The GreenMount School

Weekly Message from Steve Warner, Head of School (February 27, 2012)

2012-02-27T18:17:00.000-05:00

Greetings GreenMount Community,

Recently,Ms. Tonette shared with me a Wall StreetJournal article entitled, “What’s Wrong with the Teenage Mind?” This article interested me for manyreasons. First, we now have a muchbetter understanding of how students learn as a result of brain research thathas been done over the last decade or so. The article also described how the adolescent brain is caught in astruggle between the emotional center of the brain (the amygdala) and the areaof the brain where decisions are made (the frontal cortex). Unfortunately, for most young people, theamygdala has greater control of the brain and wins most struggles with logicand common sense. This tiny, ancientcenter originated as the “survival” center and later became our center of thosethings that bring us pleasure and satisfaction. Combining the prehistoric survivalinstinct with the need to have fun, impress others, and win friends usuallyresults in actions that even the teenager doesn’t understand. It might even be that decisions that resultin parents saying, “What was he thinking?” are made without thought and aresimply a result of a revved-up amygdala locked in a “survival” mode.

The article compared a teenagebrain to a car, saying that adolescents acquire an accelerator long before theycan steer or brake. Teens also often overestimaterewards and underestimate risks. Evenscarier in this scenario is the early exposure to drugs and alcohol during theteenage years. We know that about 15% ofour population has a predisposition to addiction to drugs (alcohol is adrug). During those years when ouramygdala is producing a lot of dopamine (the chemical in the brain from whichwe realize pleasure and satisfaction), it is easy for that 15% to becomeaddicted as the drug replaces the dopamine and the instinct for survival instead revolves around getting drugs. Then the decision-making process is totallyout of whack, and decisions that are made can have terrible consequences.

As I read the article, I thoughtabout our kids in grades 4-8 and some of the struggles they will, and are,encountering as they try to figure out who they are and how they fit in. Sometimes, the banter I hear outside myoffice is totally amusing. Some of thethings that they say to one another are hilarious but often don’t make muchsense, and I often find myself also wondering, “What are they thinking?”

But we have great kids here atGreenMount as well as involved parents who are successfully shepherding themthrough their stages of development. Andif you take anything away from today’s message, I hope it is that you willcontinue to be vigilant and never give up on your parenting skills. We can do little to change brain chemistry,but we can provide an environment where decisions are discussed and reflectionis a natural part of our children’s lives. It’s a learning process. And in that process…

“Win small, win early, win often.” Gary Hamel

Cheers,

Steve

Weekly Message from Steve Warner, Head of School (February 22, 2012)

2012-02-22T18:14:00.000-05:00

Greetings GreenMount Community,

How do webegin to describe the China theme event? Those of you who have been attending theme events for some time surelyrecognize the significance of this one. We had the best participation by parents ever, with nearly 300 parentsand guests attending! We know that this wasin part due to the fact that we held the event in the evening, enabling many ofyou frequently hampered by work schedules to attend. It was indeed rewarding to see so many of youpacked into our gym (probably over capacity, but who knew?). Also, the feedback we received was verypositive and many parents followed directions and asked the students questionsabout the work they have done. Thosequestions were answered with surprising insight and knowledge. I am so proud of our students and theteachers who have guided them to this conclusion. We also had some feedback from visitors whohave never attended a theme event. Asyou can imagine, they were amazed at the whole thing. Those of us who have been a part of fifteenor more theme events can certainly appreciate what the kids accomplished andthe way they demonstrated their learning, and for some this kind of excellenceis what is expected. For someoneexperiencing a theme event for the first time, it was very special.

Speaking ofexcellence, we discussed with the students before the event the idea of howtheir performances, displays, and demonstrations represent the concept ofexcellence. They were right on when theytalked about showing parents that they truly care about how they showcase theirlearning. I thought that this was abreakthrough in the development of a culture of excellence that we are workingto institutionalize. I believe that weare well on the way toward reaching our goal of having students workintuitively to produce excellent products.

Now it ison to our Baltimore theme. This morning,a group of parents met to discuss ideas of how we might make this next themesignificant. We have a great opportunityhere to teach our students about the city in which most of them live and toappreciate its history and unique characteristics. I was very impressed withthe knowledge our parents have about Baltimore. Perhaps we have even more parents who have some interesting perspectiveson the city and how we might use your knowledge to enrich the learning of ourstudents. If you have suggestions,please email them to me and I will be sure to share them with the staff. Thank you.

Yesterdaymorning, I applauded our many students who learned some Chinese language. I then challenged them to decipher thefollowing Baltimorese:

“It spaced a snaidmora. Better pitcher snay tars owen. Ah got me somefar stain tars at the TeeGoz bay the Glimburny bopass.” What?

Cheers,

Steve

Weekly Message from Steve Warner, Head of School (February 13, 2012)

2012-02-13T13:08:00.000-05:00

Greetings GreenMount Community,

We are veryexcited this week because of the upcoming theme event. We have just four days left to prepare, and Ithink you will be impressed with what the students have learned. Today, at our Monday Meeting, we discussedthis and it pleased me that the students, in response to my question of whatthe event would be, answered in unison, “Excellent!” I know it will be.

Remember that the event is Thursdaynight, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., with a Chinese dinner beginning at5:00. This dinner will be very specialbecause it is being prepared by Mark and Lilis Hauptman, who prepare authentic Chinese food a lot. We are very fortunate to have this couplecommit to such a huge task. We may feedas many as 250 people! So bring yourdrinks (no alcohol) and your plates and utensils and be prepared to be well fedand entertained.

Most of the theme event will takeplace in the gym, but parts will be occurring in classrooms. We ask that you try to spend a little time ateach site reviewing the students’ work, trying not to congregate in any oneplace. You will receive an agenda onThursday night, and we will further explain your movement around the buildingat that time.

Speaking oftimelines, do you know that there are only 37 days until the first day ofspring? What happened to winter? I shouldn’t ask that question. However, it looks like we may escape the kindof winter we had last year. But I’m nota weather man so don’t hold me to that.

Another important date is fastapproaching. Amazingly enough, we only have 74 school days left! There is so much to do in so little time, asis always the case. It seems to me that this happens every year. Suddenly, we are staring at the end, onlyrecently remembering the beginning. Tosome, the days go faster. Perhaps it isthose who are having fun. For me, thatis definitely the case. Each day here isan adventure and a reward. If I haven’tthanked you lately, thanks for the opportunity to be part of this wonderfulcommunity.

“Time flies. It's upto you to be the navigator.” - Robert Orben

Cheers,

Steve

Weekly Message from Steve Warner, Head of School (February 6, 2012)

2012-02-06T08:08:00.000-05:00

Greetings GreenMount Community,

OnWednesday, January 25, the All Parent Meeting included an opportunity for youto be part of several groups to discuss different aspects of the school programas well as ideas about co-op, work days, homework, communications, reportcards, parent conferences, weekly reports, grading, building and grounds, andothers.

While many of the items suggestedhave already been in the works, today I would like to give you some feedbackabout the building and grounds. First ofall, we have no plans to move. We havean excellent lease agreement with the city, and basically all we have to payfor is our gas and electric, a yearly lease that would make your house paymentlook like a fortune (maybe it feels like that), and basic repairs to theinterior. Some have referred to ouragreement as a “sweet deal.” Our leasewill be renegotiated in eight years, and I am confident that the city wants usto remain here. We add to the communityand take good care of one of their buildings.

Your questions about the buildingand grounds included the following:

Gym acoustics – we have researched several possibilities to make our gym more acoustically efficient. The best solution we have found requires a lot of material for sound dampening at a cost around $5,000. We are also exploring other less-expensive options. If you have suggestions, please let us know.
Dust bunnies in the gym – because of the traffic in the gym, PE classes where students shoes disperse their sole contents and lunch, the gym contains more debris than other areas of the building. Next week, the gym is receiving a thorough cleaning and waxing and will look great. In the past, we have had a crew of parents that came in on some Saturdays or after school to clean the floor. It is a good co-op job and, if you are interested, we would welcome your participation.
Parking – we have plans to build up a ramp as suggested so that cars can negotiate the curb at the end of the parking lot. This will be a workday job and may be completed as early as Feb. 11.
Plumbing – Phil Jacoby has been inspecting valves and has repaired toilets for us so that all fixtures are working properly. The city has been called to replace valves so that the kindergarten bathroom can be operational again. Towel dispensers will be lowered.
Outdoor classroom – at the beginning of the year we began to investigate the possibility of enclosing the space with plastic curtains. The best estimate we got was for $3,500 and may be included in next year’s budget. A space heater is out of the question for reasons of safety and code.
Building exterior – the city has filled in the back of the building to diminish settling. We will have to wait to see how this works before we repair cracks in the brick. Ms. Elizabeth’s classroom walkway will consist of pebbles with stepping stones imbedded and will most likely be completed on Feb. 11 depending on parent participation. We do have access to the new fields and students have already been on them. We are planning along with neighborhood leaders to install two stations for bags for dog waste. This will also be a co-op job. The low spot in the walkway leading to the learning cottage will be addressed by installing a French drain around the area (work day job).

Every item that wasdiscussed concerning building and grounds is currently being addressed. However, some items will require extra fundswhich may not be available until the end of the year.

A finalnote: We all wonder what happened to winter! Even this week the temperatures are expectedto be well-above normal. This time lastyear I wrote about the loss of two days due to the snow, but so far Old Man Winterhas been kind to us. However, we are notout of the woods yet. I’m old enough toremember the blizzard of ’58, when I missed a week of school in the middle of April. It is likely that we will still have a weather-relatedclosing. So remember our procedure asoutlined in the parent handbook. Whenyou suspect we might be closed or have a delayed opening, tune in to WBAL TVand radio for an announcement about GMS. I will post it by 6:00 a.m. on the morning in question. If we have an early closing, we will alsopost it on WBAL as well as our web site. We will send out an e-mail blast and use the phone tree for thoseparents who have provided room parents with their information.

Ofwinter's lifeless world each tree
Now seems a perfect part;
Yet each one holds summer's secret
Deep down within its heart.
~Charles G. Stater

Cheers,

Steve

Weekly Message from Steve Warner, Head of School (January 30, 2012)

2012-01-30T19:54:00.000-05:00

GreetingsGreenMount Community,

On Saturday, Ms. Elaine and I presented at the 2^ndAnnual Progressive Schools Summit, held at City Neighbors Hamilton HighSchool. Our presentation focused on thework we have been doing to create a culture of excellence at our school. The workshop went well and our audience askeda lot of questions about our direction and how we were trying to inculcate theidea of excellence as an important part of the school culture. The discussion was very interesting and alsogave us pause to reflect on our success so far. We explained to our audience that cultural shifts in a school can takeyears to occur, and even though GreenMount students are generally the kind ofstudents who strive for excellence, it isn’t always obvious that this issomething that is intrinsic.

So today, I asked thestudents at our Monday Morning Meeting how theythink we are doing in our pursuit of a culture of excellence. I was pleased tolearn that they understand excellence as being the quality of work thatrepresents their best effort, and something they care about. Students also shared that their excellentwork is a result of the tools they have in their toolboxes. One youngerstudent expressed that each of us has a big tool in our toolbox that issomething for which they have a special talent. Several students then gave examples of those big tools that they possess,and it was interesting to hear what they thought were their special tools. Eachexample, by the way, was fodder for a discussion about why their special talentwas important. One student mentionedfencing as his special tool. Through questioning, it was determined that inorder to fence well, one must be disciplined and in good physicalcondition. When questioned by a teacherabout his acquisition of this skill, it became apparent that it took many triesto find success to be even considered adequate as a fencer.

Thisled to discussion of the fact that, in order to produce excellent work, ittakes many tries and failures before something becomes a permanent part of ourtoolboxes. I think that we are makinggood progress in this effort, and I encourage all parents to be part of thediscussion with your children. Here aresome important points to emphasize as you discuss excellence around the dinnertable:

Excellence represents that which you care deeply about and something that reflects the best you can do given the tools you have.
Many “drafts” or attempts to reach a goal are required before you can attain excellence.
Excellence can only be attained by establishing a value for the product.
Once a value is established and understood, it takes effort and hard work to achieve excellence.
All of us have special talents and creativity. We can attain excellence by using our best tools and improving others so that our toolbox becomes full of useful things.
Excellence comes as a result of trials, errors and, many times, disappointment.
We all have examples of achieving excellence. Share them with your children. Discuss how you used the tools in your toolbox to create an excellent product.

“Excellence is an art won by trainingand habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence,but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what werepeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” -Aristotle

Cheers,

Steve

Weekly Message from Steve Warner, Head of School (January 23, 2012)

2012-01-23T18:51:00.000-05:00

GreetingsGreenMount Community,

This morning, at our meeting with the students, we celebratedthe first day of the Chinese New Year. Thanks to Ms. Jen and her trip to China in the fall, each child receiveda red envelope with some real Chinese money in it. Ms. Laura’s kindergartners recited theChinese wish for a “healthy and prosperous new year,” which they spoke as “GungHay Fat Choy.” I also found that thefirst day of Chinese New Year is the day set aside for showing respect to one’selders. Being the oldest person in thisbuilding…well, we’ll see.

Also, as part of this morning’s meeting we talked alittle about the Ravens and their loss yesterday. I found it interesting that everyone is upsetwith Billy Cundiff and his missed field goal attempt, which ended the Raven’sseason. I talked to the students abouthis courage to come before the press after the game and assume responsibilityfor missing that kick and the result it had on the chances for a Super Bowlappearance. I was also impressed withhis statement about how he was going to use this experience to model for hischildren how to deal with failure, learn from it and move on. I thought what he said was even more powerfulthen he imagined. It certainly fitnicely into the conversation I had with the students the week before aboutfailing forward. Perhaps this is anotheropportunity for you to talk to your kids about team play, failures as a teamand the support a team member gets even when he lets the team down.

If you visit the gym any time soon, you will see that theclimbing wall project is under way. Wehad a great crew here on Saturday for workday, and not only was the climbingwall nearly completed, but the building looked great for the Open House onSunday, which was very successful considering the weather and the playoffgame. I think it is safe to say that weare now on the map. Thanks to you andour marketing and development initiatives, GreenMount is no longer the schoolno one has heard of. Twenty-six familiesvisited yesterday, and all seemed very pleased with what they saw andheard. As usual, our student guidesimpressed the visitors with their poise and understanding about theirschool. We also had parents here to helpwith the tours, including several board members. It is days like yesterday that remind me ofwhat a great school community we have here – parents helping with tedious jobsor big construction projects, students who are proud of their school leadingfamilies around, and a general sense of this as a happy place where childrenare growing into interesting, confident, creative people. Who wouldn’t love theatmosphere and the feeling we all share at GreenMount?

This is one of those momentsof reflection during which I realize how fortunate I am personally to havelanded here. Life has some interestingtwist and turns, but when you are my age and this is the result of whateverchoices you have made, you have to be content and feel that everything thathappened did so for a reason.

“Maybe Fate isn't the pond you swim in butthe fisherman floating on top of it, letting you run the line wild until youare weary enough to be reeled back in.” – Jodi Picoult

Cheers,

Steve

Weekly Message from Steve Warner, Head of School (January 17, 2012)

2012-01-17T07:39:00.000-05:00

GreetingsGreenMount Community,

This morning at our meeting with the students, we talkedabout failure. My goal was to have thestudents understand that failure is a necessary component of learning and ofultimate success. I surprised myself asI revealed my own personal and professional failures, ranging from the troubleI got into learning to ride a bike (I crashed into my neighbor’s car, a brandnew 1950 Ford convertible) to my unsuccessful attempts to emulate John Wayne’sequestrian skills to failing to reach the final four in the competition to bechosen for the Teacher in Space Program.

We all experience failure, probably on a daily basis. Butas adults, when we fail to get that project done on time or fail to resolvethat conflict with our partner, we move on and try again because our experiencehelps us to understand that it might take some time to resolve thatconflict. And we also understand thevalue of investing time, strategies and repeated efforts, so that failure doesnot occur and we can move on to the next challenge that life hands us. Kids don’t always get this. They are often discouraged by failure andhave a hard time seeing it as a pathway to learning. Teachers know that while a lot is learned aswe fail in life, failure itself is not necessarily the building block forsuccess. Success is. As a staff ofeducators we are always looking for those small wins upon which to build moresuccess. This is much more successful withchildren and adolescents than helping them realize that failure can be a goodthing. However, as adults, we must stillteach our children that it is through failure that we grow intellectually andemotionally. After all, failure usuallycomes when we try something new. Toavoid failure would be to avoid new experiences – to be safe in what weknow. So encourage your children tobuild on their successes, to value their failure, and to continue to try newthings.

“Farbetter is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even thoughcheckered by failure...than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoynor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victorynor defeat.” – Theodore Roosevelt

Next week, we will becelebrating the Chinese New Year. Eachday we will have a different activity, culminating with a morning-longcelebration on Thursday. If you wouldlike to help with any of the activities, please contact your child’s homeroomteacher to discuss what role you might take.

Cheers,

Steve

Weekly Message from Steve Warner, Head of School (January 9, 2012)

2012-01-09T04:27:00.000-05:00

GreetingsGreenMount Community,

As we approach the halfway point in the school year(January 25), it is time to revisit our goals for the year and evaluate ourperformance thus far. It’s time for a state-of-the-schoolappraisal.

The timing is good for this as this benchmark occurs onthe last day of parent conferences. These conferences are especially important because we must look at theprogress of each child and make plans for successful learning as we go forwardinto the second half. Teachers know thatthese conferences are important, which is why we are willing to relinquishclass time on these days to make sure that we have time for good conversationsand planning with parents. In order tomake these conferences effective andefficient, I recommend that you come prepared with specific questions and thatyou e-mail those questions to the teachers ahead of time so that they can beprepared to answer them. For ideas abouthow the conference should proceed, check the National PTA web site at http://www.pta.org/2532.htm.

Thesign-up sheets for conferences will be posted next week and you are encouragedto try to schedule conferences so that you can discuss your child’s progresswith several of his/her teachers at once. Even with 15 hours of conference time allotted over three days, you orthe teachers may find that you need additional time to complete yourdiscussions. This is why your planningfor the conference is so important. Ifyou have an agenda of what you would like to learn, it will be fairly easy foryou and the teacher to prioritize the topics and decide what can be discussedin a subsequent conference.

Another important benchmark around our halfway point isthe All Family Meeting on January 25 at 6:30 p.m. At this meeting, you will learn the board’sdecision about tuition for 2012-2013 and you will receive contracts for thecoming year. Similarly, teachers will beholding their mid-year goals conferences. At these conferences, teachersrevisit their three goals for the year and evaluate their progress in reachingthem. Goals for teachers areprofessional goals - ones which are designed to enhance their craft and buildon their knowledge of best practices. The goals are inextricably connected to your children’s success, whichis the result rather than the goalitself. In other words, what does ateacher need to learn to make his/her students more successful?

This is also the time of the year when the administrationevaluates its leadership effectiveness and the goals we have set for theyear. Also, the board evaluates myperformance based on my self-reflection and the input of board members.

So, you see, this is a time of reflection - a time whenwe look back…and forward. What have wedone well? What have we learned? How canwe improve? Where do we go from here?

Ihope you reviewed the vision statement that came home last week. It is the vision of what we hope to becomethat establishes our goals and the strategies to reach them. Look at the vision and think about itscomponents. Is this still the vision wehave for our school? Have we reached apoint where we envision loftier things for GreenMount? If you have suggestions concerning the vision,please contact me so that we may begin a discussion.

"If you do not know where you are going, every roadwill get you nowhere." - Henry Kissinger

Cheers,

Steve

Weekly Message from Steve Warner, Head of School (January 3, 2012)

2012-01-03T07:53:00.000-05:00

Greetings,GreenMount Community,

Welcome back, and Happy New Year! It was great to see the students this morning–they all seemed happy to be back in school (can you believe that?), andespecially happy to reconnect with their friends. The friendships that our students developwhile at GMS are the kind that I know from experience will last alifetime. Believe it or not, I stillhave several friends that I see regularly that were my friends from elementaryschool. In fact, we had our 10^thannual elementary school reunion last year. To see these people at least annually is a testament to how we connectedso many years ago. I certainly hope, andI do anticipate, that the kids here will have the same wonderful experience.

So, it’s 2012! Have you made all those resolutions? I recently heard that one should not make resolutions but rather setgoals. As we think about the brightfuture of The GreenMount School, we have some very specific goals for 2012. These goals are based on The GreenMountSchool Vision that is attached to this bulletin for your annual review. It is important that we consider the Vision often,for it is from the Vision that we derive our goals.

Ifwe look at the Vision for students, a clear goal is to constantly improve ourinstructional program and strengthen the skills of the teaching staff. One waywe will be doing that this year is by reviewing our science curriculum as acommittee of parents and teachers. Also,at our first staff meeting for 2012 on Friday, we will be reviewing the adultlearning that has taken place over the last year and setting goals for futureprofessional development based on what is best for your children. It is only through a strong, committed,learning faculty that we will continue to have a steady curve of improvementand refinement of best practices.

Agoal for parents is to facilitate communication and opportunities toparticipate effectively in the educational process and contribute to the healthof the school.

Theadministration will look for every opportunity to improve leadership skills inworking with students, parents, and teachers.

TheBoard of Trustees will provide supportive oversight of the school and monitorthe financial health of the school as it sets tuition rates and replenishes ourreserve fund for future growth and security.

“The majorreason for setting a goal is for what it makes of you to accomplish it. What itmakes of you will always be the far greater value than what you get.”

Jim Rohn

As expressed in the quote above,the staff at GMS believes that the process is often more important than theproduct. As we have seen with so many ofour students who go on to other educational experiences, they are well preparedto meet almost any challenge that faces them. This is because we value the learning experience above what is learned. The experience of reaching a goal as an individual or as a school iswhat will continue to make us an exceptional place for students and adults tolearn and grow to be capable, competent, contributing and confident. I look forward to this new year and wish eachof you happiness and satisfaction, especially as they relate to your child’slife as a GreenMountineer.

Cheers,

Steve

8th Grade Trip to Paul's Place‏ (from Mr. Fletcher)

2011-12-14T15:32:00.000-05:00

GMS Community:

I want to report back on our trip to Paul’s Place withour Eighth Grade. It was very successful. It was a successto a great extent because of the gifts that you sograciously donated. We stuffed the two cars we haddesignated for donation and still had more gifts, so we hadto put them into other cars. It was so wonderful and wethank you from the bottom of our hearts. You should haveseen the people at Paul’s Place when donations keptcoming out of our vehicles. Because of your kind donations,you all have made the lives of a lot of folks who need helpa bit easier. The staff at Paul’s Place would like tothank all of you for your generous giving especially in thistime of need as the weather gets colder. They said that wemust come from a “blessed community”. I toldthem that we do. I know I can always count on you when helpis needed. This is one of the reasons I feel privileged towork here.

Our students were amazing. We had students helping with jobsearches on computers, serving in the kitchen, and helpingwomen and children pick out clothes. The stories they cameback with were very touching. You would have all been proudof them. I know that I was. The staff at Paul’s Placealways tells me that they look forward to our studentsserving because they all come with a positive attitude andare willing to do whatever is asked of them. They treateveryone with kindness which is why they fit in so well withthe philosophy of Paul’s Place.

Again thanks to all of you for making our serving a hugesuccess on many levels.

Peace,

Mr.Fletcher

Weekly Message from Steve Warner, Head of School (December 12, 2011)

2011-12-12T15:28:00.000-05:00

Greetings GreenMount Community,

At today’s Monday Morning Meeting, Iasked the students to evaluate the song “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”. Wefirst had a quiz about how many reindeer there were (sorry, are), and then we took a look at thelyrics. We discussed how the reindeer violated our pillars! Indeed, they shouldbe sent to Santa for behavior reflections because they were not “being aware oftheir impact on others,” “treating others appropriately,” “showing commoncourtesy,” or “being inclusive.” Who would have thought that the reindeer couldbe so mean? At the end of the discussion, one of our students pointed out thatit all turned out because Rudolph became so famous. That led to a discussion ofhow people who have to overcome differences often do become leaders and famouspeople. Sometimes, the trials and tribulations of childhood and adolescencebuild character in people, and even reindeer.

Since this is the last newsletter to youbefore the long holiday, I want to express to you my sincere hope that yourholiday is filled with family, fun and friendship. Notice that I didn’t sayanything about presents or gifts. Age has a way of helping one appreciate thethings in life that truly matter and I certainly have had plenty of time todevelop that appreciation. Like most families, ours has had its share ofheartache and a healthy dose of good fortune. This year, distance and growingfamily commitments of children will leave my wife and me by ourselves for thefirst time on Christmas morning. As we discussed this fact, we quickly realizedthat we are fortunate that our children have found their partners in life, andwhile some still struggle, they are happy. We’ll see some of them later in theday and others later in the week. Nonetheless, it’s hard to let go of years ofa tradition that in hindsight was much more important than presents. Theblessing of family and friends is priceless and cannot be purchased at Wal-Mart,Target or even Nordstrom.

So, treasure the true gifts that youhave - your friends, family members and your children. Have a wonderful holidayand fill it with lasting memories. I remember eating Christmas dinner andwatching the tree slowly fall over onto the living room floor. My wife simplysaid, “Pass the potatoes,” and we all laughed. Lesson learned: If you put atree in the corner and put all the ornaments on the outside, gravity will doits thing. Simple physics.

"Duringholidays, leisure replaces work as a priority. You are filled with theenthusiasm to explore, travel and learn. So indulge in laziness. Spend timewith your loved ones and let your heart dance.” Roger Bannister

Cheers!

Steve

Weekly Message from Steve Warner, Head of School (December 5, 2011)

2011-12-05T20:24:00.000-05:00

Greetings GreenMount Community,

Today,at our Monday Morning Meeting, we discussed homelessness and the fact that morethan 4,000 men, women and children willbe homeless this holiday season. Weasked the students to imagine what it must be like to have no place to sleep, havelittle food and certainly none of the things that we use to enjoy life. We pointed to all of the things left in ourlost and found, which were laid out and literally filled the stage steps. I spoke of how fortunate we all are to haveso many things in addition to the basic needs, like the coats, sweaters andshirts that they have left for our lost and found. The point of this discussion was not to makeour students feel guilty about all they have, but to help them realize how youhave worked hard to provide your families with the comforts and enjoyment thatlife has to offer and that they need to be more responsible with the thingsthat they possess.

In asking the students to imagine what it must be like to behomeless, I realized that it must be hard for them to actually do that withoutsome frame of reference or experience. Iasked the students to close their eyes and imagine a polar bear. When asked to raise their hands if they couldsee a polar bear, they all did so. Theyknow what a polar bear looks like. ThenI asked them to keep their eyes closed and imagine the polar bear wearing agreen dress, roller skates and sunglasses. Immediately, they began to laugh at the sight they had created in theirminds. Then, with their eyes open again,I asked the students to tell me why they could imagine the polar bear with adress, roller skates and sunglasses. They seemed unsure, so I helped them by pointing out that they couldimagine this because I asked them to picture familiar things. Our imaginations can pull together anycombination of things that we know to create any number of images orscenarios. We discovered that we cannotimagine homelessness unless we had some experience with it. It’s not part of what we know. Teachers asked the students to imagine some aspectsof homelessness, like being cold, wet, hungry, sick, and afraid. This they understood, and I believe that theycame away with some sense of what homelessness must be like.

On Wednesday, Mr. Fletcher’s 8^thgrade students will be going to Paul’s Place to deliver the things that you andyour families have generously donated. If you have not done so yet, I encourage you to bring some of the itemsthat were noted on the flier you received last week in order to lessen the painof homelessness for the people our students will meet at Paul’s Place. Our students have had some wonderfulexperiences as part of their service learning, and the 8^th gradersespecially are gaining some understanding and skills that they will take withthem when they visit Costa Rica in the spring. There they will also help families in a village with a project designedto make their life better.

"Noact of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted." - Aesop

Cheers,

Steve

Weekly Message from Steve Warner, Head of School (November 28, 2011)

2011-11-28T20:52:00.000-05:00

Greetings GreenMount Community,

Ihope this morning’s message finds you happy about your long weekend, duringwhich we had some great weather, and the opportunity to share with yourfamilies. It seems to me that no otherholiday is more important to the idea of family than Thanksgiving. In that spirit, I must say that I am verythankful for the opportunity to be associated with so many fine families hereat GreenMount. The expression of familywas highlighted last Wednesday as we celebrated Grandparents and SpecialFriends’ Day. The grandparents andspecial friends that visit us each year bring a special quality to our schoolas they express their appreciation for their grandchildren and special youngfriends to attend a school that responds so positively to our students. Grandparents are especially gracious as theycompare their own school experiences to ours and can so easily see therelationship between what we do and the challenges that our students will faceafter they leave us for their next educational experiences, and life ingeneral.

On Wednesday, I spoke to ourvisitors about what we feel our students will need as they venture beyond thehallowed halls of GreenMount (okay, so we only have one hall). Consider what life was like just 20 yearsago. Think of all the technology thathas changed the way we live. It was onlya very short time ago that a phone’s primary function was to contact people whowere located remotely. Now the phone hasto talk to you, tell you where you are on the planet, play games, store moredata than the 1969 Lunar Lander, and take pictures and video that can beinstantly transmitted anywhere in the world. What will the next 20 years have in store for us?!

According to futurists, we have noidea. We have undergone a paradigm shiftin the last 20 years that some compare to the Enlightenment, when people likeGalileo and DaVinci were changing how we think and act. These shifts in culture have occurred overlong periods of time, the last of which was perhaps the IndustrialRevolution. But now, technology hasaccelerated our ability to learn and store knowledge. The next shift may come in just 10 years,about the time our 8^th graders are just beginning their careers,which will change as many as eight times over the course of their lives. Notice that I did not say “jobs,” but rather“careers.” Those futurists now predictthat our new “silent generation” will actually change their careers severaltimes in their lifetimes. And they maynot retire until they are 85!

At GreenMount, we are aware of the needto help our students think creatively and provide them with opportunities toexplore problem solutions deeply. However, we must work constantly to improve our craft to meet futureneeds for our students that are yet undefinable. For now, we will continue to stimulatethinkers. Voltaire, Rousseau, andMontesquieu would agree.

No problem can withstand theassault of sustained thinking. ~Voltaire

Cheers,

Steve

Weekly Message from Steve Warner, Head of School (November 21, 2011)

2011-11-21T20:45:00.000-05:00

GreetingsGreenMount Community,

Whatdoes it take to produce an excellent theme culmination event? On Friday, you witnessed our studentsperforming, debating, drilling and singing about a time in our history that wasconsumed by a great war. How was it thatthey were able to demonstrate their learning so well and address a topic thatcentered around a terrible time in our nation’s history?

The first step in planning for atheme event begins with a staff meeting in June to decide on the three theme topicsfor the year. At these meetings we workto find themes that will build upon knowledge and skills that our studentsalready have and to find ones that will engage them experientially andauthentically. This is often a difficulttask, especially when you have a staff that is brimming with ideas.

Choosing the Civil War caused a greatdeal of discussion because of the nature of war and the fact that children,especially our youngest ones, may have difficulty with some of the conceptsthat would naturally evolve from a discussion of such a time. When our theme topic was agreed upon, webegan to plan for how the theme event might look. We typically begin with the end in mind sothat we can decide on what we need to do to get there.

Once we had a general idea of thecontent and what the theme event might contain, someone had to write thetheme. The job of putting everythingtogether for our history theme always goes to Mr. Fletcher, whose knowledge ofhistory gets us started. He wrote thehistory theme over the summer, giving suggestions to each grade level foractivities and experiences that they may have to understand the timeperiod. When we met again in August, Mr.Fletcher produced his theme in a written format for each teacher, and we spentseveral hours discussing how his suggestions might be adapted for each gradelevel. It was then up to each teacher touse the new guide to plan for activities and learning that was appropriate fortheir students.

Then, at every staff meeting between thebeginning of the year and the theme event, we shared how we are eachimplementing the ideas laid out in the planning guide. At least an hour of every staff meeting wasspent doing this. As the trimester unfolded,the theme event began to take shape and the ideas kept coming about how to bestdemonstrate learning. Once we determinedthe scope of the theme event, teachers became very focused with their studentson the parts they will play. Finally,students and teachers worked to create props, scenery, costumes (with a lot ofhelp from parents), and scripts. Thestudents participating in debates spent hours researching their points of viewand preparing for questions they would be asked. Those in plays rehearsed, and then rehearsedsome more. Art work was completed overthe trimester that complemented the theme and represented the time period ofstudy.

Finally, on the day of the theme event,anxious students (and teachers!) prepared to give you their very best. They marched, debated, sang, danced, acted,made bandages, and even treated some “wounded” parents in the fieldhospital. A dramatic ending with parentparticipation capped off a successful event, one which students will longremember.

In his book, Out of Our Minds, Sir Ken Robinson states that the role ofeducation today must be implemented in three domains. The first domain is Individual. In theindividual domain we are to develop individual talents and sensibilities. In the Culturaldomain we must deepen our students understanding of the word. And in the Economic domain we need to provide the skills required to earn aliving and be economically productive. At GreenMount, we do these things, and the theme event is proof positivethat we do them well. Think about how theopportunities your children have to develop their individual talents, how theygain understanding of the world in which we live, and how they are gaining theacademic skills to be productive citizens. The theme event is like the pasta sauce – it’s all in there.

Cheers,
Steve

Weekly Message from Steve Warner, Head of School (November 14, 2011)

2011-11-14T20:23:00.000-05:00

GreetingsGreenMount Community,

OnFriday, for Community Day, one our parents, Jim Pietila, joined us to talkabout Veterans’ Day. The students weretreated to a unique display of uniforms and equipment that Captain Pietila usedin his career as a United States Marine. His was an interesting history, going from a sailor in the Navy to theNaval Academy to study atomic reactors, to the Marine Corps to pilot C-130transport aircraft. After his discussionabout serving our country, students tried on uniforms and posed for picturesthat you can find on our Facebook page. This activity was fun for the students, but also pointed out theimportance of recognizing veterans for their service. Today, we concluded the activities in ourMonday Morning Meeting, at which the students were given cards to complete forour Wounded Warriors recovering at Walter Reed Hospital in Bethesda, MD. We talked about the persistence of theseindividuals as they struggle to recover from their wounds while remainingpositive and looking forward to productive lives. Some actually return to the military tocontinue to serve in whatever capacity they can. These are truly special individuals, and thismorning we had a good discussion about them.

We have a lot of good news to sharetoday. Friday was a very special daybecause we had a chance to attend and celebrate the wedding of Ms. Tanza andher new husband, Joe. It was a greatwedding and it was obvious that Joe and Tanza were meant for each other. It was my pleasure to share a table with ourstaff members and to do so in a setting that had none of the academic orchild-centered activities that monopolize our days at GMS. Sitting around that table, I realized what aspecial group of people we have accumulated here at GreenMount. We have known for a long time that they aregreat teachers. But on Friday it was funto see them just as a group of really nice people who support each other and interactpositively in every way. I am veryfortunate to be the head of a school with such a wonderful group ofindividuals.

Our other wonderful news is thatElaine and her husband, Ed, are adopting a baby as of Friday. Her name is Piper, and we are all thrilledfor the new parents. (Can’t you imagine what a great mom Elaine will be?) Elainewill be on an extended leave of absence as required by her adopting agency, andshe has been working night and day to make arrangements for the completion ofall her duties in her absence. She willbe communicating with all of you this week about details of her great fortuneand what we can expect in her absence. Naturally, that special staff I described will all be working togetherto make sure that her tasks are managed and successfully completed.

Don’t forget our theme event on Friday. We are hustling and bustling around here toget things ready for you, and I know that you will be impressed with what yourchildren have learned about the Civil War and the time period from 1820 to1870.

"A friend is one to whom one maypour out all the contents of one's heart, chaff and grain together, knowingthat the gentlest of hands will take and sift it, keep what is worth keepingand with a breath of kindness blow the rest away."
- Arabian Proverb

Cheers,

Steve

Weekly Message from Steve Warner, Head of School (November 7, 2011)

2011-11-07T09:41:00.000-05:00

GreetingsGreenMount Community,

Twoweeks ago, I was happy to share with you the fact that our 6^th – 8^thgrade students received rave reviews from our guides during our trip toGettysburg. And now I can report to youthat we have received similar accolades from our guest presenters at our lasttwo Community Day events. David Wright, ofGWWO, Inc./Architects, visited GMS on Friday, October 28, to talk about theAmerican impressionist painter, Thomas Moran, who painted during the timeperiod that included the Civil War. Thanks to Kirsten and Mark Lapointe, who arranged for our guest, we weretreated to an impressive slide show along with signed works of Mr. Moran.

Our students were engaged and excellentlisteners during the presentation; afterward,Mr. Wright complimented thestudents and expressed how impressed he was with their responses andquestions. Mr. Wright did an excellentjob of exciting the students about Thomas Moran’s art, but he gave due creditto our students for their attention and obvious curiosity. Likewise, our guest the following week, CharlesHawley, a Civil War re-enactor, was also very impressed with the knowledge onthe subject of even some of our youngest students. “I have been to many Maryland schools andnever had (seen) the knowledge and attention displayed by your students,”stated Mr. Hawley. “Congratulations on awonderful job.” Our visit to theMaryland Historical Society last Wednesday resulted in similar compliments forour students and, of course, our teachers. It is obvious to all of these folks that our theme studies program,headed by Ms. Laura, Ms. Tanza, Mr. Fletcher and the rest of our staff, isexceptional in scope and supported by an ethic of excellence that is indeedbecoming part of how we live and breathe around here. I couldn’t be more proud of our teachers andour students!

Someannouncements:

Many of you are already aware thatMs. Charita is leaving us after Thursday to have back surgery, and we certainlywish her the best. We had arranged for along-term substitute for the rest of the year, but unfortunately, that personcalled late last week to cancel as she had found a full-time position. I wasout of town on Friday and contacted Ms. Elaine, who did an excellent job ofimmediately posting our opening on the AIMS web site. This morning, I have been calling each of the12 candidates that have already applied for this position. Many of them have impressive resumes, and wehave already started interviewing the applicants (three today). I will select the best candidate by the endof the day on Wednesday, and that person will start on Monday.

While in Connecticut this weekend, Isaw many TV promotions concerning a nation-wide test of the Emergency BroadcastSystem. It will commence at 2:00 p.m. onWednesday and run concurrently across the country. The reality is that this broadcast may notwarn the audience that it is just a test. So don’t get all War of the Worlds-panickyif the test sounds genuine…

Actually, it will sound genuine. It’s a genuine test.

Cheers,

Steve

Weekly Message from Steve Warner, Head of School (November 1, 2011)

2011-11-01T19:45:00.000-04:00

Greetings,GreenMount Community,

Yesterday,the staff attended the Association of Independent Schools of Maryland and D.C.(AIMS) conference, and it appears from their comments that this was the bestannual conference ever. Our keynotespeaker, Sir Kenneth Robinson, an internationally-renowned expert in the fieldof creativity and innovation in business and education, piqued the interest ofour GreenMount teachers. Indeed, his wasan inspiring and entertaining presentation. You can see Sir Robinson in a Ted Talks presentation at http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html. Part of what he talked about with us isdiscussed in this presentation, and it speaks to the value of a school likeours, where we celebrate ideas and creativity.

Here at GMS, not only do we fostercreativity in our students, but we encourage it in our teachers as well. This is one important reason why our teachershave made the choice to be on our staff, as opposed to one in another schoolwhere they might be stifled by a linear curriculum and a data-driven, test-orientedcurriculum. Speaking of which, did youknow that Finland is one of the top three educational systems in theworld? Did you know that they do not usestandardized tests? Perhaps they canteach us something…..

Other workshops and presentationsthroughout the day gave our teachers a wide variety of experiences. Before the conference, teachers had discussedthe workshops they hoped to attend, and we made sure that we had representationat most of the workshops that would be of benefit to us. This Friday, at our staff meeting, we willreport back to each other about the sessions we attended and share new ideas. Mr. Fletcher and Ms. Elizabeth honored ourschool in a session entitled “Are We There Yet with Gay/Straight Alliances?” Mr. Fletcher was the presenter, along with apanel of high school students, and Ms. Elizabeth was the presider. Mr. Fletcher serves on an AIMS committee onthis subject and has contributed a lot of time, energy and ideas to helpingindependent schools support students in establishing gay/straight alliancesthat foster understanding and cooperation. We are indeed proud that our school was represented so well.

I hope that you realize the value ofthe kind of professional development that we experienced yesterday. This is how we keep on top of our game asadult learners and how we work to improve the instructional program for yourchildren. So far this year, you have hadto make arrangements to accommodate two full days of our professionaldevelopment, and I want you to know that your support is appreciated. I also appreciate the fact that our staff canfunction as a professional learning community every Friday. This is an important part of our professionaldevelopment and how our school continues to improve.

I’ll end today with a story told by SirKen that illustrates the natural creativity of children:

“I heard agreat story recently, I love telling it, of a little girl who was in a drawinglesson. She was 6, and she was at the back, drawing, and the teacher said thislittle girl hardly paid attention, [though] in this drawing lesson she did. Theteacher was fascinated and she went over to her and she said, ‘What are youdrawing?’ And the girl said, ‘I’m drawing a picture of God.’ And the teachersaid, ‘But nobody knows what God looks like.’ And the girl said, ‘They will ina minute.’”

Cheers,

Steve

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

2011-10-24T19:59:00.000-04:00

Greetings,GreenMount Community,

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

On a wet and cold battlefield where the6^th Wisconsin overwhelmed Confederate forces in a railroad cut, ourstudents walked and marched in their footsteps, covering the 300 yards from thebase of Seminary Ridge to the railroad cut, which remains there today. The students were impressed with theexperience, and I think many of them felt some measure of what it must havebeen like for the 490 or so Union troops who began the assault. It was also impressive to see them look backover that battlefield and picture the 220 soldiers who did not complete the 300-yard,45-minute journey.

The experiential process for thesestudents began days prior at school, where they were familiarized with the 6^thWisconsin and practiced the drill and ceremony that were required in order toperform as a cohesive unit. They familiarizedthemselves with the qualities of leadership that resulted in this decisivevictory and impressed the park ranger with their extensive knowledge of theCivil War and leadership.

Later in the day, a different guide tookus to several other sites where the students experienced numerous authenticactivities of the period, such as loading and firing a cannon and mimicking themost decisive battle of Gettysburg, Pickett’s Charge. Going from site to site, our guide, aprofessor 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 toexplore Little Round Top, our guide pulled me aside and asked about ourschool. He was curious about ourstudents. “Why is it that they can havesuch an understanding and knowledge about this place?” he asked. I outlined our curriculum and our approach tolearning. I explained that we give ourstudents the time and space to learn and delve deeply into ourunderstandings. I told him about ourtheme studies approach and how we encourage independent research and projectsso that our students will come away from each theme as learners, curious tocontinue their exploration of the theme and all that it contains.

When the students were back on the busand we were headed back to the visitor center, our guide complimented ourstudents, saying that he was very impressed with them and that he had includedmany aspects of his talk that he would have saved for college or high schoolstudents. He was genuinelyimpressed. I was, too. Our students were attentive, participatory,and anxious to ask thoughtful, provoking questions. In every way our students displayedexcellence. I am very proud of them andteachers like Mr. Fletcher, whose passion for history excites students and armsthem with understandings that demonstrate its importance.

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

Cheers,

Steve

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

2011-10-17T18:58:00.000-04:00

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

GreetingsGreenMount Community,

Who are we? With the upcoming Open House event onSaturday, it is important that our message to prospective families is accurateand consistent. We enjoy talking aboutthe fact that we allow our students to develop “deep smarts” and that we arenot constricted by a state-mandated curriculum that is “a mile wide and an inchdeep.” Indeed, we do allow our studentsto find areas of interest and to explore them in depth with the objective ofhaving them become curious, reflective learners. I should mention that we do reference thestate curriculum a great deal because our students ultimately end up in publicschool at the high school level. Butunlike public schools, we are not constrained by the Voluntary StateCurriculum. We can pause along its K-8highway to create projects and experiences for our children for which the VSChas little time allotted. We are happywith our ability to make these kinds of choices for students.

When we talk to others about ourclasses being multi-aged, do we all know what we are talking about? Is it simply that we group students ofdifferent ages together because we like the idea of kids at different gradelevels together? Actually, there is alot 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 website for multi-age education and at which other information on the subject canbe found. When this school was startedin the basement of a church, the whole school was one group of just a fewchildren. As the school grew, thefounders saw the advantages of the multi-age concept and continued to form classesin this way. In the article referencedabove, the author states: “A commonbelief is that multiage classrooms benefit the younger age group, butshort-change the older students. This couldn't be further from the truth! Frommy experience as a multiage teacher and mother, it is the oldest age group thatbenefits the most in a multiage class. They have the benefit of continuingtheir learning with the same teacher, of developing leadership positions withinthe class community and of reflecting on their academic progress as theyrevisit basic concepts with their younger classmates. The more advanced studentis freed from the constraints of a graded curriculum when the teacher isdesigning a program from a child centered perspective. At the same time, childrenthat would struggle in a traditional graded classroom experience success whengiven more choice in the level of dailyactivities. An experienced multiage teacher learns to provide a balance ofchallenge and success for all students.”

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

Finally, I would like to thank theparents who came to the Adjunct Back to School Night. These 15 parents were able to hear directlyfrom the teachers who teach our Keystone programs and came away with a betterunderstanding of their value to the overall program. I am sorry that more parents with concernswere unable to make it. We also had ourfirst parent meeting on Thursday last, attended by seven parents who were thereto ask questions and suggest ideas. Although poorly attended, we had a good discussion and it is hoped thatat least some small portion of our parent community came away with some usefulinformation. Perhaps more of you will beable to attend our next get-together.

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

At some point, your children will find ways to keepyou out of the schoolhouse. Come nowwhile you still can.

Cheers,

Steve

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

2011-10-10T18:55:00.000-04:00

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

Greetings, GreenMount Community,

One powerful aspectof the GreenMount School community is that our parents model the importance of being involved inschool. 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 theirchildren and their education.

Second,parents are active. They are doing something that is observable. Thiscombination of parent commitmentand active participation is what makes an “involved” parent.”

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

Actually, I think that most kids don’tgive this much thought. What? As I think about it, it seems probable thatour 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 aminute, I’m going to interrupt some students to ask them about parentinvolvement…..

Okay, I asked some students across thehall what they thought about parent involvement. As I suspected, they don’t give it muchthought. However, when I asked them whatthey would think if parents were not in the school a lot, they said it would be“weird.” One student remarked that shewould be disappointed if substitutes were not parents. She said that she feels comfortable and safewhen parents are in the classrooms. Aswe work to create an ethic of excellence in our school, we can learn from theethic of parent involvement. It’s partof who we are, and it is expected. Andthat’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 thisweek: the Co-op Corner. The firsttrimester ends in six weeks. At thattime, every parent should have completed at least 10 hours of co-op work. Please contact Ms. Elaine to review your jobpreferences or to make a job assignment. There’s always plenty to do in a schoolhouse where 98 studentsand 17 adults spend a large portion of their day.

Announcements:

There will be ameeting of those parents wanting to contribute to our current theme on Thursdayat 4:30 p.m. If you have some Civil Warknowledge or information to share, please feel free to join us.

Please don’tforget Adjunct Back to School Night tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. (agendaattached). Our adjunct teachers are eagerto explain their programs to you, and I hope you will come to show your supportfor them.

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

Cheers,

Steve

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

2011-10-04T18:53:00.000-04:00

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

Greetings, GreenMount Community,

Weheld our weekly morning meeting with the students today because of the fieldtrip yesterday. We had a good discussionreflecting on the field trip and talking about excellence in the context ofit. Students were able to point out howthey were excellent in that they felt that they were attentive and showedrespect to the park rangers and others who gave presentations. One of our younger students pointed out thatthe presenter at Ford’s Theater was excellent because he was interesting andknew what he was talking about. Thisprompted another discussion about how that presenter came to be soknowledgeable and effective. The students got the idea that it takespractice and doing something many times in order to be able to achieve excellence. It was easy to relate that idea to schoolwork and working things over many times in order to achieve an excellentproduct. Our students are fortunate tobe at GreenMount, where they have “the time and space to learn” and the abilityto work on several iterations of a product.

Wealso 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 GreenMountstudent. 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 wasgenerated from that conversation.

Canyou believe that all this was discussed in just 10 minutes? Ask your child sometime about the morningmeeting. I would like to get somefeedback as to how the students feel about these times together.

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

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

Cheers,

Steve

Weekly Message from Steve Warner, Head of School (September 26, 2011)

2011-09-26T18:50:00.000-04:00

Each week Head of School, Steve Warner, addresses GreenMountparents in a weekly letter. This is his letter from September 26, 2011.

Greetings, GreenMount Community,

Thismorning, at our Monday Morning Meeting, I talked to the students about beingactive listeners and engaged learners, which are numbers 3 and 4, respectively,under our Academic Pillars. I received somegood responses and even though it was Monday morning, they were, in fact, beingactive listeners. Some students definedactive listening as using your mind to think about what you are hearing. Another student mentioned that to demonstrateactive listening you should be quiet and make eye contact with thespeaker. Still another student pointedout that active listening is also showing respect. These excellent comments came from studentsat all levels from kindergarten to middle school. I was very proud of how they are developing thesecore learning behaviors.

Whentalking about engaged learning, several students gave examples of when they havefelt engaged and interested in what they were learning. Teachers also chimed in with examples oftimes when they saw children engaged. Itwas a very good 10-minute meeting.

Somewhatapropos of this is an interesting article that a parent sent to me this morning. It is based on research that was donecomparing the achievement of students in a very exclusive private school tothat of students from low-income families. I will need to read this again for more detail, but the result of theresearch was that, while the “rich kids” did well academically and got intogreat schools, they often floundered and ended up dropping out, whereas the “poorkids” who got to college had a much better shot at graduating. Though surprising, it is understandable whenyou realize that those low-income families really had to work hard andpersevere in order to get their children into college in the first place. The research showed that while the privateschool kids had a great deal of support, it was that enabling that may have ledthem to crash the first time they had to survive on their own. The students from the low-income familiesknew what it meant to work hard and overcome obstacles so that when they facedthem in college, they were able to handle them. According to the researchers, allof this exemplifies the importance of character. Students with strongcharacter will live happier, more productive lives and be able to handle thoseproblems that life throws at us from time to time.

So where does GreenMount fit into thisscheme of things? We are very diverse,with families of many income levels and a school where we value many of thecharacter traits that lead our students to become independent learners. We focus on many of the character traitsmentioned in the article through our Pillars. It is good to know that in many ways we are teaching our students thatto struggle and fail occasionally (and what to do next) is going to help themas they become more and more independent people. It will also be a good idea for us to keepthe idea of character education, as we have and to perhaps use some of theideas from the article to enrich our efforts.

Mythanks to parents who share their ideas and research as we continue to findways to make our program at GMS better each day.

“If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If youdon't have integrity, nothing else matters.” - Alan Simpson

Cheers,

Steve

Weekly Message from Steve Warner, Head of School (September 19, 2011)

2011-09-19T18:48:00.000-04:00

Each week Head of School, Steve Warner, addressesGreenMount parents in a weekly letter. This is his letter from September 19,2011.

Greetings GreenMount Community,

Theremust be a high-pressure system over us today. Students, parents, AND teachers were just shuffling in as we began theday among many yawns and sighs. And this is our first full week of school! Later, however, I visited every classroom,and things are chugging along quite nicely.

Alsothis morning, I had a good discussion about excellence with the students at theMonday Morning Meeting. We talked aboutthe first bulleted item under the Academic Pillar, which states, “put forth mybest effort.” How many times have we, asteachers and parents, told our children to “do your best” and “try to do yourbest”? What does that mean? As adults, we understand that if kids oradults give something their best effort, it is likely that they will besuccessful. Just like many of you havereached some pinnacle of success, you can look back and see that the success isbased largely on the effort – the time and energy you put into your goals thatled to success. But was it simply amatter of doing your best, or was it more than that? At some point, did you realize that your workhad to be more than just a result of your best effort? Did your best effort result inexcellence?

Today,we talked about the fact that sometimes we call our work our best effort justto be done with it and move on to the next thing. Sometimes, our “best effort” is simply justgetting things done. The studentsadmitted that, sometimes, something they acknowledged as their best effort maynot have actually been excellent. Thenthe conversation led to a discussion of what it means to have done excellentwork. One student said that excellentwork shows that you are committed; that you are determined to “do yourbest.” Another said that excellent work demonstrates that you care about whatyou do. Ms. Elaine added that excellentwork requires many revisions as she described her attempts to draw the Lorax, afavorite Dr. Seuss character. Theanalogy was a good one because her final product, not yet completed to hersatisfaction, will show a commitment to getting it right and her caring forproducing something that is excellent.

So,how are our students to be led to think consistently about creating excellentwork? First, they need the vocabulary tounderstand what we are talking about and then they need the tools to do thejob. Parents built an excellent deck forour learning cottage. They werecommitted to quality, cared about the final product, and were willing to dothings over until they reached their goal. Our staff is working to develop the language of excellence that we allcan speak. Today, that language camefrom the students. Let’s all talk aboutbeing committed to quality work. Let’sall talk about caring about that which we produce. And let’s all be willing torefine our work until it is indeed excellent. If parents and teachers are all speaking the same language, and if weare all providing our students with the tools they need, excellence will becomethe standard that is not just a word, but an ethic.

“Desireis the key to motivation, but it's determination and commitment to anunrelenting pursuit of your goal - a commitment to excellence - that willenable you to attain the success you seek.” - Mario Andretti

“Wantof care does us more damage than want of knowledge.” - Benjamin Franklin

Cheers,

Steve

Weekly Message from Steve Warner, Head of School (September 12, 2011)

2011-09-12T18:46:00.000-04:00

Each week Head of School, Steve Warner, addressesGreenMount parents in a weekly letter. This is his letter from September 12,2011.

GreetingsGreenMount Community,

In last week’s message, I mentionedthe book that our staff read, An Ethic ofExcellence Building a Culture of Craftsmanship with Students by RonBerger. It occurred to me that it mightbe very interesting if some parents also read the book and then came togetherat school to discuss it. Our staffdiscussions are very engaging and the ideas are flying around. I think it would be helpful if parents hadthe opportunity to join the conversation as well. We have so many knowledgeable parents, someof whom are educators themselves, who could add to our process as we unfold theideas presented in the book. Additionally, as this is the fifth year of our current vision document,it is time to revisit that vision to see if we are on course. So, let me know if you are interested, and Iwill arrange some times at school when we can get together to have a “booktalk” and possibly contribute significantly to the direction of the school.

One of the things that Ron Bergerdiscusses in his book is the idea of creating a culture of craftsmanship. In his small school, children work and reworkprojects and other assignments until they are considered excellent (by thestudent) and worthy of publication or display. When you were in school and your teacher asked you to try again and todo another draft of a piece of writing, what did that mean to you? It usually meant that your first draft wasn’tgood enough. And how did you feel aboutthat? In Berger’s school, the culture ofcraftsmanship is part of every student’s mind set. There is no such thing as asecond draft; they know and accept the fact that their first draft will needrevision. In fact, they expect to havefour or more drafts before their work is excellent. And what happens in between drafts islearning – learning by critique, not only from the teacher, but from classmatesas well. I thought about that and realized that in my writing, I often havethree or four drafts. Even a two-lineemail gets at least two reads before I hit “send.” Of course, sometimes there are stillmistakes, which is why it is important to have another set of eyes reviewcorrespondence that is especially important. The administrative staff does this for each other often. So, consider joining us as we explore theways to create this culture in our school, a place where I believe we arealready leaps and bounds ahead of the conventional thinking about excellence.

Speaking of excellence, I will saythat most of our teachers are well beyond their first draft as professionals. However, we all know that each of us needs toimprove. Some say that there is nothingnew under the sun in education. I saythat teaching and learning is always new and exciting. If we are to continue to create learners atGMS, we must grow with them as adult learners, reading books, trying new ideas,and using research and outside resources to improve our craft. As we work to build a culture ofcraftsmanship with students, we will do the same as educators. I’m so excited about this year!

“There is no passion to be found inplaying small – in settling for a life that is less than what you are capableof living." - Nelson Mandela

Cheers,

Steve

Weekly Message from Steve Warner, Head of School (September 6, 2011)

2011-09-06T18:40:00.000-04:00

Each week Head of School, Steve Warner, addressesGreenMount parents in a weekly letter. This is his letter from September 6,2011.

GreetingsGreenMount Community,

WELCOME BACK! This morning, our families finally returned fromwhat I hope was a productive and enjoyable summer vacation. It was great to see the students all cleanedup and eager to begin a new year. Itfelt good for me to be out there in the gated area listening to the excitement,watching kids reunite and laugh. Aschool is but a hollow shell without children, and now we feel fulfilled as 100students flow into the building and we anticipate that this will be one ofGreenMount’s best years ever.

The summer has been busy as many ofyou know firsthand. The learning cottageis up and running with all the appropriate approvals and permits hanging on thewindow. It was at times an arduous taskto get this building ready for students, but with the help of many parents andour dedicated staff, we are ready to begin the year. As late as yesterday, staff members andparents were here putting the final touches on classrooms so that studentswould feel welcomed and happy to be back. We are certainly happy to see them.

This year is going to be a year ofchange and polishing. All of you havechosen to bring your children here because of our philosophy and the communityof learners that GMS fosters. And todate we have done well creating a love of learning and that inquisitive spiritthat our students typically have. Thisyear, we are focusing our efforts on excellence. Our school is at that point where anorganization can become an institution, where ideas and ideals are shared in anunspoken understanding of who we are and what we believe. The staff summer reading was a book called An Ethic of Excellence Building a Culture ofCraftsmanship with Students by Ron Berger. Our summer staff development and all subsequent staff development forthe year will be based on this book. Wewill also be sharing many of the ideas in the book with the students to createan understanding and a quest for excellence. The author explains through his experiences as a teacher in a small townin Massachusetts how he was able to create a culture in the school wherestudents are never satisfied until they feel that they have created anexcellent product in their work. Ourgoal this year will be to create that spirit at GMS and to have our studentsunderstand the value of excellent work.

The good news is that at GMS wealready have much of this ethic in place. This is why we chose to use this book as a way of improving our programfor all of our students. I encourage youto purchase a copy of the book so that you too can understand our direction andcontribute to it. I will be informingyou weekly through this newsletter of our progress as well as more specificideas from the book about which teachers are excited.

The next time you visit my office,please notice the picture of the eagle hanging as it has for the last five years. You may have seen the picture, but did youread the words?

E X C E L L E N C E

“Excellence is the result of caring morethan others think is wise; risking more than others think is safe. Dreaming more than others practical andexpecting more than others think is possible”

“Excellent!” - Wayne

Cheers,

Steve

GreenMount School Growing In The Face of Declining Enrollments

2011-03-28T09:56:00.002-04:00

Two years ago the GreenMount School invested in a study to determine our sustainability and how we could be better at attracting families. The result of the study indicated that our best tool for letting the public know who we are is good old word-of-mouth advertising. We knew that most of our students had come here because families talked to each other and in most cases had good things to say about their children's experiences at our school. The year before that study we had 68 students enrolled in grades 1-8. Today we are looking at starting the next school year with nearly 100. This dramatic growth occurred because we added a kindergarten and we enriched our ability to communicate our mission, vision, values, and goals. In a time when most private schools are facing unprecedented declines in enrollment, we are certainly bucking that trend. Part of the reason for our success is the fact that in addition to the unique curriculum we offer that helps to create students that are leaners rather than learned, we offer all of this at substantially lower tuition rates than other independent schools. We are in a good place today. But that does not guarantee that we will retain our enviable position. For to do that, we must also retain the students that we have. Families today are very cognizant of the need for their children to learn competitively and to be well prepared for the next step in the educational process. Our focus today is on the curriculum and making sure that it is meaningful, authentic and engaging. Changes will occur at GreenMount over the next few years. We continually access our use of space, our technology needs and what learning processes our students are gaining. The focus of each professional development meeting every Friday afternoon is on supporting our philosophy and making sure that we are providing the best instructional program we can. As an AIMS school we are proud of our short, but successful heritage. However, we will not rest on our laurels and be content with our program. The world is moving too fast to remain idling. The GreenMount School is in "drive" and we will continue to improve every day. Our mantra: "Win small, win early, win often". Ask a GreenMountaineer about our school and visit to see for yourself.

Theme Culmination

2011-02-25T11:47:00.000-05:00

Once again we have experienced another successful culminating theme event. I must say how proud I am of all of our students as they displayed their learning during this historical theme. We heard from some parents that they were very impressed with the event and with how well the students conducted themselves. I am also very proud of our teachers as they worked together in the most cooperative spirit to plan for the teaching and also making sure that the theme event was something that the students will remember. These theme events are important to our learners because they provide an authentic experience that we will all remember. How many experiences from your schooling (other than going to the principal's office) can you remember that had anything to do with your learning? Most of us can recall very little that had the kind of lasting effect that a theme event will recall. I remember starting the boiler at Poly when I was a student there. It was something that we had to do as part of an engineering course and I will always remember that experience because if we had failed, the school on North Avenue would have been cold (or so we were told) . Other than going to the principal's office (as a messenger, of course), this is about all I can recall as an experience in my formal education. I think our students have many opportunities to have experiences that will last a lifetime. More importantly, the experiences are giving them the confidence and skills to be leaders in high school, college and in the world of work.

    I recently read an article in which the author was longing for the day when we got back to teaching students how to speak. In his words, "it isn't the resume that gets you the job, it's the interview". Even though we write a lot, we still communicate orally much more. So, what do we offer at GreenMount? If you were here on Friday, you know the answer to that question.

    I was also impressed on Friday with parents who, when given the opportunity to provide feedback to the students, did so very eloquently. I think that parents' comments about the students' work in this setting have a greater impact than mine. The students expect me to say nice things and may consider this lip service, even if this is not part of their vocabulary. Students did speak to me about the parents' comments and I know from their comments that they appreciated that kind of support and critique. Therefore, you have established a new procedure for the theme event. As I close each of these events in the future, I am going to ask for audience feedback. I know that this will not be a task for parents and the students will love it as they did on Friday.

    Our next theme is 'Attention GreenMount Shoppers!' - a financial literacy study. Please be thinking about how your expertise might be something that you could contribute to make this yet another successful theme.

Cheers,

Steve