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Lower School Connections
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Middle School
News & Notes? |
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| Dear Swain Families,
Even if your child is not in the Lower School, I hope you take the time to read and enjoy this newsletter. There is a lot of information about all of our students and great programs, with a special invitation to parents (see "Notes from Mr. Stansbery").
Todd Stansbery
Head of School |
Lower School News
Ready or not, here school comes. As we all look back on the past four weeks, we can feel great accomplishment and also relief that we got through one of the busiest times of the year for schools and your homes. The beginning of the school year is exciting and this year I feel as though the year had an extremely smooth beginning.
Each one of us may have  different feelings about the start of the year. I'm sure some students could not wait to meet their teachers, buy their school supplies, begin wearing their school uniform, and get started learning all the new things they will be taught this year.
Other students were nervous and maybe felt a little apprehensive about the first day of school. In addition, some parents could not wait to get their children back to school and back into a regular rhythm with a normal schedule, while many parents really felt as nervous as their child did on that very first day. No matter how you felt - and maybe none of the above descriptions did capture your feelings - I hope you know that it has been a wonderful first four weeks of school and I thank the students, the teachers, and you, the parents.
I'd like to especially thank the faculty for organizing such a meaningful beginning of the school year. That includes the  warm welcome on day one, and the amazing presentations given at Back to School night last week. I believe we should take the time to let the faculty know how we feel and that we do not take them for granted. We feel very fortunate to have them working so closely with the students.
As we embark on our educational journey this year, I hope the parents work side by side in partnership with the faculty. Use the open door environment that only an independent school like Swain can provide so easily and so warmly. The Preschool students come to us so young and sometimes they are attending school for the very first time, while the eighth graders are the seasoned veterans ready to hit the ground running and ready to make connections with all of the teachers and their peers. This 11-year span is remarkable. Each year prepares them for the many great moments in their future.
Author and pediatrician Dr. Mel Levine discusses in one of his books, "Ready or Not, Here Life Comes", all of our students will experience many growth processes this year. He calls these processes the four I's. They include Inner direction, Interpretation, Instrumentation, and Interaction.
Inner direction refers to an individual's insight into himself or herself, which leads to self-understanding. Using the second I, interpretation, students acquire insights about the world outside of themselves. They grow to understand the impact of people, conditions and events that surround them.
The third I, instrumentation, describes a child's ability to create a working mental and emotional tool kit which provides him or her with skills that foster high-quality thinking and productivity. And finally the last I is interaction. Interaction is the invaluable growth process of learning to communicate, which enables an individual to use words and construct sentences that convey personal thoughts accurately.
No two children will achieve these growth processes within the same time frame or in  the same ways, but it is important that they learn that these processes do occur within these early stages of their lives. It is exciting for us to be in partnership with you to help guide our talented students. We work hard to properly assess and understand each child's strengths and weaknesses in order to ensure that they all know how to learn and how to understand the complexities of the world that is waiting for them. This effort helps the children find ways to equip themselves with the proper strategies and skill sets to prepare for life.
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Lower School Events
The first Lower School Town Meeting was held on September 3 in Rogers' Commons.  We introduced all of the faculty and made sure we recognized all of the new students in the Lower School. I took that time to introduce this year's theme, "Learning and Living with Honor" and read the new Honor Pledge. In addition, I told the students about the honor pinning ceremony on October 21, during our Founder's Day ceremony. I will remind the students in the next month or so that this new tradition will occur and that their parents will be invited to attend this meaningful ceremony.
The following week we had our Preschool division and Lower School coffees for the parents. Thank you to those who could attend this opportunity to hear more about the exciting year in store for our students. On Friday, September 11, the Preschool and Prekindergarten students and faculty had our first "Fun Friday". I had the opportunity to go and listen to the great songs and witnessed and participated in the fun movements and dances, too. I was given the opportunity to introduce myself to all of the students in attendance and welcome them to The Swain School.
Entering our third week of school, we had a faculty meeting on September 14. We discussed the H1N1 flu potential and how to make sure our students are taking precautions like frequently washing their hands and immediately throwing away used tissues. We are also being careful to effectively wipe down all the hard surfaces in the classrooms and around the school every day.
Also at the faculty meeting, five of our faculty presented information about the professional development opportunity they received this past summer (see Professional Development below).
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Professional Development
The week of August 10, Jillian Zepp, Kelley Stout, Mary Garton, Karin Reger, and Anize Appel had the opportunity to attend Columbia University's Teacher College to participate in the Lucy Calkins Writing Project Training. Krista Kelly and Karen Richards have also received this meaningful training, making a total of seven of our Kindergarten through grade 5 teachers who are trained in this great writing program. We are in our second year of implementing this program and the students have already begun to show signs of success. Some of the great things that this program provides are confidence and comfort with the writing process.
 We are very fortunate to have our faculty trained in this writing program and we are looking forward to getting some of the other teachers trained this next summer. Sheree Knerr, Louise Christensen, Carol Scerbo, Karen Richards, and Kelly Fragin went to a Lucy Calkins Writing Training Session on September 21 in Philadelphia. Although Karen Richards has been trained, this will be the other four teachers' first formal training in this writing program; they have had some internal training from our faculty.
Bonnie Cohen has been taking classes and is getting more training with the movement in the Orff Classroom Training. She has been taking these classes to enrich her ability to teach the children how to experience the many possibilities of communication and expression through movement and dance. She is developing a movement vocabulary that will help the students understand and experience important musical concepts through the medium of movement and dance. Mrs. Cohen is very excited to implement these techniques that are not currently in her already creative and engaging program. More later about the Lower School activities in the next Lower School Connections.
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Notes from Mr. Stansbery
Most of you know that the past two summers I have asked the faculty, administration and Board of Trustees to read a summer reading book.
During the summer of 2008, I requested that each person read Daniel Pink's book, "A Whole New Mind, Why Right Brainers Will Rule the Future". This past summer, I asked each of us to read the book from Carol Dweck, "Mindset, The New Psychology of Success, How We Can Learn to Fulfill Our Potential."
I encourage each parent to read either one of these books. This most recent book has many great insights and I encourage you to come on Wednesday, October 14, at
8:15 a.m. to discuss this book with me and other parents in my office. Please RSVP with Laura Knopf at 610-433-4542, ext. 124. This will be an opportunity to meet with other parents and discuss some of the themes that Dr. Dweck addresses in her book.
(Check out these highlights from Dr. Dweck's book at the Reader's Digest website.)
As we move into the fall, in addition to the above book, I want to highlight an article that came from the President of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), Patrick Bassett. On August 1, 2009, he discussed on his blog the seven myths of independent schools.
I will briefly give you these myths; here is the link to the entire article. It is important to emphasize that at The Swain School, we are committed to being a model program in the community. In doing so, we strive to represent the mosaic of society and to encourage individuality. It is important that our students develop their own independent personalities with their own educational journeys, all within the guidance of our academic program.
Here are the myths:
Myth #1 Independent schools are only for the rich.
Myth #2 Independent schools are "not the real world".
Myth #3 Independent schools are unaffordable.
Myth #4 Independent schools lack diversity.
Myth #5 Independent schools (especially boarding schools) are for kids with social problems.
Myth #6 Independent schools are only for really smart kids.
Myth #7 Independent schools are not part of the community.
These myths were gathered from NAIS to find out why families who reject  independent schools tend to believe in one or more myths about independent schools. We know what makes independent schools so special. These myths do not reflect the value that most of us recognize at The Swain School and other independent schools that work diligently to know each child and to celebrate our unique educational environment. We know it is very important that we celebrate our independent school community and recognize the things we do well.
Thank you and please come and discuss the "Mindset" book on Wednesday, October 14, in my office. Enjoy the beginning of the autumn season.
Warmly,
Todd
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