ISW’s Core Values Committee, composed of students, teachers, parents, and board members, met last week. As part of the process of working out the best way to state clearly and succinctly what we are about as a school community, I asked committee members to share one or two favorite ISW moments. Their answers were illuminating and worth sharing:

  • One of our music teachers talked about bringing in her cello. She had “back-up” activities in case the children weren’t interested. As it turned out, her students were enthralled and the back-up wasn’t necessary. She walked away thrilled to have shared one of the most beautiful things in her life with 4th and 5th graders who appreciated what she was sharing.

 

  • A Middle School student talked about a gamed called “Wah!” invented by ISW students and played daily. It involves a lot of running and yelling and laughing–things our students love to do during recess.

 

  • A parent talked about our camping experience at Camp Paddy Run. It was a rainy, cloudy weekend, but the clouds parted just long enough for our families to enjoy an impromptu talk about the stars by a couple of resident star experts. We decided it was time to head to bed, and the clouds came rolling back in, leaving us all with the sense that the stars had come out just for us.

 

  • Another parent described walking into school a little early at pick-up time, watching the Kindergartners sing and feeling of the love that pervades the Lower Elementary classroom. She spoke passionately about how the school cared about her child as a whole person.

 

  • A student talked about how pleased he was when he was able to assist a teacher with a printer that was malfunctioning.  Since then he has been taking a greater role in technology–installing virus protection on friends’ laptops and helping other students sort out technology problems.

 

  • Yet another student talked about nature, about her passion for spending time outdoors. She appreciated the amount of time devoted each day to the natural world.

 

  • A teacher talked about how much she loves teaching in a school where she is encouraged to figure out how her students learn as individuals and where she has the latitude to play to each student’s strengths.

 

Each person brought to our gathering his or her own unique vision of ISW. Two themes, though, were hard to miss–our commitment to nature, the arts, and technology resonates deeply with our families and our faculty,  and respect and love form the basis for every relationship.