Most of what happens in schools is tied to an academic year, from late summer through late spring. That said, the launch of the new calendar year is always positively marked by two events. During our first week back from winter break, we annually host a gathering of alumni, many of whom are still home […]
From my earliest days working at a similarly mission-driven school 25 years ago, I’ve been asked—relatively regularly, although the question can take different forms—just how we’re preparing children for the “real world.” There’s some sense that providing children with an environment where respect, kindness, curiosity, reflection, and support for one another is somehow doing them […]
“Welcome to the revolution!” That’s how a Wildwood parent framed an email providing me with the link to a Washington Post article in which eight prominent Washington, DC area independent schools announced their decision to eliminate their Advanced Placement (AP) programs. The “revolution” comment was, of course, a nod to the fact that Wildwood School […]
Click here to listen to this blog. Just a few years ago I was sitting in the admissions office at a highly selective technical institute, asking the question I always ask when I get time alone with a college admissions representative: What do they know of current undergraduates that would inform our work […]
Meeting a Holocaust survivor is humbling. I’m sure it’s different for each of us, depending on our own perspective and history, but hearing the stories of survivors—like Paula Lebovics, who spoke at middle and upper last week—inevitably leaves us feeling horrified, sad, and grateful to be in the presence of someone who’s experienced the unthinkable […]
Well over a year ago, my colleagues and I began a process to reconsider how we approach language instruction at Wildwood. Having reviewed scholarly research, best practices in other school environments, and having structured conversations with teachers, administrative leaders, parents, and students, I’m enthusiastic about the introduction of our K-12 Global Citizenship and World Languages […]
As another academic year comes to an end and we prepare to part ways for a well-earned summer break, I’m reflecting happily and with great pride on the year about to close. One of my proudest moments involved looking out over the 300 or so people gathered in the elementary Commons for this spring’s State […]
All roads seem to have led to Black Mountain College recently, or at least to the wonderful exhibition of work at the Hammer. We were in Berlin over spring break, and I went to the Hamburger Banhoff, Berlin’s contemporary art museum, to see an amazing show, Manifesto, by Julian Rosefeldt. I hadn’t realized that Leap […]
“The Board” conjures different things for different people. Vision. Work. Power. Responsibility. Philanthropy. These collections of people who care about and for an organization work tirelessly to further its goals—for profit, for social good, for children. Wildwood School’s Board of Trustees is focused on the latter, of course. One could argue—and I would—that our Board […]
A long-time Wildwood parent and I were at a school event recently. It was an admissions event, and we’d just heard a panel of current upper schoolers answer questions about the long-view of their Wildwood School experience. Two of them were his, and he was understandably proud. His third child is already off at college, […]
Wildwood School cultivates reflective scholars, bold innovators and compassionate leaders equipped with the skills, ethics and inspiration to transform their world.
