Spring Bulletin 2012 - The Park School

Park21 Plan Summary
Park21 identifies strategic priorities that will shape the
School’s focus for the next 5-7 years. For the School to
remain a leader in academics and program, we must invest
resources today so that we can embrace the best practices
and innovations of 21st century learning. The goal is 1) to
raise funding to permanently endow all of the components
of the Park21 plan and 2) to increase the School’s ability
to add additional physical space by acquiring an adjacent
piece of property. In addition to the specific programs
outlined below, the spirit of Park21 will permeate the entire
curriculum. Every child will deepen 21st century skills such
as technology literacy, public speaking, teamwork and
collaboration, and comfort with an inquiry-based approach
to learning.
Awareness for the 21st Century Learner;”
and
• Grade III colleagues Jen Riley and Peter
Bown will research “Best Practices for
Supervising and Evaluating 21st Century
Teachers.”
By the end of next year, Park students will
surely benefit from our teachers bringing
“the most compelling ideas about teaching
and learning” into our classrooms.
2. Renewed Focus on Science; Expansion
of Engineering in the Science Curriculum
After nearly two years, Park is nearing completion
of a top-to-bottom review of its
science program. “We knew we had to take
a close look at our curriculum,” Karen
Manning, Chair of the Science Department,
explains, “because American students consistently
perform below their peers from other
developed countries in math and science.”
According to Karen, a desired outcome of
this program review is to “make The Park
School a leader among its peer schools in
science and technology.”
The strategic plan also calls for Park to
introduce more engineering-based skills into
our science curriculum. To that end, last
spring Park introduced a robotics pilot in
Grades VI and VIII with a phenomenal
response. In problem-solving pairs, students
were challenged to design, build and test
their very own robot vehicle — using laptops,
Lego robot kits, and science journals with
graphing paper for recording data – skills
which are foundational to engineering and
the development of broader problem-solving.
At the end of the unit, the student pairs
“raced” their creations – a video is available
on Park’s website: URL
All of Park’s science teachers participated
in training through Tufts University to learn
how to implement the robotics unit with
middle school students. The goal is to include
some aspect of robotics at every grade level.
In order to continue to provide the best level
of science education, Karen concludes, “We
must stay abreast of the current research and
practices in science education. We will have
to continuously tweak and adjust our curriculum
to meet the ever-changing needs of our
students as they prepare for the continuing
learning of the 21st century.”
3. Embracing New Technology Tools for
Better Pedagogy at Park
Over the past 15–20 years, the introduction
of new technologies has created many chal-
4 The Park School Bulletin | Spring 2012
NEW CAPABILITIES FOR TEACHERS
• Creation of the Peter Amershadian Faculty Leadership
Grant — Named to honor one of Park’s most accomplished and
beloved teachers, this program provides resources for teachers to
do a substantial amount of additional work outside the school
year to identify best practices and advance a specific programmatic
area that has been deemed a priority for the School.
• Addition of a Faculty Coach to the Park faculty — enabling Park
teachers to benefit from the observation, collaboration and feedback
of a coach, to better their teaching skills and to help them
implement new ideas in the classroom.
• Further expansion of faculty Professional Development, specifically
around Park21 initiatives, to allow teachers to incorporate
best practices in math, science, technology, globalism, faculty
evaluation, and 21st century skills.
We visited Grade VI science teacher and Chair of
the Science Department Karen Manning last spring
as she launched the robotics unit: “Your mission,”
she directed her class, “is to create a robot which
will travel the exact distance between the black line
and the green line — without overshooting the
green line. GO!”
lenges to address in our work with children
for us as educators and parents, among
them: safety, privacy, access, and information
overload. There also have been several waves
of excitement about the capacity of each new
technology tool to transform teaching and
learning.
At Park, all three divisions are exploring
how to use technology as a tool to expand
and deepen the learning experience for Park
students. Our efforts are guided by the belief
that technology has the capacity to make
learning more engaging, more collaborative,
and more connected. Furthermore, we see