By Kyle Arlington, Superintendent of Schools

May 2022

I’ve been thinking a lot about teachers’ visions lately. Why teachers choose the profession, their personal beliefs about teaching and learning, and what they want for their students. I’m fixated on how these visions change or don’t, the longer teachers are in the classroom.

This thinking got me to add “update personal vision for teaching and learning” to my summer to-do list. It’s been a while.

I love learning more about teachers’ visions and visions for teaching. Sometimes I ask teachers explicitly in feedback sessions about their visions, and other times I get a glimpse of their visions based on some inadvertent thing they say.

When I asked our recent Educators of the Year what they hope for our students, I was struck by Brearley High School English teacher Jill Minarik who said.

“My wish for every student I have is to live boldly. To find their joy and hold onto it. To fight for what they believe is right. To write their own stories and smile in the face of adversity. To gain as much knowledge as they can about the world around them and pave their own path.”

Her comment got me thinking about how we’ve been bold around our district lately.

1. Giving students agency and ownership over their learning: I’m always compelled when I see teachers structuring learning opportunities that encourage kids to take ownership over their learning. Indeed, giving kids “choice” is part of that ownership. More than choice, though, I’m excited when kids get to exert agency in their learning (e.g., not just “Choose what battle of the Civil War you want to present on, but choose how you want to present.) I’ve seen a lot of student agency this year: from high school passion projects to second graders excited about their informational writing on animals. From middle school kids taking agency in book clubs to high school students shaping course electives.

2. Expanding (innovation & opportunities): Next year, we’ll continue to expand STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). We’ve added dance to our program of studies and will offer an e-sports class and team and a new e-sports environment. Pretty bold, right?

3. Taking the Leap: The district’s current bond proposal is another effort for us to live boldly and innovate. We’re always thinking of how to provide the best possible experiences for our students, which led to planning for a bond referendum. This fall, the community will be asked to vote on funding for transformative projects that would create a more distinct middle school, modernize our auditoriums, and install a synthetic turf field. Also, the district’s current bond proposal would give Brearley middle, and high school students access to high-tech science facilities. We believe this approach would serve our community far better than piecemeal fixes to maintain the status quo.

You can learn more about the bond referendum here.

I hope that by modeling boldness for our students, we teach them to "be bold enough to use your voice, brave enough to listen to your heart, and strong enough to live the life you've always imagined." - unknown