Sunday, February 7, 2010

Principal's Newsletter February 7, 2010

What We Do Here

A number of recent conversations -- with faculty, with parents, with students -- lead me to pause to consider just what it is we do here. That is to say, what is it that school is supposed to do? And, more specifically, what is it about Riverdale that makes us -- or should make us -- something unique in the broader context?

Another reason for a slightly more introspective turn is the occasion, this coming Wednesday, of our annual Open House. This year will be somewhat different in that prospective parents will be touring Smith Elementary rather than our Breyman site, bringing even more focus than usual to the academic and co-curricular program rather than to the facilities. The challenge is to articulate a cohesive sense of what it means to be a part of this school community, and to demonstrate that sense through a series of classroom visits. In this, I am grateful to have such a wonderfully committed faculty; it is a genuine pleasure to walk a group of parents into the art room where Ms. Helmsworth is teaching the youngest of our students the particular tendencies and stylistic traits of an accomplished artist, or into the third grade room where Ms. Gorenstein and Mrs. Schultz are co-teaching a unit on the ancient Egyptians (a unit that is really much more about how we explore cultural differences and unlock the past), or into Ms. Leve's room where serious discussions of scientific ethics are a regular occasion.

Clearly, school has many purposes. It's where we teach our children to read and write well, to understand algorithms and algebraic reasoning. But it is also a place where they learn how to interact with one another, with the larger community, and with their own self identity. Our mission statement is simple, brief, but powerful:

The mission of Riverdale Grade School is to teach
students to be thoughtful in their education,
about each other, and for their community.

We have a number of advantages here, elements that are available to our children, but which are not necesarily afforded to many, even most, school children. As I see them, our advantages are these:
  • K-8 Learning Environment -- provides continuity and encourages lasting relationships
  • Dynamic Faculty -- bring a wide variety of experience and passion to the classroom
  • Appropriate Staffing Levels -- again, encourages relationship
  • Commitment to the Whole Child -- visual and performing arts and athletics are critical to a child's full development
  • Hightened Expectations -- rigor for its own sake is nothing, but when embedded in a framework of elevated expectations, children will rise to the occasion
  • Supportive Community -- of course, few of these are possible without the sustained and intentional support of the community
When I share with prospective families on Wednesday what makes Riverdale a place worth coming to, these are the salient points I will bring forward. What putting them down on paper makes me realize, however, is that we do not always leverage each of these advantages to the degree possible. In fact, bringing as many of them to bear at a given time is where the magic does happen at our school. The combined power of these advantages is not summative, but can be exponential in nature.

What we do here is to teach our students to be thoughtful in their education, about each other, and for their community. We need to remind ourselves of this more often in order to make it true more often.


4:00 PM 6/7/8 Girls' BB game (home @ RHS gym) vs Kingsway
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM GS (@HS) Valentines Dance (Mav. Rm.)
Posted by at
Labels: , , ,