Greetings,
GreenMount Community,
Have I told all of you how excited I
am about this year? If not, let me
proclaim my great enthusiasm for where we are headed as a school and where we
have come from in just a few years.
We continue to add amazing students and families and
this year is no exception. As the staff gets to know the new students and their
families, we find ourselves beaming with the possibilities that they
bring. The students are fitting in very
nicely with our “veterans” who have, by the way, been exceptional in their
inclusiveness by going out of their way to be welcoming. Our new parents bring a wealth of unique
experiences that we look forward to sharing with other community members and
the students.
As we celebrate our growth over 20 years
and the quality of the program we now provide, we must still remember that we
are continuing to strive to create a culture of excellence as defined for us
four years ago by Ron Berger in his book, An
Ethic of Excellence. After reading
the book, the staff has worked to implement many of his ideas, as they seem to
fit nicely with our definition of project-based and experiential learning.
The students too have become familiar with what it
means to produce excellent work as demonstrated in today’s Monday Morning
Meeting. When asked about some of the
vocabulary of excellence, I was genuinely surprised to hear even some of our
youngest students talk about risk-taking,
peer review, rubrics, drafts, portfolios and even aesthetic eye. For example, we are sure that most of our students
understand that in order to produce excellent work, they will have to produce
several drafts of their writing or other product they are creating, such as a
drawing.
I was equally gratified that two younger students
described portfolios perfectly. Indeed,
this will be a focus for us this year, for the portfolio provides a way for
students to effectively reflect on
their work. So this year all students
will be creating either “Showcase” portfolios or “Growth” portfolios. In a showcase portfolio, the student adds and subtracts from the portfolio as it
becomes the collection of only the student’s best work. In the growth portfolio, the student collects
examples of all his or her work to show growth over a trimester and/or the
year. These portfolios will be managed
by the individual students and they will decide the kind they will use, which
may change as the year progresses.
Parents can help in many ways. The best-case scenario would be for you to
read Ron Berger’s book to become familiar with his ideas. You could also go online to see videos of his
lectures, which are very informative.
Finally, have conversations with your children about excellence and
serve as role models for them discussing the things that you do which you
consider excellent. Talk to them about
how many times you have to write that proposal before it meets your standards,
or how much you have to plan and rehearse the things that you do at work in
order to be excellent. As parents you
have great power to influence your child by serving as a role model for
them. And as you are in the building so
often working with students or just helping out, children will notice
that. They see you here and they
understand that you value education.
This sends a powerful and long-lasting message to them.
Finally, let me remind you that
tonight is Back-To-School Night for grade K-3.
We hope to see you here at 6:30 p.m. when the program will begin
promptly. It will be an informative evening
for all who attend.
Cheers,
Steve
