A few weeks back, we had a group of thirteen educators from New Zealand on our campus learning from Technology Director Don Orth, several Middle School faculty members and a group of students about our cutting edge iPad program. After the visit, the team spent two days at the Apple Campus in an executive briefing. Apparently, the group mentioned to Apple that of the many schools they had visited in Southern and Northern California, Hillbrook was one of two that truly opened their eyes to the power of these emerging technologies. They marveled at the engagement of faculty and students, and the thoughtful manner in which our school is approaching the iPad implementation.
A few days later, two executives from Apple called us to learn more about what we are doing.
Increasingly, Hillbrook is being recognized as a leader in JK-8 elementary education. Our iPad program has been a catalyst for these conversations, as we have hosted hundreds of educators in the last year who wanted to learn more about our program. Yet it is not only technology. Art teachers from throughout the Bay Area visited campus earlier this year to learn from our talented art faculty. This summer, we will be hosting forty independent school leaders as part of the joint Center for Teaching Excellence/Santa Fe Leadership Center Innovative Leadership Conference. In addition, we will be hosting twenty-five teachers as part of the joint Center for Teaching Excellence/Martin Institute John Hunter Master Class in August.
We are pushing the conversation in other areas as well. The adoption of Singapore Math places us at the forefront of the national math conversation, while the implementation of Responsive Classroom and Developmental Designs has us deeply engaged in understanding and enhancing our already strong social emotional learning program. The recent English/LA and science audits identified opportunities for growth that promise to stretch us and keep us striving to provide an innovative, engaging, and rigorous academic program for our students.
All of these things reflect an essential truth at the heart of the Hillbrook experience – our teachers not only strive to foster a love of learning in our students, they live it every day themselves.
Our teachers are true lifelong learners, passionate about what they teach and about the students they work with each and every day. Like all active learners, they need opportunities to reflect, renew, and grow. One of the ways we do that is through our Faculty Fellowship Program.
Each year the school funds a number of summertime fellowships providing faculty an opportunity to explore new interests, pursue passions, dive deeply into specific curricular areas, and collaborate with colleagues. The goal – to provide faculty with meaningful professional development opportunities that meet their needs as adults for lifelong learning, reflection, exploration, and rejuvenation.
The last few years, faculty have been asked to focus their proposed fellowships on areas that will enhance the school’s efforts to successfully implement and realize the school’s strategic plan, Vision 2015. The four core areas of Vision 2015 are broad – program, operations, community, innovation – providing teachers ample flexibility to craft an experience that connects with the school’s vision and yet also is connected to individual passions and interests.
This year we have a series of exciting fellowships that we are planning to fund, including:
- Participation in the Writer’s Workshop and Reader’s Workshop training at the Teacher’s College at Columbia University for eleven Lower School teachers
- Participation in the John Hunter Master Class, to be hosted on campus in mid-August, providing our three Middle School Social Studies teachers an opportunity to ask important questions about building genuine problem-solving curricula, understanding the role of the teacher, and empowering and engaging students to make a difference
- Independent technology-related initiatives, including science teacher Christa Flores who is proposing to create an eTextbook, English teacher Tom Bonoma who is seeking to do Khan-academy style video lessons for grammar, and Technology Director Don Orth and a team of teachers who are looking to kick-off next year’s Technology Audit with several days of exploration and collaboration this summer
- Participation in the Georgetown Day School Equity Collaborative for several administrators and teachers as a kick-off for next year’s scheduled Inclusivity Audit
- Membership to the Tech Shop for three teachers who are hoping to nurture their “inner Tinkerers” which in turn will help us build innovative programming in design thinking and the arts
- Participation in The African Performing Arts Workshop in Ghana for LS music teacher Roberta Lipson to deepen her understanding of African music and dance and augment our already excellent Orff-Schulwerk program
- Support for unofficial school historian Paul DiMarco to develop a history walk on campus, building on the remarkable work he has done with both the recent movie and book about the school’s history
The Walk-a-Thon provides an opportunity for students and families to support the lifelong learning of our teachers. As always, we are striving for 100 percent participation by students and families. Any amount makes a difference.
If you haven’t already, I encourage you to visit the website and set up a Fundly account for your child. It is quick and easy and a great way to encourage friends and family to sponsor your child as they seek to raise money to support our talented teachers.
We hope that all students will be inspired to raise some money to help support the continuing education and growth of their teachers. Each day our teachers inspire students to achieve their dreams and reach beyond themselves to make a difference in the world. This summer, let’s help our teachers continue to seek out and achieve their own dreams.