A Message from the Head of School
September 2010
Welcome back. We are so pleased to start the year and are all looking forward to an exciting and meaningful year. Our faculty are eager to begin their important work with your children in educating their minds, but also helping them grow emotionally and socially.
As I enter my fifth year at the Swain School, my enthusiasm for the school is stronger than ever. Working closely with Kyle Armstrong over the past few years, I feel our academic program is truly more progressive than it was four years ago. It represents the best practices in an excellent independent school education. The addition of K-2 science, the organic garden, a fulltime K-5 Spanish teacher, the global studies program in our first and second grades, the Asian studies program in fifth grade, the 5th and 7th grade Mandarin Chinese courses that are new this year, and our overall effort to provide an above grade level program in math are a few examples of the hard work our faculty and administration has done to improve the curriculum.
We are also proud of our efforts to ensure our academic program teaches our students how to work well here at school, but also gives them the tools needed to prepare them for their future once they leave the halls of Swain. This combination is critical to our growth in the next few years.
One of the many wonderful things about a PS3-8th grade school is that every child is known and loved. It is important that we continue to work diligently to make sure each student has the ability to enhance his or her strengths, but also work on the things they may need to improve within a small school setting. This school has a strong community, providing our boys and girls a safe place to learn and develop.
We are excited to welcome all the new students to our school, from the youngest in our preschool program to our new middle schoolers. It is now time for the new 8th grade class to take on the important role as leaders of our student body. We will kick off their year with the first annual Head of School luncheon at my house on September 10. On that day, we will begin to plan for the year and help guide our young leaders as if it is truly their first "senior year".
As we look forward to this year, we cannot forget to congratulate the class of 2010 as they begin their upper school experiences. They are entering many excellent independent schools, both boarding and day, while other students are preparing for their high school experience at some of the larger area public schools. We will miss them all, but know they are completely prepared for their exciting next step in life.
This summer I reread Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink. As I read, I realized that his message is reflected in our mission at The Swain School. We focus on not only giving our students the fundamental skills to succeed in school, but also what they will need to succeed in their future lives. His main principles in the book include the need to provide our students, and even ourselves as adults, the ability to direct our lives toward learning, to create new things and to try to find ways to better ourselves and our world. Throughout the year we will endeavor to help the students find the "drive" that will allow them to discover the intrinsic motivation to learn now and create the desire and purpose to learn for the rest of their lives.
As we prepare for this year, I hope you remember to find moments to celebrate with your children the outstanding opportunity you have provided them. I am confident this opportunity will help our young scholars experience amazing results during this school year and beyond. I look forward to seeing all of you in the hallways, at carpool, at the division level coffees, at our first Swain Association meeting on Tuesday, September 7 directly after drop-off, and certainly at our Back to School Night on Thursday, September 16.
Warmly,
Todd
1100 South 24th Street
Allentown, PA 18103
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