Diversity Dialogue

Almost the instant that the invitation went out for the "Open Dialogue on Diversity" last month, it became clear to me that the evening would be productive. The first RSVPs came in quickly and several people expressed how much they were looking forward to the program. I also heard from some who wished they could attend and would be interested to hear how it went. Clearly, diversity was a topic that members of this school community were interested in talking about.

It was a very good turnout on February 9, as more than 25 gathered in the social room. As we went around the circle with introductions, the diversity of the group itself was notable. In addition to the visible differences of gender, age and color, the group included current parents, alumni parents, teachers, administrators, board members, and meeting members. As the discussion progressed, we also learned of different ethnic backgrounds, religions and family structures among us.

As the facilitator, John Scardina established an environment in which participants comfortably shared their perspectives and experiences, despite the fact that most did not know each other all that well before coming into the social room just minutes before. That, in and of itself, made the evening a success for me. And now we plan to build in that success by taking what was shared and moving on to next steps.

Over the course of the evening, the group was asked to respond to three overarching questions:
"When you hear the word diversity, what other words come to mind?"
"What are the strengths of the WCFS community in regards to diversity?"
"What challenges face our community with regards to diversity?"

I invite you to read the responses that have been transcribed from the chart paper by clicking here.

Reading these brief notes (originally captured on chart paper) is hardly the same as hearing them in person in the context of the discussion. I hope, however, that you can still get a good sense of the joys and concerns that were lifted up. In the spirit of "open dialogue," I will let you draw your own conclusions and will refrain from offering my own comments, except to say how affirmed I felt by the strengths and how appreciative I am of the willingness of participants to respectfully name the challenges.

The open dialogue continues with our next meeting tomorrow evening, Wednesday, March 9, at 7:00 in the Social Room. All interested are invited, whether or not you were able to attend last month. We will identify themes from last month's discussion and split into groups, with each group creating actions steps for each theme. We will then follow up with meetings in April and May and plan for work that we know will continue into next school year, and the next, and the next . . . because diversity work is never finished.

Snow Day Thoughts

I hope this finds you well on this beautiful* snowy day. The forecaster I was listening to certainly got it wrong this time! I have come in from shoveling the driveway for the second time, and I know I'll be out there again trying to stay on top of the accumulation. The kids are still in their pajamas, determined to stay that way all day, but I also suspect we will all go outside to play in the snow later on. I hope this unexpected day off has some fun in store for you, too.

Snow shoveling is one of those activities that leaves your mind free to wander, and my mind went back to yesterday when I was visiting kindergarten. Teacher Michelle was reminding the class of our All-School Unit theme of water, all that they had learned about it earlier in the fall, and making the connections to the snow that is all around us now that it is winter. They were beginning an experiment to see what happens to a scoop of snow when it is brought inside and making observations. "I see snow flakes." "I see a branch sticking out." "I see water." I wonder what they learned about the relationship of the various forms of water as they continued to observe.

I much prefer this form of water to a cold rain. I called it "beautiful" before, and I do find it to be that. But I was also aware as I was shoveling that it requires more work than rain and that, come a warming trend, it becomes a very unattractive, slushy, muddy mess. But for now, it is laying a thick, soft and clean blanket over the earth. And it is beautiful.

I know that the students in our upper grades came home yesterday with some homework that will be due tomorrow. But I have another assignment for you all: go outside and enjoy the snow!

A Simple Gift of Song for the New Year

During the months of November and December our Quakerism curriculum focused on the testimony of Simplicity. This testimony is deliberately chosen to counter-balance what can often become of the many holidays we celebrate at this time of year, and to help us be mindful of the simple meanings that are at the heart of these religious and secular celebrations.

The December query for our small Worship Sharing groups was, "Since gifts are not something that must be bought, can you think of a simple gift you can make or do for someone, or that you have given or done in the past?" The query made me think of Christmas caroling, and I explained to the students that this tradition is a very simple way of sharing a gift with others -- the gift of song. We practice this tradition when we carol for our neighbors at The Hickman every year. And, we share gifts among ourselves during Monday morning Gathering, the monthly Meeting for Singing, concerts . . . anytime we sing together.

With this in mind, I offer you all a simple gift of song and images from the past few months, with a wish for the New Year:

"When the lights all shine,
All around the world, they'll glow,
And all will know,
Our journey to peace has begun."

(You'll want to turn the volume up!)

Resilience

My wife, Melinda, gave a card to me about a year ago with a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson:

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us.”

The card sits on my desk and is a helpful reminder that, when faced with even the most difficult decisions, the answers – or at least the road map that leads to those answers – can be found within ourselves.

I thought of the Emerson quote again earlier this week when John Scardina was speaking at the PTO meeting about raising resilient children. In his usual thoughtful and caring way, John acknowledged the natural inclination that many of us have, when our children are faced with challenges, to tell them what to do or to fix the problem for them. Our actions may be well-intentioned. After all, we want our children to be happy, don’t we? However, our taking care of problems for them can actually have the opposite effect in the long-run, keeping our children from developing the resiliency and skills needed to handle difficult decisions as adults.

So, what should we parents do? John’s advice for raising resilient children has been published twice, first back in February by examiner.com. The December issue of Good Housekeeping magazine includes John’s “Resilience Rules” which can be found on his blog.

Helping students develop resiliency and problem solving skills is something our teachers do every day. At this fall’s Back to School Night I had the pleasure of sitting in T. Claire’s room as the parent of a fourth grader, listening to her speak about the importance of resiliency and describing how her routines and expectations serve to cultivate it in her students. I wasn’t watching the clock, but I believe Claire spent more time speaking about building this and other life skills than she did about math and reading – and that was just fine with me.

When I first came to West Chester Friends School ten years ago, one of the primary draws for me was the quality of the faculty and the strength of the academic program they create. Experiencing the school as a parent, as I have for the past six years, my appreciation continues to grow for the ways that our teachers nurture “what lies within.”

Questions & Answers

During a recent Chat I was asked, "When will Biddle Street be re-opened?" This one question really contains several sub-questions, because the closing of Biddle Street (for The Hickman's construction project) has led to limited parking around the block due to our bus area moving to High Street and construction workers parking on Walnut Street.

The latest word from The Hickman is that construction of their new building will be completed in mid-December, and that the street will remain closed until then. As you probably know, construction projects can run into delays, but we will hopefully see an easing of the parking limitations with the start of the new year.

I have also been asked a few times this fall, "How can we get the crosswalk back?" The crosswalk in question used to run across High Street in front of the meeting house to West Lafayette Street. It was removed at the time that we were building the new library and administration building. The widening of our driveway required approval from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (because High Street is a state road) and the PennDOT officials declared that a crosswalk could not exist at that spot. We have not pursued getting the crosswalk back since the folks who would give that approval are also the folks who took it away.

Students in third, fourth and fifth grades are wrapping up the annual ritual of Questions & Answers called the ERB's. In other words, they have been taking a series of standardized tests published by the Educational Records Bureau. We administer these tests in order to receive objective, third-party assessments of individual students and the effectiveness of our curriculum. The results of these tests are quite comprehensive and provide valuable insight. In this age when too much weight is often placed on single test scores, we keep the perspective that they are one piece of a much larger assessment picture. Individual results will be shared with parents and I look forward to sharing an overview with everyone as part of my annual "State of the School" meeting in January.

Summer Reading . . . of the Professional Variety

The school year is well under way and chilly fall weather is definitely here, so it may seem odd to be writing about “what I did last summer.” But I do want to share the three books that faculty members had as their summer reading assignments. While the reading happened over the summer, the impact of what we read together is ongoing.

The Boy on the Beach, by Vivian Gussin Paley

Through her career of more than 50 years, most of it as a kindergarten teacher at the University of Chicago’s Laboratory School, Vivian Paley has been an advocate for learning from the children we teach by truly listening to and observing them at play. In The Boy on the Beach, she follows two children through their kindergarten year. Through detailed descriptions, Paley demonstrates how the children in the class establish all-inclusive communities in which children listen to each others’ stories and find their roles- all through the magic of fantasy play.

The teachers who read this book had a rich discussion about the importance of play for all ages; the fact that there never seems to be enough time; and the balance between free play and setting boundaries. We enjoyed Paley’s observation that children can find the good in everyone: “When someone is growling and wolfish, you have to act nicer to that person.” And we came away affirmed in the importance that we place on play in our school day, especially in light of the reduction of time for play in other school settings.

The Homework Myth, by Alfie Kohn

The role of homework is an oft-debated topic, both in our schools and around our dinner tables. Advocates state that homework promotes academic achievement, reinforces learning, teaches time-management and study skills, and builds responsibility. Those who question the relative value of homework cite the stress, conflict and exhaustion that can result, as well as the limits it places on opportunities for free play (see above!). In The Homework Myth, Alfie Kohn examines the usual defenses of homework, concluding that none of them pass the test of research or experience. He then goes on to examine why, if this is true, homework plays such an important role, and then provides encouragement and guidance for changing the status quo.

The homework policy at WCFS is based upon principles that we have long held to be developmentally appropriate. No homework is given through first grade. Homework is introduced gradually in second grade with expectations growing each year through fifth. Our handbook emphasizes the development of responsibility, which is an important part of being prepared for middle school.

As we move forward in discussing this book, there is interest among the faculty in reviewing our homework policy and practices. I invite you to share your thoughts on the subject by replying to this post on the blog.

Schooled in Diversity: Readings on Racial Diversity in Friends Schools, edited by Pat Macpherson, Irene McHenry and Sarah Sweeney-Denham, published by Friends Council on Education

Many independent schools strive to be diverse learning communities, particularly in terms of the racial make-up of their student body and faculty, in order to enhance the educational experience. In Friends schools, this goal also has a spiritual basis in the Quaker belief that there is “that of God” in each individual. West Chester Friends School is a diverse community in several ways, with nearly a third of our students representing a variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds, a socio-economic range among our families, and a mixture of experiences, points of view and learning styles. While we value the diversity that exists, we also know that diversity work in schools is an ongoing process.

For that reason, our faculty’s third summer reading option was Schooled in Diversity, a collection of essays, research examples, case studies, and queries, exploring and urging the continuing work toward multicultural change in Friends schools. Some of the most compelling pieces in this collection are the stories drawn from other schools’ experiences in becoming more diverse, including the issues they encountered along the way and the questions they continue to ask themselves.

Here at WCFS, we have some work to do in articulating our diversity goals, assessing how well we welcome and engage all students and their families, and identifying ways in which we need to improve our practices in order to be a truly inclusive community.

I welcome your thoughts on any or all of these topics either in person or by posting a reply to this post.

Fall Fair 2010

This past Saturday the WCFS community came together on campus for another successful Fall Fair and Alumni Day. Due to the forecast of strong winds, the children’s games and some of the booths moved indoors, but this didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits. As always, there was plenty of activity, fun, and food thanks to the leadership of the PTO chairs and many volunteers, including parents, teachers and alumni.

I am pleased each year to see so many of our young alumni return to their alma mater for the Fair. This year I was struck by how many volunteered to work at a game or booth in addition to catching up with their friends and former teachers. I also enjoyed speaking with parents of alumni (some of whom came back even though their children could not make it!) who still enjoy the strong friendships that they formed when they were parents here at WCFS.