Weekly Message from Steve Warner, Head of School (January 6, 2014)

Greetings, GreenMount Community,

            Welcome back and Happy New Year!  It was great to see the students this morning, and they all seemed happy to be back in school (can you believe that?) and especially happy to reconnect with their friends.  The friendships that our students develop while at GMS are the kind that I know from experience will last a lifetime.  Believe it or not, I still have several friends from elementary school that I see regularly.  Over the holiday we had a dinner out with some of them at which we embellished all those wonderful stories that we love to tell about how our mile-long trek to school was uphill both ways, etc.  Our wives love to hear these stories over and over (NOT!).  But to see these people several times a year is a testament to how we connected so many years ago.  I certainly hope, and I do anticipate, that the kids here will have the same wonderful experience.

            This morning we reconnected with all the students at our Monday Morning Meeting and, among other things, discussed New Year’s resolutions.  We all know how that works, so I suggested that instead of making a resolution for the new year, we each make daily resolutions to be a better person each successive day.  We talked about “reflection” and how we can reflect on our own accomplishments at the end of each day and then plan for how we can repeat our success or improve on them the following day.  I think for children especially, a daily resolution is something that they can grasp and build upon.  So often, if we fail to meet our yearly resolution, we just give up and forget about it.  On the other hand, if we fail one day to do better than the last, we can still have success the next day.  This concept might not be a bad idea for us big people, too.  Perhaps you can help your children by modeling the idea of reflection, setting aside 15 minutes or so each night to reflect as a family on your day.

            Also, at this morning’s meeting we discussed the need to be safe during extremely cold weather.  In temperatures like we are about to have, it is very easy to be frostbitten, especially on cheek bones, ears and the nose.  Please make sure you all take the necessary precautions when venturing out this week.  As the wind is blowing right now, I am hoping that the moisture on the streets and sidewalks is drying up.  However, tomorrow we may have some bad ice with which to contend.  Remember to check WBAL TV for closing or a delay in our school day.  It also looks like we will be having indoor recess this week because of the cold temperatures.

            We are looking forward to Friday and our Community Day because we will once again have ellen cherry (no caps) here to perform for us.  You are all invited to join us for this concert, which will begin at 11:00.  She has a wonderful voice and is a talented guitarist.  Additionally, she is great with children.

           

Cheers,

Steve

Weekly Message from Steve Warner, Head of School (December 2, 2013)

Greetings, GreenMount Community,

            Happy December!  As usual, the year is flying by, but we still have a lot of time left to do great things.  Today, I reminded the students of our concept of excellence.  The message today was that whenever we finish a project, whether it is a long-term one or just something that we are required to do on a particular day, we should ask ourselves if we have done the best we could under the circumstances.  Educational research indicates that the process of reflection is one of the most valuable tools in our learning toolbox.  If we can learn to reflect and think critically about our actions and our efforts, it is much more likely that we will develop habits of mind that keep us striving to attain excellence.

 Mr. Fletcher reminded the students that as a staff, we meet each week to reflect on what we have accomplished and to discuss ways in which we can improve our craft.  Indeed, we can all probably do a better job of reflecting.  As parents you can model this important habit by “thinking out loud”, which is another strategy that we use with students.  Simply stated, thinking out loud is the practice of sharing our thoughts as a way of instructing learners about how we process things in our minds.  For example, you might say out loud, “So I am thinking that in order to plan our day on Saturday, I will need to make a list of things to do because I am a visual person.”  Or you might be reading to your child and stop at a part to say, “This reminds me of a time when I was young and I made a poor choice, too.”  Reflecting and thinking out loud are strategies that we can teach our children to create those habits of mind that will help them make good choices and also take time to understand the learning process. 

            Now that it is, in fact, December, we need to start thinking about weather-related closings and delays. The procedures for closing school because of snow, for example, are relatively simple.  On days when the forecast calls for snow, I will rise at 5:00 a.m. to listen to the weather reports and check closings that are being posted in the area. Sometimes I will go outside to look for myself at my snow gauge, the barometric pressure, my atomic hydrospheric anemometer or the local squirrels’ bushy tails.  When that fails to give me a sense of the imminent snowfall, I will go inside and turn to Tony Pann on WBAL for advice.  Of course, if there is already snow on the ground, I can look at it.

But seriously, folks, what I actually do is listen to what is happening in the large public school systems.  They have better resources than I have and are evaluating the situation long before I get out of bed.  I will make a decision about closing based on the information I can gather and post our information on WBAL-TV by 6:30 a.m.  You can access my posting by tuning in to WBAL-TV or you can get the information quickly at www.wbaltv.com/closings/index.html. At this site you will view the closings or delays for the day and you can also sign up to get an email or text message about the status of the GreenMount School.  I recommend this because it happens immediately and you don’t have to wait for the TV report to get to our school alphabetically.  Please check your Family Handbook for procedures concerning late openings and early dismissals.  Late openings will also be posted on WBAL.

 Finally, while I said that I consult the major school systems to make my decision about GreenMount, there are exceptions.  Public schools have to consider the safety of bus riders in their decision-making process.  We do not.  Therefore, there may be an occasion when city schools are closed and we are not.  I will also consider parents and your inconvenience, especially if we have late openings.  That said, the first consideration is always safety.

           

Cheers, 

Steve