This summer, building on faculty required readings from previous summers, Gardner’s Five Minds for the Future, Hallowell’s The Childhood Roots of Adult Happiness, and Perkins’ Smart Schools, to name a few of the more recent, faculty were asked to view and critique a February 2010 talk by Ken Robinson2 on his notion regarding the need for an education revolution. The piece provoked healthy professional discourse over the summer that will continue throughout the year. Critically refining our curriculum to meet changing needs remains an exciting challenge. The Faculty Initiative continues to enjoy great success in attracting and retaining exceptional people. Saint David’s remains highly competitive in the marketplace and our new, comprehensive Supervision and Evaluation program will enter its third full year of implementation. Modifications continue to be made. This year will see the school focus more on the mentorship of teachers new to the school and on refining the program for our senior masters. Fourteen teachers will work through their Milestone performance evaluations this year and an additional ten will prepare for next year. Also, during the summer months, in addition to regular ongoing maintenance and improvements to the facility, several major projects were successfully completed, namely the addition of an instructional space, the renovation of an art room, a pottery studio and office space for the athletic coaching faculty. Furthermore, new office space was provided for the math and science departments. Captured by the stratified winds found only at dawn and dusk, the balloons flown by the administrators this summer, slowly, gently lifted, then floated across the farmlands of central Jersey. Guided by experienced professionals, theirs was an exciting journey of perspective-changing discovery. This is my hope for our sons; we don’t know for certain what the future holds, but the light of our mission, like that of a lighthouse guiding its seafarers safely on their journey, or our balloon pilots guiding our administrators on their flight, will continue to show the way. And if the last 60 years are any indication, our path though challenging at times, in the end, will be one of joy and illumination. So let’s join together and enjoy the “flight!” I remain, Sincerely and respectfully yours, P. David O’Halloran
Notes: 1. See Saint David’s Magazine, Vol. 24, No. 2, Summer 2010, feature articles Twentieth Century Kaleidoscope, What Makes a Civilization, and Global Arts in the Second Grade, for more information. 2. Ken Robinson, Bring on the Learning Revolution. TED Talk, February 2010. See the Headmaster’s Blog for the video and some initial thoughts about it.