have hired a new Lower Elementary teacher for the 2012-13 school year.
Laura Viner holds a BA in French with a minor in Elementary Education from Rutgers University. She has also earned an MA in Elementary Education from Georgian Court College in New Jersey. Laura holds New Jersey and Virginia teacher certifications and has taught elementary school and computer classes for children. She volunteers as a Hebrew teacher for the children of Beth El Congregation. She often hosts French exchange students at her home and gives them a true American family experience. Laura is new to Virginia and resides in Winchester with her husband Jay and their two children.
Welcome, Laura, to the ISW school community!