Click here to listen to Jam Episode 46: 3…2…1…
At the heart of our Los Gatos campus sit five small buildings – the Village of Friendly Relations – designed and built by students back in the late 1930s. The Village grew out of the imagination of founder Mary Orem, who wanted to create a learning experience for students that would engage them in the real work of building and living in community. Students collected loans from a local bank, purchased materials from local businesses, and then built a working village, complete with a general store, a newspaper office, a tea house, gardens, and a bank. In addition to representing best practices in learning, Mary’s vision was animated by a higher purpose – the creation of world peace. Amidst one of the darker periods in world history, right on the cusp of World War II, Mary believed that teaching students how to work together would prepare them to be the leaders who could envision and realize a better world.
Nearly 90 years later, we remain deeply committed to Mary’s vision – both the belief that learning needs to be challenging and engaging, and that it needs to create the foundation to help students reach beyond and make a difference in the world. You can draw a clear throughline from her vision in the 1930s to Hillbrook today:
- an academic program that provides the “just right” challenge for each student,
- the Hub, a state-of-the-art maker spaces that offer hands-on design, engineering and arts education,
- Reach Beyond programming inspired by the Scott Center for Social Entrepreneurship,
- and, now, for the first time in our history, an Upper School program located in downtown San Jose, a high school version of our longstanding JK-8 program, offering a highly academic program that will fully take advantage of the city as classroom, just like we have long used our Los Gatos campus as the ideal learning lab for our JK-8.
I like to think that Mary would be inspired by how her vision has allowed us to grow and evolve into a school that remains at the leading edge of best practices in education, while remaining deeply rooted in the foundation she and her colleagues laid.
As we enter the final countdown to this transformative moment for the school, we are particularly focused on several key areas:
Deliver on our promise to provide the “just right” challenge for students at all ages and stages. This year we will be providing increased visibility into the educational experience for families with the development of more exhibitions of learning. We will also implement a competency-based learning architecture in the Upper School that will serve as a model for our JK-12 program, and design 5th-12th learning pathways that will ensure a rigorous and engaging academic program for all learners. New JK-12 Director of Student Support Josie Porcella will also help us create the foundation for a comprehensive student support program that provides the “just right” challenge for students across a range of learning styles, from students seeking further challenge to students who need additional supports. As a school, we are committed to designing effective supports for neurodiverse learners.
Take the steps to further establish ourselves as a trusted community center and resource, and an extended neighborhood for employees, students, families and community members. We will be attending closely to our transition from a JK-8 into a JK-12, remaining focused on our commitment to “Three Divisions, Two Campuses, One School.” We will also be designing regular in-person experiences on both the Los Gatos and San Jose campus that help us better share our program, build a sense of belonging, enhance trust and ensure regular opportunities for family engagement.
Introduce Vision 2030, a bold and strategic vision for the school’s future. Our three planks – Prioritize Balanced Excellence, Make Hillbrook a Community Hub, and Broaden Our Institutional Reach & Impact – will provide the foundation to help make Hillbrook one of the leading JK-12 schools in the Bay Area and beyond. Over the past year, Associate Head of School Colleen Schilly, Board member Coy Ross and a committee that included families, teachers, staff members, and Board members came together to listen to our community and then imagine our future. We are excited to share more about the plan in the months ahead.
As you read this, we are less than 72 hours away from opening activities with our dynamic 8th graders, the Class of 2028, and orientation activities for the Class of 2027, our first-ever 9th grade class, both taking place on Monday. Tuesday is the first day of school for the Upper School and on Wednesday we will greet the JK-8 on our Los Gatos Campus. We cannot wait to welcome each and every student and family to school next week.
I know that the 2023-24 school year is going to launch our school and our community to ever greater heights. 3…….2…….1……..
Mark