Weekly Message from Steve Warner, Head of School (October 24, 2011)

Greetings, GreenMount Community,

            I am very excited about how our 6^th - 8^th grade students performed during our trip to Gettysburg. We are talking a lot about excellence these days, and in every way our students were excellent last Thursday. 

On a wet and cold battlefield where the 6^th Wisconsin overwhelmed Confederate forces in a railroad cut, our students walked and marched in their footsteps, covering the 300 yards from the base of Seminary Ridge to the railroad cut, which remains there today.  The students were impressed with the experience, and I think many of them felt some measure of what it must have been like for the 490 or so Union troops who began the assault.  It was also impressive to see them look back over that battlefield and picture the 220 soldiers who did not complete the 300-yard, 45-minute journey.

The experiential process for these students began days prior at school, where they were familiarized with the 6^th Wisconsin and practiced the drill and ceremony that were required in order to perform as a cohesive unit.  They familiarized themselves with the qualities of leadership that resulted in this decisive victory and impressed the park ranger with their extensive knowledge of the Civil War and leadership.

Later in the day, a different guide took us to several other sites where the students experienced numerous authentic activities of the period, such as loading and firing a cannon and mimicking the most decisive battle of Gettysburg, Pickett’s Charge.  Going from site to site, our guide, a professor of Civil War history, quizzed our students on many aspects of the war, including important names, places and dates.

As the students dismounted the bus to explore Little Round Top, our guide pulled me aside and asked about our school.  He was curious about our students.  “Why is it that they can have such an understanding and knowledge about this place?” he asked.  I outlined our curriculum and our approach to learning.  I explained that we give our students the time and space to learn and delve deeply into our understandings.  I told him about our theme studies approach and how we encourage independent research and projects so that our students will come away from each theme as learners, curious to continue their exploration of the theme and all that it contains.

When the students were back on the bus and we were headed back to the visitor center, our guide complimented our students, saying that he was very impressed with them and that he had included many aspects of his talk that he would have saved for college or high school students.  He was genuinely impressed.  I was, too.  Our students were attentive, participatory, and anxious to ask thoughtful, provoking questions.  In every way our students displayed excellence.  I am very proud of them and teachers like Mr. Fletcher, whose passion for history excites students and arms them with understandings that demonstrate its importance.

“Excellence encourages one about life generally; it shows the spiritual wealth of the world.” -  George Eliot

Cheers,

Steve

Weekly Message from Steve Warner, Head of School (October 17, 2011)

Each week Head of School, Steve Warner, addresses GreenMount parents in a weekly letter. This is his letter from October 17, 2011.

Greetings GreenMount Community,

            Who are we?  With the upcoming Open House event on Saturday, it is important that our message to prospective families is accurate and consistent.  We enjoy talking about the fact that we allow our students to develop “deep smarts” and that we are not constricted by a state-mandated curriculum that is “a mile wide and an inch deep.”  Indeed, we do allow our students to find areas of interest and to explore them in depth with the objective of having them become curious, reflective learners.  I should mention that we do reference the state curriculum a great deal because our students ultimately end up in public school at the high school level.  But unlike public schools, we are not constrained by the Voluntary State Curriculum.  We can pause along its K-8 highway to create projects and experiences for our children for which the VSC has little time allotted.  We are happy with our ability to make these kinds of choices for students.

            When we talk to others about our classes being multi-aged, do we all know what we are talking about?  Is it simply that we group students of different ages together because we like the idea of kids at different grade levels together?  Actually, there is a lot of research to support the idea of multi-age grouping.  One article can be found at http://www.multiage-education.com/multiagen-b/themulticlass.html, which is a web site for multi-age education and at which other information on the subject can be found.  When this school was started in the basement of a church, the whole school was one group of just a few children.  As the school grew, the founders saw the advantages of the multi-age concept and continued to form classes in this way.  In the article referenced above, the author states:  “A common belief is that multiage classrooms benefit the younger age group, but short-change the older students. This couldn't be further from the truth! From my experience as a multiage teacher and mother, it is the oldest age group that benefits the most in a multiage class. They have the benefit of continuing their learning with the same teacher, of developing leadership positions within the class community and of reflecting on their academic progress as they revisit basic concepts with their younger classmates. The more advanced student is freed from the constraints of a graded curriculum when the teacher is designing a program from a child centered perspective. At the same time, children that would struggle in a traditional graded classroom experience success when given more choice  in the level of daily activities. An experienced multiage teacher learns to provide a balance of challenge and success for all students.”

            The author references “experienced multiage teachers.”  Given our long history with this type of grouping, I don’t think you are going to find too many staffs that are more experienced with this concept  than ours.

            Finally, I would like to thank the parents who came to the Adjunct Back to School Night.  These 15 parents were able to hear directly from the teachers who teach our Keystone programs and came away with a better understanding of their value to the overall program.  I am sorry that more parents with concerns were unable to make it.  We also had our first parent meeting on Thursday last, attended by seven parents who were there to ask questions and suggest ideas.  Although poorly attended, we had a good discussion and it is hoped that at least some small portion of our parent community came away with some useful information.  Perhaps more of you will be able to attend our next get-together.

            “When your children reach adolescence, they fire you as parent. You’ve got to scramble to get rehired as a consultant.” - Mike Riera       

At some point, your children will find ways to keep you out of the schoolhouse.  Come now while you still can.           

Cheers,

Steve

Weekly Message from Steve Warner, Head of School (October 10, 2011)

Each week Head of School, Steve Warner, addresses GreenMount parents in a weekly letter. This is his letter from October 10, 2011.

Greetings, GreenMount Community,

            One powerful aspect of the GreenMount School community is that our parents   model the importance of being involved in school.  In a 1992 article in Educational Leadership, an “involved” parent is defined as one that demonstrates two key elements.

“First, parents are supportive. They encourage their children and they are sympathetic, reassuring, and understanding. They show a high level of commitment to their children and their education.

Second, parents are active. They are doing something that is observable. This combination of parent   commitment and active participation is what makes an “involved” parent.”

            I think the most important part of this definition is the “observable” part.  I have often said that the most important thing you can do as parents is to be seen in the school and to participate in school-sponsored events or events that are organized for the school community.  I heard that the family camping trip was a huge success.  The children who were there this past weekend witnessed their parents modeling that community spirit.  This is a lesson in life!  Also, when your children see you participating in co-op activities, they recognize that you place a high value on supporting the school and on working to make it the best place possible for learning.

Actually, I think that most kids don’t give this much thought.  What?  As I think about it, it seems probable that our students have just come to expect parents to be involved.  At GMS it has become part of their culture — part of their value system.  Wait a minute, I’m going to interrupt some students to ask them about parent involvement…..

Okay, I asked some students across the hall what they thought about parent involvement.  As I suspected, they don’t give it much thought.  However, when I asked them what they would think if parents were not in the school a lot, they said it would be “weird.”  One student remarked that she would be disappointed if substitutes were not parents.  She said that she feels comfortable and safe when parents are in the classrooms.  As we work to create an ethic of excellence in our school, we can learn from the ethic of parent involvement.  It’s part of who we are, and it is expected.  And that’s exactly where we want to be with excellent work.  It’s who we are and it is expected.

            Now, a word from our sponsor this week: the Co-op Corner.  The first trimester ends in six weeks.  At that time, every parent should have completed at least 10 hours of co-op work.  Please contact Ms. Elaine to review your job preferences or to make a job assignment.  There’s always plenty to do in a schoolhouse where 98 students and 17 adults spend a large portion of their day.

Announcements: 

There will be a meeting of those parents wanting to contribute to our current theme on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.  If you have some Civil War knowledge or information to share, please feel free to join us.

Please don’t forget Adjunct Back to School Night tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. (agenda attached).  Our adjunct teachers are eager to explain their programs to you, and I hope you will come to show your support for them.

“I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live, it is my privilege  to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live.” - George Bernard Shaw

Cheers,

Steve

Weekly Message from Steve Warner, Head of School (October 4, 2011)

Each week Head of School, Steve Warner, addresses GreenMount parents in a weekly letter. This is his letter from October 4, 2011.

 

Greetings, GreenMount Community,

            We held our weekly morning meeting with the students today because of the field trip yesterday.  We had a good discussion reflecting on the field trip and talking about excellence in the context of it.  Students were able to point out how they were excellent in that they felt that they were attentive and showed respect to the park rangers and others who gave presentations.  One of our younger students pointed out that the presenter at Ford’s Theater was excellent because he was interesting and knew what he was talking about.  This prompted another discussion about how that presenter came to be so knowledgeable and effective.  The students got the idea that it takes practice and doing something many times in order to be able to achieve excellence.  It was easy to relate that idea to school work and working things over many times in order to achieve an excellent product.  Our students are fortunate to be at GreenMount, where they have “the time and space to learn” and the ability to work on several iterations of a product.

            We also discussed the first part of our Second Pillar (Civility) and the idea of “being aware of our impact on others.”  The children were spot on when describing this attribute of a GreenMount student.  They gave several examples, such as not talking while others are speaking and being safe on the playground.  The idea of being respectful of others was generated from that conversation.

            Can you believe that all this was discussed in just 10 minutes?  Ask your child sometime about the morning meeting.  I would like to get some feedback as to how the students feel about these times together.

            In an effort to keep lines of communication open and ideas flowing freely, I am scheduling four parent meetings during which you will have the opportunity to discuss issues with the administration and to bring ideas and expertise to the table.  We will stagger these meetings morning and evening to give everyone the best possibility of attending at a time that is good for them.  Our first meeting will be a on the morning of October 13 at 8:30 a.m.  This will be an open discussion with no agenda or specific items to be discussed.  Parents will generate the agenda.  Subsequently, we will ask room parents to contact the parents in their homerooms and provide us with a list of items to be discussed.  This way, if a parent is unable to attend, their question, suggestion, or concern will be heard.  After each meeting, minutes will be distributed to all families for your review.  I hope that these meetings will be as productive as they have been in the past, addressing your needs and helping us to provide the best possible educational experience for your children.

“It is a fact that in the right formation, the lifting power of many wings can achieve twice the distance of any bird flying alone.” - Author Unknown

Cheers,

Steve