CPSEL #6: Connecting with the Global Community

Hallmark 7, SNDdN

The Opportunity:

As a private Catholic all-girl's school, Notre Dame does not operate within the same parameters as our public and charter school counterparts. We are not obligated to adhere to the same regulations. While we do have to adhere to the direction of the religious order that sponsors us and maintain our good standing with the Archdiocese, we have a little more latitude than other schools when it comes to government regulations. That said, there are lots of exciting initiatives that can ultimately bring positive attention to the school and get people on campus to interact with our students and support the learning that is happening at Notre Dame. These include:

1. receiving Board of Directors support for the Innovation Lab, zSpace, and the flexible furniture initiative (see CPSELs 1, 3 and 5)

2. creating space in the curriculum for our Wellness Program

3. developing a new College and Career Counseling program

4. being a part of the Master Strategic Planning Committee (CPSEL 3 & 5)

The Process:

Being a private school has it's challenges when it comes to working with the local community, especially the fact that many public organizations and businesses are not able to partner with us due to our religious affiliation. However, that doesn't mean that we can't find "back doors" to connect our students with the community. Three new programs are providing those avenues for the students: Wellness, Guidance and Career Counseling, and Senior Synthesis.

My task was to find the space in an already tight curriculum for them to get face-time with every single student for a mini-unit (2-3 days) at each grade level during the course of the year. I worked with the Religious Studies Department and was able to provide an opportunity for the two counselors to use 2 days plus a collaboration block for each grade level. The program was tailored to each grade and through collaboration with the Religious Studies teachers, dove-tailed with their content to create a strong foundation that will be built upon going forward. Each grade level received two days of in-class activities followed by a collaboration block dedicated to de-stressing activities (meditation, massage, yoga, etc.). One week prior to each unit, a letter was sent to the parents informing them of what would be happening in their daughters' religion classes. You can read an example of these letters here. The program has been well received by parents and students. For several of the activities, guest speakers were brought in to add a different voice from the community to the conversation. The parent community was also included in the activity day through their contributions as yogi, dance instructors, and other services that they were willing to provide for the students.

It is also very disheartening that parents feel they need to spend even more money on top of our tuition to make sure their daughter is able to navigate the increasingly competitive college application process. Two years ago, I separated college counseling from the academic and personal counseling components. This would allow us to dedicate resources to the college process. This was a start and many parents were pleased with this decision. However, it has become clear that this change wasn't enough. So in collaboration with the other two senior administrators and the two academic counselors, a new department has been created: Director of College and Career Counseling. I am currently in the process of screening applicants for the position. Once they are in place, as part of the career guidance portion of the program, they will be directed to work with the Alumnae Director to organize regular brown-bag events with alumnae to focus on different career options. This will be an excellent opportunity to leverage our alumnae network and provide role-models for current students.

Senior Synthesis

In looking to "save the best for last", this is truly one of my prouder accomplishments from the year. At the end of the 2014-2015 school year, our Religious Studies Department was decimated due to a series of life changes that had 3 of the 5 department members leave. Unable to find qualified replacements, I designed a brand new program from the ground-up over the summer that did not require us to hire teachers with a Masters in Theology (an Archdiocesan requirement for all Religious Studies teachers). The senior course had the greatest overhaul. I got rid of the existing semester-long courses and created a single year-long course required of all seniors. The course is centered around a few key components:

1. Design Thinking

2. the Notre Dame Hallmarks

3. Passion Projects

The culmination of the course was a formal evening where the student presented their passion projects to family, faculty and staff, Sisters of Notre Dame, friends, and representatives from some of the organizations that the students worked with. It was a fabulous evening of community. Following the event, the lead instructor received this email and accompanying photo:

While we can't always bring organizations to our campus, we can definitely send our campus out to local organizations. These young ladies made a big impression and I could not be prouder of them or of the results of the program.

Where We Are Now:

The Wellness Program

Next year, the program will be expanding as the part-time Wellness Counselor has been hired full time, a Health and Wellness Board comprised of students is being created, the curriculum is expanding to allow for two full units at each grade level, and a book (The Gutsy Girl) is being added for the freshmen after I had the opportunity to read it and shared it with the counselors. My hope is that we can have the author--who is a local San Franciscan--come speak to the girls at some point during the year. Data is being collected by the counselors regarding the likes/dislikes and wishes from this year in order to build an even stronger program moving forward.

Senior Synthesis

Now that the Passion Projects evening is complete, the instructors and I are planning to debrief the year. The students will also be surveyed for their suggestions. The goal is to grow this course into a true event for the seniors and engage local community members more fully in the projects as mentors, guest speakers and evaluators. This will be a multi-year process to get the program to this point. However what was accomplished this year was a huge accomplishment considering it didn't exist last year and at the start of the year the students were not all bought into the process.

Final Thoughts:

While I had a direct hand in the creation of two of these initiatives (Counseling and Career, Senior Synthesis) and was instrumental in the execution of the third (Wellness), my greatest growth came from developing the Senior Synthesis course; after all, this required me to develop a course that was meaningful for the students while acquiesing to the directives of the Archdiocese and playing to the strengths of current staff! Ever since learning about 20% Time and FedEx Days as they are used in education I have wanted to bring this type of a learning opportunity to Notre Dame, but the timing was never right. The hole left by the unexpected departure of three long-time faculty in the religion department presented the chance. Hiring an amazing lead teacher within two weeks of pitching the course to our Head of School was a little bit of luck and a little bit of kismet.

Moving forward, she and I are going to work together on some tweaks and I am going to be much more attentive next year to her need for validation and feedback. This is an especially important lesson to embrace as I will be mentoring not just her, but essentially an entirely new Religious Studies department due to a (planned!) continued re-design of the program and the courses. I need to be mindful of the fact that while I have no problem moving ahead with ideas, others need reassurance, validation, feedback and guidance on a more regular basis. That will be an important part of my job next year in order to keep the positive momentum moving that has been created this year.