News & Weekly Letters

Last night, I had the opportunity to sit in on Sara Weintraub’s Introduction to Writing Workshop for Elementary Parents (there was a repeat session this morning too – but I couldn’t attend that one!). Writing Workshop is an approach to writing instruction that has been implemented in all our Elementary classes since Sara’s arrival at The École. The parents who attended the sessions were treated to a micro-lesson and were called on to produce their own pieces of writing;

Yesterday afternoon, just before playing their first competitive match of the season, our Falcons were treated to a powerful pre-game pep talk from Coach Soden. He spoke to them about grit, one of his five pillars of character. Grit has been a trending term in education since Angela Duckworth shared her protean definition of the term during a much-lauded Ted Talk. For Duckworth, grit is about passion and perseverance in pursuing long-term goals. It involves setting a goal and striving to reach it no matter how much energy is required and no matter how many obstacles are encountered along the way. It’s an excellent lesson for our students (and for me too!)

I started writing to my school community on a weekly basis when I was head of school in Taipei because I was convinced—and still am—that it is crucial for every school to tell its story.  I enjoy writing, so the story of The École—our story—sometimes takes personal detours and diverse paths that may surprise and, I hope, give pause for thought. I also tell our story to parents who visit the school and are considering putting their children in our care.

The World of Work is back for its ninth season at The École in 2022-2023! We are delighted to be welcoming a variety of industry experts to meet our 8th Grade students in their classroom—either virtually or in person—and share their professional experience, values, background, and knowledge with them.

I learn something new every day—from colleagues, from students, and from families. It’s something that makes me happy and makes my job a fascinating one. I feel incredibly lucky. Sometimes, I learn about something I had no idea existed, often I learn things I should probably have known, other times I “learn” something I used to know and had forgotten. For instance, seeing as it’s my tenth time planning a new school year, you might think that I could do it in my sleep—after all, isn’t it just the same process year in and year out?