Welcome, Katie Maiberger!
We are very pleased to announce that ISW has hired Catherine “Katie” Maiberger to teach in our Upper Elementary program during the 2014-15 school year. Katie’s new responsibilities include humanities (reading, language arts, and history), math, and science. Katiegraduated from James Madison University with a BA in English and a minor in Middle School Education, grades four through eight. She has a decade of classroom teaching experience, and she works as a teacher consultant through the prestigious Northern Virginia Writing Project. Katie also served as PTO president in Clarke County for three years. During the 2013-14 school year, Katie coached ISW’s Destination Imagination elementary teams very successfully. Katie and her husband Todd live in Berryville with their three children, one of whom is an ISW student.
Welcome to our professional staff, Katie!
ISW @ YDC--a new partnership!
The Independent School of Winchester (ISW) and the Youth Development Center (YDC) are proud to announce that ISW’s Middle and High School programs will soon be offering a full array of classes, available full or part-time, at the YDC. Classes will include: Humanities, Math, Middle School Science and High School Biology, Spanish, American Sign Language, Performing Arts, and Communications. Beginning Fall 2014, ISW students will gain access to a gym, a black box theater, a picnic area, a stream, lots of green space, and, of course, several well-equipped classrooms.
The two organizations are thrilled to be partnering. ISW and YDC have very similar missions. ISW’s mission is “to create a learning environment where young people discover and develop their own unique abilities: to think logically and critically, to effect positive change in the world, and to approach life with an open heart.” YDC’s mission is provide “area youth with the opportunity for recreational and educational programs focused on their total development.” Both organizations were founded as gifts to the larger Winchester community—with the goal of benefiting as many school-aged area residents as possible. According to ISW Head of School Claire McDonald, “ISW isn’t your typical private school. Our entire program faces outward and seeks to engage the larger community. We regularly offer educational opportunities for parents and students from many schools. Partnering with the YDC was a natural next step. Think of the possibilities!”
The first ISW/YDC co-presented program will be Young Actors Academy, with Thomasin Savaiano directing. This workshop runs July 21 to August 1 and culminates with students presenting two plays, chosen specifically for their acting abilities. More information about this workshop can be found at www.iswva.org.
ISW and YDC look forward to many more opportunities to partner, and discussions are in progress exploring the options. “Together, we are going to make a big difference for our area’s young people and their families,” comments McDonald.
For more information, contact Claire McDonald: Claire@iswva.org, 540-877-5552. For Middle School admissions information, see http://www.iswva.org/isw-admissions-process/ and for High School admissions, see http://www.iswva.org/download-application/.
Top Five Reasons We Love Poetry Panel!
Every year, all ISW students, from the very youngest to the oldest, participate in Poetry Panel. Students memorize and perform (not just recite!) poetry for an audience and a team of judges. The judges then give feedback using ISW’s Three Stars and a Wish format—three positives and one thing to do differently next time. Many thanks to our judges: actor/director La Tasha Do’zia-Early, Children’s Librarian Donna Hughes, and poet Margaret Stetler.
Today we heard from the Upper Elementary and Middle School students. It was amazing—from the very serious (Never Shall I Forget by Eli Wiesel and First They Came for the Jews by Martin Niemoller) to the comic (Adventures of Isabel by Ogden Nash). We heard Prelutsky and Longfellow, Silverstein and Keillor, Angelou and Dickinson. It was truly a lovely morning.
Why would a modern, progressive school spend so much time on something as old-fashioned as memorizing poetry? There are many strong reasons. Here are our top five:
#5: Poetry Panel gives students the chance to get to know a poem “up close and personal,” to think for an extended time about what it might mean and how best to portray that thought or feeling.
#4: Poetry Panel gives puts the lyrical language from some of our world’s greatest writers within students’ reach.
#3: Confidence in public presentation is and will continue to be an incredibly important life skill.
#2: Occasionally, students will miss a line. Learning to take a moment to recover with composure is another key life skill.
#1: It is just plain fun to entertain and enlighten our friends and family with our favorite works!
ISW Welcomes Kristin Doherty
We are very pleased to announce that ISW has hired Kristin Doherty to teach Humanities and to serve as the Cross-Curricular Writing Coach in our High School program next year!
Kristin Doherty earned her BA in English Literature and Masters in Education at George Mason University as well as a second graduate degree, an MFA, at Spalding University. A certified teacher, Kristin has taught at all levels--elementary, middle, high school, and community college. Currently, she is teaching English in a school in Mexico. Kristin is a published author and an adventure sports enthusiast. She lives in Winchester with her husband.
Kristin has been considered a student/parent/teacher favorite everywhere she has worked. She is tremendously excited to join the faculty of a progressive school where she has the freedom to create curriculum that meets students' needs and where she can help students develop their writing skills across all disciplines. We are thrilled to welcome Kristin to ISW!
Do I really have to do a science fair project?
I had a fascinating conversation with a student yesterday. Our Middle Schoolers are preparing for our in-house science fair (with a few selected to move on to regional competition), and this young lady wondered, “If I don’t plan to be a scientist, why should I have to do a science fair project?” Great question. At ISW, we actually encourage students to question us. (Sometimes this requires the adults to think harder than the students do.) While there are certainly many students for whom the science fair is the first step in a career in science, for many others, it isn’t really about the final product. It is about the process: creating the hypothesis, working out an appropriate procedure, collecting data, and drawing conclusions.
As adults, we use this process almost unconsciously. When we were about to renovate our house, for instance, I had to choose a paint for the kitchen. I checked out Sherwin Williams’ options and chose what I thought was the perfect green. However, I wanted to be sure we had the right color, so I got samples of several greens similar to the one I thought would be perfect. Then I painted big squares of color on sheets of heavy duty paper and carried them around the house to see the samples in different lights. I was surprised to find that my initial favorite wasn’t the one I liked best once the test panels were created. I asked each of my daughters and my husband to follow the same procedure and then to vote secretly. Amazingly, we each choose the same color. Was this science? No, definitely not. It was an exercise in aesthetics, probably closer to art. But it is still an excellent example of proceeding through a decision in a logical way—creating a hypothesis, collecting data, and drawing conclusions.
So, my precious Middle Schooler, do you really need to do a science fair project? Yes. You will use the skills you acquire in the process long after that trifold has turned to dust in the landfill.
Claire
January 16, 2014
Musings on Our Winter Concert
Congratulations to ISW's students on a wonderful concert! We also owe our Performing Arts faculty, Brigitte DeHaven, Heather Butler, Kate Gregori, and Todd Apple, a huge round of applause.
17 December 2013
Opening Remarks 2013
Welcome, welcome! Welcome back to our returning families! And a hearty welcome to our new families. Welcome back, teachers!
A couple of weeks ago, I was working on clearing out our family’s storage unit. Buried in a giant pile of photographs was this story, dated 1956. Here’s this teacher with her second grade class. And guess what she’s doing? Turns out her second graders could do math on a worksheet, but they had no idea how to translate those worksheet skills to the real world. Students, raise your hands. How many of you have ever paid for something at the store? How many of you know how to make change? Do you know how much will your money buy and what things cost?
Armed with these questions, this teacher went to local businesses and found people to build a tiny version of a market in her classroom. Other businesses donated boxes and cans of food. The article explains that, “Each morning a [student] shopkeeper is appointed and he—or she, as the case may be—appoints a [student] telephone clerk and a [student] delivery boy. The merchandise must be dusted and arranged. Later, during activity period, the [student] shoppers arrive in relays. There is a coin phone where [student] customers may call to place their orders and the cash register rings [too].”
Super cool, huh? So there I was in the family storage unit, covered in dust and exceedingly grumpy, when I get to this wonderful, inspiring article. It turns out the dark-haired lady at the edge of the photograph was Joan Sproul, my mother.
Even in the 1950s, first rate teachers took a progressive approach to teaching. Imagine that! As a matter of fact, the idea that experience is the best teacher is as old as time and almost totally forgotten in most American schools today.
One easy way to tell what schools really value is to ask where they allocate time and resources. At ISW, we are out on field trips almost every Friday afternoon and our classrooms are filled with hands-on activities and projects that bring learning off the worksheet and into life. It is certainly important to get ideas on paper and worksheets have their place in building skills, but in the end, you haven’t truly mastered anything until you can apply the skill in the real world. This is the essence of progressive education. ISW may be relatively young, but we descend from a tradition that is, arguably, older than the idea of school itself.
And now, before we get any older, it is time to begin this school year…
Kindergartners, Lowers, Uppers, Middles, thank you for your excitement, your inspiration and your trust. This school is, as always, our gift to one another. Welcome to the new school year.
The ABCs of ISW
At ISW, we have a tradition of listing our favorite things about the school year. Our Head of School, Claire McDonald, reads them at our closing ceremonies, which we held last night. Here's the 2012-13 rendition:
A is for Alejandro, Armando, Andrew, Anise, Art, and filming the Aeneid.
B is for Ben, Bob, Bill, Beth, Brendan, Ms. Becky, someone whose initials spell Birdy, the fabulous Butler boys, Black Friars, and, my personal favorite, being here with everyone.
C is for Celia, Ms. Chantal, Ms. Christy, Ms. Claire, Camp Paddy Run, CATs, Cooking, and Camera—specifically Ming’s, which is everywhere.
D is for Ms. Diane, two Mr. Daves, Dr. Bryan, Dr. Page, and DI.
E is for Ellen, Elizabeth, Emerson, two Erins (Gilbert and Sullivan), and electricity.
F is for “Focus!” It’s also for field trips, free dress days, Faith, 4H, fish tank, and frindles.
G is for Gerry, Gayle, two Graces, and a new garden.
H is for Havana, Ms. Heather, hikes, hermit crabs, Habitat for Humanity Art Show (which we have won two out of three years), and the hotel where we stayed for DI States.
I is for the Italian dinner for the Ks and, of course, for the “independent” in ISW.
J is for two Jameses, two Johns, two Josephs, Jack, Javier, and Jazzercise—a favorite hangout for both students and teachers.
K is for Kerry, Kurt, Kate, and Kay.
L is for Liana, Lilah, Lenore, laptops, Leif Ericson, Lords and Ladies, and Landers—small, medium and large.
M is for Mary Joanna Ming McDonald, Mavis Murdock, a Mariana and a Mariana (with the same birthdays), Ms. Meghan, Ms. Mary, Ms. Meredith, Mr. Matt, Mr. Mark, Mr. Mike, McDeath the Musical, Metal-detecting, Medal-winning (and we did a lot of that!), Math, Music, Mediaspace, and Monday Morning Meeting.
N is for Nula, Nature, and Mr. Neil.
O is for “Oh, no, I forgot my homework!”
P is for the Powerhouse Powell boys, Performing Arts, and of course Poetry Panel.
R is for Ms. Rebecca, Ms. Rosemary, and the return of Ms. Erin.
Q is for quiet, which is in short supply at ISW.
S is for Sadie, Sydney, Ms. Susan, Scott “Safety is my middle name” Shoup, Spanish, Safari Park, Spring Fest, Select, Starbase, and Summer.
T is for Mr. Tony, Mr. Tom, Ms. Tracy, Mr.Todd, Thanksgiving, and Two Cities (as in A Tale of).
U is for U make me LOL.
V is for Ms. Victoria, Valentine’s Day, and Mr. Todd’s Volcano.
W is for a Wayside Christmas and working together.
X is for the x-axis and 10 (but only if you read Roman numerals).
Y is for our inaugural yearbook and four letter words that start with Y and end with A, like Yona and Yoga.
Z is for Azzy, Zoo, Ziplines, and my wish that all of you take on this summer with Zeal!
Welcome, Todd Apple!
We are very pleased to announce that ISW has hired Todd Apple to teach in our Upper Elementary and Middle School programs next year.
Todd is an 11 year veteran of the Air Force and Air National Guard and a graduate of the University of Maryland University College with a BS in Management Studies. Over the past 25 years, he has lived in numerous countries and has been a director and participant in community theater all over the world. In 2005, Todd served as the PK-5th grade music teacher and the middle and high school drama and music teacher for two years at the International School of Panama. After Panama, Todd dedicated four years as a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math instructor for 5th graders with the Department of Defense Starbase program both in West Virginia and Hawaii. Since 2008, Todd and his wife, Theresa, have run their own youth nonprofit, Apple Creative Theater, focusing on theater with children 10-18 years old.
We got to know Todd this year when he served as a long-term substitute for a faculty member on maternity leave. He did an amazing job with very little notice when the maternity leave commenced far earlier than expected. He has earned our respect and gratitude! Next year at ISW, Todd will be teaching science and working with our humanities and performing arts programs. Adults and students alike are very excited to see what Mr. Todd brings to our little school next year.
Top of the list? Kindness
In preparation for our high school planning retreat, we did some focus groups—with parents, with current college students, and with our own ISW students. Though I enjoyed all of the groups, my conversation with our own upper elementary and middle school students was, by far, my favorite. We asked our students several open-ended questions; their answers are revealing about who we are as a school community. You can learn a lot about a school by talking with students!
First, we asked our students, “What characterizes an ISW education?” We recorded all the answers on the white board, and then each student placed stars by top three responses. Here are the results:
- Creative/artistic/musical (11)
- Fun/cool (9)
- Small (7)
- Strong academic subjects: math and history (7)
- Friendly/socially easy/happy/loving (6)
- Hands-on, experimental (6)
- Inspirational/ new hope (4)
- Dreams (3)
- Peaceful/calm (3)
We also asked our students to paint a word portrait of an ISW graduate. In other words, "Who do you hope to be when you graduate from ISW’s high school program?" Again, the results speak volumes about who we are as a community:
- Kind, never bullies (6)
- Good face-to-face skills (4)
- Mature, responsible, knows what is appropriate when and where (4)
- Physically fit (4)
- Smart, strong academics (4)
- Respectful (3)
- Ready to live with others (2)
- Has a good plan for life (2)
I was so proud to see “kind” at the top of the list! We have some wise, “old souls” here at ISW. How lucky I am to work with such amazing young human beings every day.
Claire McDonald