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Quicklinks:October 2007 - Letter from the Head of School
Dear Parents,
With this letter, I want to bring several important matters to your attention and also request of you to regularly consult the school's website as most future communication will come to you by way of the school's WEBSITE as noted in item 1 of this communication:
- All parents are asked to regularly check the Baldwin website for letters from the school as well as information about activities in sports, community service, and all the many special events that occur throughout the year. This should be done at least once a week and indeed, to be sure to keep up well, more frequently than that. The website is:
www.baldwin-school.org
- On the website, you will find letters from three of our Board members covering Board news in three important areas - by Chairman of the Board Mr. Douglas W. Pennock, on a Board decision to change the focus of the ANNUAL MEETING in May and other Board matters, by Dr. Enrique N. Arsuaga, on the work that is being done on STRATEGIC PLANNING, and by Mr. Miguel A. Soto-Class, on FUNDRAISING, with an update on the THEATER PROJECT. I believe that in all these areas Baldwin School is positioning itself well for significant progress, and I urge you to check the website for these reports from the Board of Directors.
- The SURVEY ON SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING
As you know, we did a survey among students, faculty and staff, and parents, which was organized with the support of the Center for Social and Emotional Education (CSEE) headquartered in New York City. More information about the Center is available at their website www.csee.net
The representatives of the Center, after gathering the data from the surveys, came to Baldwin School to give a presentation to parents on Wednesday evening, October 10 th, followed by a full day workshop with faculty on October 11 th. In presenting the data, the workshop leaders commented on how "highly encouraging" the results were, noting differences and concurrence in responses in the various categories between students, parents, and faculty/staff. After the review of the data the faculty discussed at length in what areas we are already doing well and where we might in future place greater emphasis to further improve the school's culture and effective support of social and emotional learning. This will be the focus of faculty reviews and the identification of action plans for the remainder of the year, with a possible second workshop in March of 2008.
The full survey results are available on the website. As you look at this, be sure to review carefully the definitions in the 10 areas (called DIMENSIONS OF SCHOOL CLIMATE) that were surveyed. (For example, Quality of Instruction does NOT REFER to how well we teach or prepare in specific subjects but to providing help, varied teaching methods, material used and links with 'real life’). All the ratings were on a scale of 1-5; with 5 being the most positive, and in most areas our scores were in the range of 3-5, signaling an overall positive outcome. At the same time, the survey helped us identify areas where we need to be stronger.
We are happy to share this full survey with you, as part of being entirely transparent and also because many of you, while you were able to do the survey, were not able to attend the parent meeting. We will keep you advised about this as we go forward with this during the year. If you have questions, please direct these to the Head of School.
- In connection with this topic, please be advised that later in the year, the Caribbean Association of Independent Schools (CAIS) has been able to get Michael Thompson as a speaker. Dr. Thompson is a well regarded psychologist, author, and consultant who has spoken at schools world-wide, on understanding children and families. The presentation for parents will be on January 28, 2008 at 7:00 PM at the Commonwealth High School. Dr. Thompson will do a full day lecture/workshop with teachers on the same day. Details on Dr. Thompson are on our website now!
- Finally, please do check our website as well for important technology news - plans to introduce EDLINE as a means of communication between teachers and parents/students, and on measures the school has taken to safeguard the campus against dengue.
Now we are in the midst of SPIRIT WEEK and I hope many of you have had an opportunity to see the incredible student talent displayed throughout the week – after a “character – testing”, rainy weekend of preparations.
Best wishes for the remainder of the first semester.
Sincerely,
Dr. Gunther Brandt
Head of School
