Weekly Message from Steve Warner, Head of School (January 13, 2014)

Greetings, GreenMount Community,

            I am happy to report this morning that our Open House on Saturday was very successful.  In spite of the rain and the lack of parking (the grass area is temporarily off limits due to mud), we had 25 families visit and all seemed very enthusiastic about our school.  As in the past, we also had families visit who are considering us for their children who will spend another year or two in pre-kindergarten.  This is a great indicator of how the word about GreenMount has spread in communities.  Our thanks to all the parents who came to help with this event and especially to our students, who always demonstrate the very best face of GreenMount as they show their knowledge of and pride in the school they attend.  We talked about this today in our morning meeting and how their participation in the tours and the feedback we have received about them is a good indicator of how “excellent” they are.  We are all very proud of our student emissaries.

            On Wednesday evening, we will have an All Family Parent meeting starting at 6:30 p.m.  This is an important meeting for parents to attend as we will be discussing the state of the school and the contracts for next year.  We have planned the meeting to last only about an hour or so, and we hope to have you out of here before 8:00 p.m.  I hope to see everyone at this important school community function.

            On Friday, the staff had our second Student Support Meeting.  At these meetings we discuss all students, noting their strengths and any needs they may have academically or behaviorally.  When reporting on observed strengths we are focused on how we can best accommodate students’ interests and areas in which they can see specific achievement.  We know that the best way to encourage academic growth is to build on success.  When identifying needs of students, we discuss strategies that we can use to help students in areas where they may be struggling.

We can also develop specific plans, which we call Individual Intervention Plans (IIPs).  These plans contain one or two specific goals for a student and several strategies that teachers and parents can use.  The plan is created by the staff with parent input and approved at the earliest possible time so that we can begin our interventions.  Included in the plan are the titles of people who are responsible for implementing it.  This creates a clear mandate for everyone involved to be accountable.  Then each month a benchmark meeting is scheduled so that the team of teachers and parents can review the plan to see if the strategies are working.  At that point we can alter the strategies and eventually agree as to whether a student’s goal has been met.  We may decide to include another goal in our strategies or simply concentrate on any remaining goals.  The IIP, unlike and IEP (Individualized Educational Plan) is not an official document that would carry weight in a school attended after GreenMount.  It is strictly an in-house plan that we create to help students.  For an “official” IEP plan, parents will have to request a team meeting at their home public school to determine if a disability exists.  An IEP created must be implemented by any school that the student attends.

            We all have our areas of strength and needs, and as adults we can readily identify them.  We must let our children know that they are just like us (and we are just like them).  We all have struggles and victories and we all are constantly working to grow, no matter how old we get to be.  When I was a young, new teacher, I commented to a much older 6^th grade teacher that I admired the fact that she seemed to know just about everything about life and especially teaching.  Her reply to me summed up the idea of life-long learning when she said, “No, Steve, I have much to learn – God isn’t finished with me yet.”

           

Cheers,

Steve

Weekly Message from Steve Warner, Head of School (October 21, 2013)

Greetings, GreenMount Community,

Yesterday, we held one of the most successful Open House gatherings in our history.  Forty-one families visited and 27 took registration packets.  As usual, Ms. Laura was swamped with parents and children interested in kindergarten and they were all excited about the possibility of joining The GreenMount School.  The other large group was represented by families interested in coming here for grade six.
We always have some attrition at the end of the year due to people moving or choosing a different school, but we are finding more and more that, once a family joins our school, they will almost certainly stay.  With the interest we have in our school at present, it is very likely that we will be able to maintain our maximum enrollment. Also, much of the success of the Open House is due to the hard work of many of you who spent a lot of time on Saturday sprucing up the building, making it look wonderful for our potential new families.  We are also grateful for students who play an important role as guides and who make that first visit to our school an impressive one.  I told the students this morning that we have often heard from adults that the deciding factor for wanting to come to GreenMount was the quality of the guide they had at Open House.  They know that if their child can display the confidence and poise that their guide had, they must become a part of this school.

Finally, we must acknowledge the teachers and staff who also contributed to those lasting impressions that our prospective parents have.  I was myself impressed with the presentations given by our teachers.  Also, we thank Ms. Elaine and her staff of parents who made sure everyone signed in and were set off on their tours.  And as usual, Ms. Jill was here early setting up coffee and a wonderful spread of “tasteful” goodies for everyone to enjoy.

A sentimental note: On Thursday I got a call from my 12-year-old grandson in Chico, California, from his new cell phone he received for his birthday.  Every time I hear from him or see him, I ask him the usual questions about school, the sports he is playing, and he always rolls his eyes when I tell him how tall he is getting.  Because I don’t see him very much, I am always surprised at the way he has changed.  And when he called Thursday, I didn’t recognize his voice because it was suddenly so deep and adult-sounding.  When we ended the call, I sat back in my chair reflecting on how quickly he has grown up.  The last 12 years since his birth have been a blur and I only hope that I have done a good job as his Pop-Pop.  However, with seven other grand and step-grand children, I still have time to refine my Pop-Pop skills as the latest is only a month old. Equally baffling is how fast the years have gone by since my first child was born 42 years ago.
So beware, the joy of parenting is fleeting.  Before you know it, they are leaving GreenMount for high school and then college and then out in the world (for your children that really means the world).  Unless of course, they come back to live in your basement.  That happens, too!

“It's not only children who grow.  Parents do, too.  As much as we watch to see what our children do with their lives, they are watching us to see what we do with ours.  I can't tell my children to reach for the sun.  All I can do is reach for it myself.”  ~Joyce Maynard

Cheers,
Steve