Head of School Lori Strauss shares her thoughts and what families need to know heading into the 2023-24 school year.
Dear Field Community,
What a wonderful beginning to the 2023-2024 school year! Welcoming students back from summer a few inches taller, with long hair that was short just a few months ago, with big smiles and happy (sometimes deeper) hellos has truly been a joy. Our classrooms are filled with discussions of summer reading, summer jobs and adventures, and connecting to new friends. It was exciting to see our students and faculty in the newly renovated science classrooms on the first day of school. The five new state-of-the-art classrooms and labs were bustling with excitement from students and teachers.
Teachers have been preparing for this week since June, building new class curriculums for courses such as Advanced Creative Writing, Modern and Contemporary Literature, Advanced Topics in Mathematics, Marine and Geoscience Systems, and Coding and Making.
Garnett Hillman, one of the authors of our teaching faculty summer read, Standards-Based Learning in Action, spent two days with us honing our curriculum building skills. Field has an impressive faculty that enjoys collaborating with colleagues and experts in the pursuit of educational excellence. Ermira Elmazaj who has been teaching in our world language program for 15 years said,
“In my view, there is a strong connection between effective professional development, teaching practices, and student outcomes. Participating in the PD with Garnett not only significantly enriched our understanding of standard-based learning practices and their profound and direct impact on student engagement and achievement, but also equipped us, as teachers, with tangible objectives. We had the opportunity to collaborate with different teams, both large and small, engaging in meaningful reflection and discussions on our students' learning and our own teaching practices.”
While full faculty engages in two weeks of professional development together, our four new members of the teaching faculty spent an additional week focusing on Field culture and classroom practices. Darcy Brewer who is joining us as a Chemistry and Advanced Chemistry teacher shared:
“I was coming into these past two weeks of faculty preparation anticipating good things and a welcoming community. Even so, the talent and dedication that was conveyed to me, shown as fundamental to Field, was surprising in a good way. I hope I will be able to inspire hope, ignite the imagination, and instill a love of learning here at Field with the support of such a great faculty and community.”
With preseason sports complete and competitions beginning, please join us in support of our fall athletics season and make sure Homecoming, Saturday, October 14, is on your schedule.
There are many opportunities for parents to join us on campus this fall for social events, back-to-school nights, and learning together. Our first parent book club meeting is October 11 at 8:30am (Reader Come Home, The Reading Brain in the Digital World) is another opportunity to meet Field parents while building knowledge together. This year we will be looking for moments and opportunities to educate parents on the “why” of our classroom practices, curriculum choices, and assessment philosophies. Look for future topics at our division specific parent coffees beginning in November. The parent-home partnership ensures our students and your children thrive.
Warmly,
Lori
