ISW is delighted that we were able to keep our doors open five days a week over the past two years and that we had (to our knowledge) zero community spread of COVID within the school. Our students benefited enormously from in-person instruction as well as the opportunity to interact with other students on a daily basis. That said, we also recognize that there are significant downsides to wearing masks and maintaining physical distance. In contrast to the experience of students who attended ISW pre-pandemic, our students in the last two years have had fewer opportunities for growth in the so-called “soft skills”—skills like sharing, waiting for a turn, partnering on an assignment, listening to different perspectives, etc.—skills that are difficult to cultivate in a physically distanced environment. While the soft skills don’t show up on standardized tests, they are critical for personal happiness and for success in almost every walk of life.
Throughout the spring and summer of 2022, our faculty has engaged in on-going conversation around concrete steps we can take to develop, encourage, and deepen these skills for our students. We have developed the following plan, which I wanted to share with you in the hopes that you will reinforce these skills, as appropriate, in your homes. Our plan is to implement as much as possible within current health and safety guidelines.
Classroom Greetings: Teachers will greet each child one-to-one at the classroom door in both the morning and the afternoon. We will use the student’s name, make eye contact, and give specific instructions about what to do next. We may even resume shaking hands if/when our county return to “low” COVID transmission!
Classroom Geography: Kindergarten and Lower Elementary classrooms have returned to low tables, which encourages the sharing of materials, accommodating one another while moving about the classroom, and taking turns. Upper Elementary, Middle, and High School classrooms will make use of a variety of classroom arrangements that encourage collaboration.
Partnering: We will reinstitute team work on some assignments. Students benefit from hearing one another’s ideas and wisdom. Partnering also encourages listening skills.
Community Building: In the Elementary School, we will reinstitute Reading Buddies, a program in which older students read to younger students–promoting leadership skills and the modeling of positive behaviors by the older students for the younger students. We are also planning to restart Indoor Recess in the Commons on inclement weather days. Students are encouraged to share recess resources (puzzles, Legos, board games, etc.) and organize themselves into teams. We will continue to host cross-division events (like the Fun Run, Community Day, and Readathon), all of which encourage students to learn from peers of all ages.
Community Meetings: The Elementary program will reinstitute an old and beloved ISW tradition, Monday Morning Meeting—a gathering of all the elementary students and morning teachers to chat about the upcoming week including experiential education and special events. We also use this time to highlight students doing the right thing (e.g., wearing the correct uniform) and students who have recently had significant “wins,” including sports, dance, etc. As Head of School, I model organization strategies by using my planner to conduct these meetings. We end each meeting with the That Was Easy Button, which encourages students to catch each other exemplifying ISW Core Values of Respect, Responsibility, Integrity, Empathy, and Commitment to Education. The Middle and High Schools will continue to enjoy their respective weekly meetings (Advisory for Middle School and SGA for High School) during which the planning of group social projects occurs.
In short, daily learning opportunities will be structured with an eye to the adults our students will eventually become–adults who are empathetic, kind leaders who hold themselves to the highest standards of conduct throughout their lives.
We are delighted to get the 2022-23 school year started and our students on the road to building outstanding interpersonal skills!