Spring Bulletin 2012 - The Park School

4. Introducing The Faculty Coach
Great teachers look for and crave feedback
from their peers and colleagues. It is a necessary
part of the continuous process to
improve and better their craft. Moreover, as
the Park21 initiatives encourage more Park
teachers to look outward and seek out best
practices, a “master teacher” can collaborate
with teachers back in the classroom to implement
those new ideas. Taking our cue from
several schools across the nation that have
incorporated a full-time faculty coach, Park
recognizes the incredible value this will bring
to the Park faculty. In his 2011 New Yorker
article, “Personal Best,” Atul Gawande
reminds us, “There was a moment in sports
when employing a coach was unimaginable
— and then came a time when not doing
so was unimaginable. We care about results
in sports, and if we care half as much about
results in schools…. we may reach the same
conclusion.”
Over the past three years, Park has
engaged educational consultant Pamela
Penna to instruct the faculty in “differentiated
instruction,” which has been very well
received. Next year, in 2012–13, Park is
pleased to invite Pamela to join the faculty
two days a week as a comprehensive faculty
coach and mentor. As funds are raised for
Park21, our goal is to endow a full-time
faculty coach position at Park.
The Park21 strategic plan calls for
the purchase of adjoining property.
Why does Park need more land?
While Park’s 26-acre campus is sufficient for
today’s 560 students, the School must to
have the ability to respond to future program-
matic needs and to add physical spaces that
those programmatic improvements will
require. Currently, due to the Town of Brookline’s
restrictions on construction to acreage
ratios (called “F.A.R.”), Park has nearly maximized
the physical square footage allowed
on our 26-acre campus. If, in the future, the
Board of Trustees wants to add new structures
or even add to the existing building in
any way, the School would have to obtain
more acreage to maintain the required F.A.R.
ratio. Thankfully, Park has been given the
exclusive option to purchase eight adjoining
acres of land, which abuts the campus behind
the main building. Given the rarity of adjacent
property in this section of Brookline, the
School is extremely grateful for this unique
opportunity. Part of the Park21 plan includes
the purchase of this property, so that the
School will be able to respond to the physical
needs of program innovations as they surface
over the course of the next 5, 10, 25, or
100 years.
So, why does Park need a bold new
strategic plan in 2012?
Because offering exactly the same learning
experiences in 2016 that we offered in 2006
or even 2010 would not be good enough for
our students, their families, our faculty, or our
alumni who are proud of Park’s role as a
leader among independent schools. Over the
School’s history, Park has achieved recognition
6 The Park School Bulletin | Spring 2012
by continuing to push to be better and better.
Each of the strategic initiatives in the Park21
plan is intended to make Park more “forward-looking,”
more “outward-looking,” and
a constantly improving center for learning.
New initiatives in program are essential
to keep our 123-year-old institution current.
Yet, even as we embrace innovation and
change, it is important to note that our
strategic plan reaffirms core values that have
been Park’s “trademark” for many years:
fostering a love of learning in our students;
celebrating a commitment to diversity as
an essential component of an excellent education;
and giving our students the strongest
skills, values, and academic foundation
they will need to be leading global citizens
in an increasingly-connected world.
Interested in learning more?
Please contact Bea Sanders, director
of development, at 617-274-6020 or
bea_sanders@parkschool.org.