Vision eMag Winter Issue 2020 - Corrected

e MAGAZINE
VIRGINIA ASSOCIATION OF INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS
VAIS Health & Well-being Summit
Health and Well-being
ISSUE 8
Winter
2020

e MAGAZINE
CONTENTS
2
5
7
9
11
13
15
17
We Started with a Wellness Wheel
A Playful, Musical Way to Health and Well-being
The Langley School: SEL In Action
Questions of the Soul: Caring for the
Whole Student
Creating a Healthier School Community
Growth Mindset and Brain Education:
Equipping Students for Social, Emotional,
and Academic Well-being
Healthy Girls, Healthy Communities
A Place to Connect
Editorial Advisory Board
Kim Failon, Director of Communications, VAIS
Lelia Grinnan, Director of Accreditation, VAIS
Interested in writing an article for an upcoming
Vision? Contact: Kim Failon, Director of
Communications, VAIS, at kimfailon@vais.org
We Started with
a Wellness Wheel
By Sherrie Page, RN, MSN, Health and Wellness
Coordinator, St. Catherine’s School
CONNECT. COLLABORATE. LEAD.
ISSUE 8
Winter
2020
The health and wellness of our students, always paramount,
has become an even greater focus. The concerning national
trend of increased mental health concerns reported in children
and teens has made this a call to action. The National Council for
Behavioral Health reports that 1 in 5 teens lives with a mental
illness, and suicide is the second leading cause of death for ages
10-24. Even more concerning for our all-girls school, Twenge’s
(2018) landmark meta-analysis of two national surveys of
adolescents in grades 8 thru 12 (N=506,820), shows the increase
in adolescent depression and suicidality between 2010 to 2015
was exclusive to females. Twenge hypothesizes that the increase
in screen time and social media associated with depressive
symptoms is even more detrimental to girls versus their male
counterparts. Of corresponding importance, Twenge’s research
revealed decreased depressive symptoms in adolescents who
spend in-person, non-screen time involved in social activities,
print media, sports/exercise, and attending religious services.
This finding gives us hope, as it represents our campus life.
By virtue of being a church college preparatory school, built
around an interactive green, with multiple clubs, social events,
libraries, and a nationally recognized athletics program, our
School supports mental health resilience on multiple levels.
However, these variables have always been a part of our school’s
fabric. Yet, just like reports all over the country, our students
increasingly report feeling more stressed and overwhelmed.
In an effort to address these national trends and proactively
institute measures to safeguard student health, St. Catherine’s
created a new position, Health & Wellness Coordinator, to
work alongside Health and Wellness Advisors in each division.
Together, this team, in conjunction with other school-based
health experts, works to review, evaluate, and implement
wellness programming. To assist with these efforts, we created
a 5-spoked Health & Wellness Wheel Model (see Health &
Wellness Wheel for visual graphic) to assess the following areas:
2

Intellectual, Emotional, Spiritual, Physical, and Social. These
five components show the interrelationship that comprise the
health of the whole person. If one area of health is compromised,
all areas of health are affected. The better a student’s health in
all facets represented on our Wellness Wheel, the greater the
chance she will reach her fullest potential. We then applied our
“wheel” to the School’s offerings across all grade-levels to assess
strengths and opportunities for improvement.
Our immediate focus was mental health. Using Twenge’s
research as a guide, we asked ourselves: Do our students
currently have the age-appropriate understanding and tools
needed to reduce stress? Do they know when stress symptoms
become worrisome, crossing the line into concerning anxiety
or depression? Are we teaching enough digital wellness to help
students use technology and social media in the healthiest way
possible? Are students forming behavior patterns that support a
lifetime of health, well beyond our campus?
The ultimate answer to all of these questions was to add
more mental health and stress-reduction education, across
grade-levels, to combat this growing epidemic. Our first step
was to build on existing programming. We increased mental
health education in our Lower School, Middle School, and Upper
School health classes. Then, we scheduled more guest experts to
speak on these topics to students, faculty, and parents. Knowing
social media has a strong effect on females, our Technology
Department researched digital wellness programs to support a
positive relationship between our students and technology. We
are set to begin implementing a new digital wellness curriculum
this January in grades 4 through 12.
Through an all-hands-on-deck approach, we added mental
health programming in multiple areas. Aside from health
classes, Yoga and mindfulness offerings increased in our P.E.
classes, athletics programs, chapels, after-school offerings, and
student-led clubs. We are currently taking detailed inventory
of our curriculum to ensure that at every grade level, students
are taught a stress-reduction tool as part of the established
curriculum (see side-bar for some of our favorites). Finally, we
are adding more wellness programs for faculty and staff so that
they have the understanding and tools to role-model positive
mental health and overall wellness.
Helpful Hints:
1) Lower School: Keep it fun and simple. By 4th grade, students can
understand the mind-body connection, noticing their individual
somatic stress symptoms to apply the tools they learned in
previous grade levels to reduce stress.
2) Middle School: Creativity Rules! This age loves hands-on,
experiential learning. Our Seventh Grade Overnight Wellness
Retreat, in the mountains of Virginia, has been a huge success.
Students start the day with chapel, then immerse themselves in
nature with trail hikes, candlelit labyrinth walks, camp fires, and
outdoor mindful group activities, all while totally unplugged
from technology.
3) Upper School: Base mindfulness and stress reduction on scientific
research and incorporate student feedback and representation.
It needs to feel authentic for new wellness programming to be
accepted by Upper School students.
Sidebar: Coping Strategies per Division
Early Lower School: “Beanie Baby Breaths” Place a favorite stuffed
animal on your belly and take deep breaths. Watching the animal
rise and fall refocuses the mind, and deep belly breaths activate
the parasympathetic nervous system.
Later Lower School: Hand Model of “Flipping Your Lid” Students
learn to understand the relationship between the amygdala and
the prefrontal cortex.
Early Middle School: “Gratitude Diagrams” Drawing gratitude
diagrams is an easy way to focus on the positive.
Later Middle School: Make “Breathing Beads” Create a short
keychain-like lanyard, by stringing three beads onto leather
string. Use these breath beads to inspire and guide three deep
breaths when feeling stressed.
Early Upper School: Understanding the Science of Mindfulness.
Students learn how to activate the parasympathetic nervous
system through mindfulness and breathing exercises.
Later Upper School: Planning for college. Each student should be
able to recognize their individual stress symptoms and coping
strategies, know the signs of when additional help is needed, and
understand how to access mental health services.
Twenge, M., Joiner, T., Rogers, M. and Martin, G. Increases in Depressive Symptoms,
Suicide-Related Outcomes, and Suicide Rates Among U.S. Adolescents After 2010 and
Links to Increased New Media Screen Time. Clinical Psychological Science (2017), 1-15.
3
4

A Playful, Musical Way To
Health and Well-being
By Colin MacLeod, Celtic Fiddle Guru and Guest Writer
Performance at Good Shepherd Episcopal
School, Richmond, December 2019
Performing at the VAIS Leading Learning
Conference, November 2019
Whilst research has long suggested that listening to classical music
is good for relaxation and your brain, one of the few ways to give
the brain a total workout is to learn a musical instrument.
The purpose of my teaching students through Celtic music, culture,
stories, and my online learn-by-ear programs is to spark that brain
benefit in children. Students of any age can develop self-confidence and
pick up their instrument through the playful journey of learning by ear.
During November 2019, I paid a visit to a private school in
Charlottesville, VA and hosted a series of Celtic Music and Story concerts
to seven audiences over four hours. When I asked how many of the
students played a musical instrument, almost all raised their hands,
shouting out what their instruments were. “Guitar! Violin! Ukulele!”
The resident music teacher invited a number of her first-year
students to participate. The students themselves were amazed
that within twenty minutes, they were playing, walking, and
keeping time with one another on a piece of music they had
never heard before. The look on each face was of delight and
accomplishment. Everyone, including the teachers, was dancing
to the Celtic rhythms and having fun. I marveled at the selfconfidence
of these first-year music students, some of whom
had only been playing their instruments for a month. They
were willing to embrace something new and try it without any
thought of failure. Convincingly, learning a musical instrument
contributed to a sense of satisfaction and self-worth.
I used no sheet music - all learning or playing music was
accomplished by ear! Students had fun on their journey,
cultivating habits of growth and perseverance by trying
something new without fear or judgement of being perfect,
thus fostering a sense of well-being. When students tried
playing by ear, resilience and confidence emerged. Learning
by ear became its own motivation with self-competition
rather than competition among students.
Yes, I am a pied piper, of sorts. Using my violin and believing
in the magic of music, I encourage the practice of playing by ear.
The benefits--confidence, risk-taking, letting-go, and creating
beautiful music--abound. Have I convinced you too?
To contact, Colin MacLeod, reach him at Colin@CelticGURU.com.
5
6

Thoughts
Feelings
The Langley School: SEL In Action
By Dr. Sarah Sumwalt, Ph.D., Director of Social & Emotional Learning at The Langley School
At The Langley School in McLean, VA, we know that socialemotional
learning: 1) furthers students’ academic
achievement, 2) builds students’ resilience, adaptability, and
authenticity, and 3) prepares students to flourish in a diverse
and global environment. As such, we offer a comprehensive
Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) program that works in
tandem with the academic program and Langley’s core values to
foster students’ emotional intelligence, cultural responsiveness,
and health and wellness. The Langley School’s custom-built
SEL program is a three-pronged program that incorporates
foundational knowledge, skills, and strategies to help our
students develop strong skills in emotion awareness and
management, a deep understanding of their own and others’
identities, an appreciation of diversity with a focus on equity
and inclusion, an ability to respond to social injustice, and a solid
foundation in understanding the brain, body, and relationships
in order to make healthy decisions.
The Langley School’s SEL program is taught across our school,
which spans preschool through eighth grade. In our Primary and
Lower School divisions, SEL lessons are taught by our teachers
and counseling team and are woven into morning meeting
discussions, curricular lessons, and daily practices. Starting in
Behavior
fifth grade, students participate in a SEL class once per sevenday
cycle, which allows us to more deeply cover topics related
to emotional intelligence, cultural responsiveness, and health
and wellness. As we have built The Langley School’s curriculum,
we have relied heavily on research out of the fields of education,
psychology, child development, health, and human development
and sexuality in order to ensure that we are including skills and
knowledge known to predict future success.
As a clinical psychologist, I have utilized my own clinical
background to think about the cognitive, emotional, and
behavioral skills and techniques that we know foster healthy
decision making. For example, in my sixth-grade SEL class, I have
built a unit centered around the cognitive triangle, which visually
depicts the connection between our thoughts, our feelings,
and our behavior. The cognitive triangle, which provides the
framework for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, is a simple, yet
powerful, tool that is relevant outside of the therapeutic context
given our tendencies as humans to misinterpret and make
assumptions when situations are unclear. Furthermore, the
cognitive triangle provides an important set of tools that allows
individuals to challenge negative thoughts that over time can
lead to feelings of anxiety and depression.
In my sixth-grade SEL class, students first learn how thoughts, feelings, and
behaviors influence one another and how changing one can dramatically change
the consequences of events. Students also learn about a variety of unhelpful
thinking styles, otherwise known as assumptions or misinterpretations, that
often occur following ambiguous situations. Common unhelpful thinking styles
include mind reading (imagining you know what someone else is thinking) and
catastrophizing (imagining the worst case scenario). Students learn about these
various thinking styles and then engage in a variety of role plays to bring them
to life. We also spend time watching video clips from movies such as “Inside Out”
and identifying the presence of unhelpful thinking styles. Then, we learn how to
challenge these types of thinking styles, including examining the evidence and
rating the likelihood of the outcome actually occurring. We practice challenging
thoughts through role plays and additional video clips. Lastly, students practice
reframing their unhelpful thoughts by generating more realistic (and generally
more positive) ones.
I recently sought the reflections of a number of my sixth-grade students
about the cognitive triangle unit. Here is what a few of them had to say:
“This skill could be used if I’m feeling like I’m not good enough or I’m doing the mindreading
thinking error, or any other error. I know how to stop myself from thinking
that way and can redirect my thought process.”
“I think that it was really useful to learn about different strategies for reforming
unhelpful thoughts. I think that I will also be able to use that in my daily life.”
“I have learned how to get rid of negative thoughts. It helps me focus before tests and
when I have a negative thought, I can get rid of it. When I have a negative thought,
not only can I identify it, I can challenge the thought and it usually goes away.”
My hope is that this set of cognitive skills will provide our students with a
healthy framework with which to deal with the abundance of thoughts that
come up during stressful situations, such as taking tests or receiving a lower than
expected grade, as well as when navigating complex social situations and dealing
with conflict.
If you are interested in doing a similar lesson with your middle schoolers,
here are two resources that I’ve found especially helpful:
Conquer Negative Thinking for Teens: A Workbook To Break The Nine Thought Habits
That Are Holding You Back by Mary Karapetian Alvord and Anne McGrath
The Worry Workbook for Teens: Effective CBT Strategies To Break The Cycle of Worry
& Anxiety by Jamie Micco
7
8

Questions of the Soul: Caring
for the Whole Student
By the Rev. Tyler L. Montgomery, Chaplain and Assistant to the Headmaster
for Student Wholeness, Woodberry Forest School
When one of our students has anxiety
or depression, the solutions
that independent schools often provide
are counseling/therapy, drugs, or
a combination of the two. This is a reasonable
response if our lead question
is, “How do we care for sick students?”
What would change if we shifted our
central line of questioning: “Why are so
many more children getting sick?” or
perhaps more important, “Why do we
get sick at all?”
Material problems require material
solutions. For example, the solution
for strep throat is antibiotics. It is also
true that immaterial problems require
immaterial solutions. For example, the
solution for loneliness is connection.
The material and immaterial parts of our
being are wrapped together in one dynamic
bundle, so it would be foolhardy
to separate them; however, there seems
to be a universal human tendency to focus
on material solutions to anxiety and
depression at the expense of their immaterial
components. In the common
mind/body/spirit triptych of the independent
school world, the spirit is often
a distant third place.
I am persuaded that the epidemic
of anxiety and depression coursing
through independent schools is primarily
a crisis of the soul. When a student
has anxiety or depression, we have become
too reliant on drugs and therapy
to “fix the problem,” and we have neglected
the underlying and preponderant
spiritual despair that is growing in
our society. If you need evidence of this
spiritual despair in secondary schools,
try asking a group of students, “What
are you looking for?” They will likely be
stymied by the question, so press on
with “Why are you here? Why are you at
school?” An overwhelming body of data
and anecdotal observations suggest
that most students think that they are in
school “to get into a ‘good’ college.” And
why do they want that? “To get a good
job,” they might respond. Why is that
important? “I don’t know,” they might
vacillate, “So that we can make money
and be happy.” Try this for yourself to
see where you end up.
The tragic majority of our students
are materialists who have drunk fully
from the only glass of existential purpose
that our overtly materialist society
has placed to their lips: he or she who
dies with the most stuff wins. What does
it mean to be happy? Our independent
school students largely believe that it
means working hard to get into a selective
college to work hard to get a good
job so that they can work hard to earn
enough money to send their children to
an elite school like the one that they are
currently attending. Welcome to the rat
race. Be beautiful. Be powerful. Be rich.
Be famous. That is the default religion of
our society, and we are blind if we cannot
see the power and ubiquity of that
message radiating through the screens
that are now attached to our students’
bodies. It is no wonder that our children
are sick.
At Woodberry Forest, our starting
point for what we call the Wholeness
Initiative has been connection. We believe
that we are hardwired to connect,
both to other people and to existential
visions of meaning and purpose for the
soul. We are trying to look critically at
how to foster authentic connections
between students and between students
and teachers. We are introducing
alternative learning experiences with
the primary goal of building relationships
around a campfire. At the same
time, we are attempting to provide new
avenues for students to engage with
the big questions while strengthening
the traditional sources of existential
purpose like chapel and Bible class. We are investing a large
share of our professional development resources into “relational
learning” with educational expert Michael Reichert because
we believe that our students will learn best when they
are connected to a meaningful relationship. We are trying to
openly challenge materialism, using the chapel’s bully pulpit
to expose the charade of college admissions and to offer an
alternative in the example of Jesus. These are small steps, and
we are far from perfect, but we hope that they will guide us
back to a place that is grounded in spiritual health.
I attended a breakfast gathering a few years ago hosted
by the provost of a “top-ten university” according to the great
idol of U.S. News & World Report. He made the statement that,
“X University is no longer in the business of teaching students
what it means to live a good life, and, if we are being honest,
neither are most universities. What we [i.e. selective universities]
do is try to attract the best and the brightest students,
give them almost unlimited resources, and let them figure it
out for themselves.” If we accept this testimony, some of the
great centers of learning in our republic have recused themselves
from the most important questions of the human soul:
Who am I, and what is the purpose of my life?
Anxiety and depression abound when the human soul
is starved of connection and a vision of existential purpose.
What are we doing at independent schools to provide an alternative
to the default materialism of our culture? Are we
honest with ourselves about our own complicity in maintaining
the narratives of elitism that benefit our institutions?
Are we intentional about providing a counter-narrative to
materialism that offers our students a vision of the good life
that is not based on wealth, power, beauty, and fame? Do we
make explicit, public claims as an institution about existential
truths, or do we shy away from them for fear of those who
might disagree with us? These are the kinds of questions that
might lead schools towards a place that can feed a student’s
soul. The questions that we ask determine the answers that
we receive. It is time for independent schools to ask the big
questions about our current anxiety and depression epidemic.
Our souls are starving for them.
9
10 ision

How does one integrate wellness into a school community
and program?
Collegiate School, a JK-12, co-ed independent school based
in Richmond, Virginia, began asking that question in 2005, when
a one-time activity, a Middle School Wellness Day, sparked
interest in helping students thrive beyond the classroom. That
event launched the beginning of the Collegiate student Link It &
Live It wellness program, which emphasizes the importance and
interrelatedness of sleep, healthful eating and physical activity,
and how together, they impact the heart, brain, and body. Middle
School student teams lead the charge by presenting skits during
assemblies, hosting recess activities, and presenting challenges
throughout the school year.
In 2010, Collegiate expanded the Middle School wellness
initiative to a school-wide program for all students and
Creating a Healthier School
Community
By the following Collegiate School faculty members: Sarah Baker, JK-12 School Wellness Chair;
Anne Hogge, Social and Emotional Wellness Chair; Annie Richards, CPAC Committee Chair;
Kathy Wrenn, Physical Wellness Committee Chair and Employee Wellness Coordinator
employees. The current employee program includes step
challenges, nutritionist consultations, lunch and learns, afterschool
fitness classes, and much more. This initiative not only
enables employees to live healthier lives, but also heightens
feelings of community, both within and among school
divisions. (This year, the design of the employee program is
modeled after the book Well Being: The Five Essential Elements
by Tom Rath and Jim Harter.)
As the wellness program has evolved, an important stage in
its development has been the inclusion of wellness as one of the
School’s strategic pillars, with a goal of ensuring cohesion and a
sense of unified purpose around wellness initiatives school-wide.
With this in mind, several committees were formed to explore
and facilitate the infusion of wellness habits and programming
into the life of the School and into the curriculum.
The Collegiate School Wellness Committees and
Subcommittees are:
• Social Emotional Wellness Subcommittee (counselors,
academic services personnel, service learning staff, inclusion
committee members, health education faculty, summer
programs faculty, and classroom teachers)
• Physical Wellness Subcommittee (nurses, athletic staff, outdoor
programs faculty, physical education faculty, health education
faculty, and classroom teachers)
• Intellectual Wellness Subcommittee, also known as the
Academic Affairs Council (division heads, assistant division
heads responsible for academics, academic technology
staff, fine arts staff, Director of the Institute for Responsible
Citizenship, and Head of School)
• Collegiate Prevention Advisory Committee, (CPAC) our largest
subcommittee, comprised of key administrators, counselors,
teachers and parents, many of whom are represented on other
committees as well
Each of the subcommittees is chaired, and the four chairs
comprise the School Wellness Steering Committee, which is
overseen by a JK-12 School Wellness Chair.
Additionally, the School appoints Employee Wellness
Ambassadors, representatives from Lower School, Middle School,
Upper School, Athletics, Physical Plant, and the Operational Staff
and Instructional Staff, to make programming decisions discrete
to employees.
The inclusion of parents on the Collegiate Prevention Advisory
Committee represents Collegiate’s understanding that parents
and the culture of the home heavily influence student health and
wellbeing. Current wellness efforts have focused on increasing
the home-school connection and informing parents about
research on, or news about, wellness trends important to their
children. While the School routinely equips parents with resources
and information, School leaders recognize that having parents
participate in well-researched and engaging programs and in
open conversation is the means through which real learning will
occur. Recent efforts have included hosting a guest speaker for
parents of 5th-12th Graders who shared positive strategies for
using social media and hosting a panel of community members
whose lives were affected by substance use.
But What About Stress?
It is a rare piece on wellness these days that doesn’t mention
stress or its pathological manifestations, including anxiety or
depression. This piece is no exception. Collegiate has been
in the forefront of considering students’ stress levels for more
than a decade, when Annie Richards, the School’s Upper School
Department Chair of Health and Wellness, contacted colleges
which Collegiate students routinely attended and asked, “What
can we do better to help incoming and current college students
while they are still here under our care?” The answer was clear
across the board: stress management was the number one
concern from our next-level counterparts.
This research led the School to offer mindfulness classes to
its freshmen in 2008, a course of study that is now offered in
various manifestations throughout Collegiate’s JK-12 experience,
culminating in an elective in mindfulness open to seniors.
Annie recently contacted colleges and universities again to
lend some longitudinal element to her research, and this time
social media was the number one reported concern. University
professionals shared that students are experiencing emotional
instability surrounding self-comparisons, fears of being excluded,
questions of self-worth, and concomitant anxieties. These findings
have led the Middle and Upper Schools to work hard this year to
implement programming that addresses the ways in which social
media use - which we accept as a given in children’s lives - can be
positive, fulfilling, and affirming.
The Importance of Starting Early
The benefit of being a JK-12 school - especially one, like
Collegiate, where students typically come young and stay through
graduation - is that such communities can begin laying the
foundation of wellness as soon as students carry their little tote
bags onto campus. Lower School counselors and teachers begin
the important work of social-emotional learning by incorporating
related lessons and teaching related skills each day.
Every month, school counselors teach JK students and
teachers a new mindfulness practice, and most teachers
incorporate these practices on a daily basis. This learning
continues through 4th Grade in regular counselor- and teacherled
lessons. These lessons are reinforced in small counseling
groups and individual work.
In addition to mindfulness, school counselors and teachers
are laying the groundwork for social-emotional wellness by
introducing lessons and facilitating discussions that help foster
a positive self-concept and the adoption of healthy coping
strategies. So often, school counseling is viewed as a responsive
intervention. Collegiate’s counseling staff actively demonstrates
how counseling is essential to the wellness curriculum.
The Work: Not Finished but Very Much in Earnest Begun
Across Collegiate School, faculty and staff recognize that
student wellness is the sine qua non for learning. By teaching
our students the tools for safe and appropriate self-care early, we
strive to empower them to learn, grow, and positively engage
with their community and the world in healthy and resilient
ways. The work is not done, but at Collegiate, it has - very much
in earnest - begun.
11
12

13
Growth Mindset and Brain Education:
Equipping Students for Social, Emotional,
and Academic Well-being
As I reflect on the first four months in my new role as school
counselor at Congressional School, students’ need for
tools to manage their emotions surrounding stress and worry,
responsibilities, and relationships, has been evident. Our
students, just as other students in public and independent
schools across the country, are capable, creative, and curious,
but find themselves battling thoughts and emotions that
interfere with taking risks and making mistakes, essential parts
of social, emotional, and academic learning and development.
To counter these misunderstandings and fears which
perpetuate feelings of depression, anxiety, and struggles
with self-worth, I began working with our Learning Center
and classroom teachers to create a multi-tiered initiative for
teaching the elements of Carol Dweck’s Growth Mindset to
students in Kindergarten to Eighth Grade. This initiative is
focused on learning how the brain functions and develops,
By Rebecca Ginnetti, School Counselor, Congressional School
understanding the zones of emotion, and identifying the
emotional regulation tools for social and academic situations. At
Congressional School, I utilize the American School Counselor
Association (ASCA) model for the delivery of services, which
emphasizes creating and implementing data-driven, multitiered
interventions. I am also collecting formal and informal
data from students, teachers, and parents/caregivers to monitor
and evaluate outcomes and impact.
In our lower grades, Growth Mindset lessons begin in
Kindergarten with learning the differences between having
a “brick” or “fixed” brain vs. a “growth” brain and zones of
regulation. A more intensive curriculum begins in first grade
with eight classroom lessons focused on topics such as zones
of regulation, learning through making mistakes, stretching
and exercising your brain, and how to get “unstuck.” Small
group lunch bunch sessions are provided for students who
are identified as needing more support, while individual
sessions are provided as needed. Each student has a growth
mindset journal with worksheets, tools, and spaces for journal
writing. Students utilize their journals when experiencing a
“brick” brain moment and add to their journals throughout
the year. Journals will move with the students through the
elementary grades. Students completed pre-test surveys and
will complete post-test surveys after the last lesson. Students
in grades 2, 3, and 4 also receive classroom Growth Mindset
lessons and small group lunch bunch sessions throughout
the school year. Partnering with parents and caregivers is key.
Through direct email communication, podcasts, and weekly
classroom and community highlights, parents and caregivers
are informed and can reinforce growth mindset language and
concepts at home.
During the middle school years, taking risks and embracing
mistakes become more challenging. Stakes are perceived to be
higher, especially for students applying to high schools, which
is the case for Eighth Grade students at Congressional School.
Finding time in already full middle school schedules has been
challenging. Utilizing student advisory time and collaborating
with advisors who develop a strong rapport with their
students, have been effective avenues for conversations about
understanding stress, worry, brain functions, and emotion
regulation tools. Lunch bunch opportunities for students
to practice recovery tools and restorative practices such as
mindfulness, yoga, and art (which students need after managing
multiple exams or deadlines) offer other ways to provide growth
mindset resources for students. Partnering with teachers when
students are facing lower than expected grades to facilitate
personal reflection of academic and emotional preparation
for exams, learning from mistakes, and reinforcing self-worth
through journal writing and interactive activities, are additional
opportunities I have used to reinforce growth mindset and
redirect negative thought cycles.
Victor Frankl writes, “Between stimulus and response there
is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In
our response lies our growth and our freedom.” This quote from
A Man’s Search for Meaning is a powerful conversation catalyst I
use with Seventh and Eighth Grade students to discuss emotion
regulation and student choices, not only in the academic realm
but also in their relationships. While Growth Mindset lessons
tend to have an academic focus, integrating Growth Mindset
tools (zones of regulation, emotion regulation tools, self-talk,
self-advocacy, and understanding the brain) as emotional and
physical well-being strategies into my classroom lessons, small
group lunch bunch sessions, and individual counseling sessions
helps to develop students self-awareness and self- regulation.
These growth mindset emotion regulation tools are key to
health and sexuality lessons on maintaining emotional wellness
and healthy relationships. With these tools and understandings,
students will be able to assess the severity of a problem or
misunderstanding, determine the level of emotional response,
and identify healthy, productive responses to conflict. Growth
mindset tools also equip students to communicate boundaries
and needs, obtain consent, and resolve misunderstandings and
conflicts with peers in face-to-face or online situations, such as
texting, social media, and other forms of peer communication.
Community commitment to a growth mindset benefits
everyone. I am fortunate to work in a community that believes
in the power of “yet.” We are not there yet; Congressional
School’s social, emotional, and physical wellness efforts are a
work in progress. I am learning, evaluating, and experimenting
with lessons and resources daily. The “power of yet” inspires
me as a school counselor to continue collaborating with
administrators, educators, and families to take calculated,
educated risks in pursuing ways to promote students’ social,
emotional, and physical well-being.
14 ision

pictured from top:
Dean of Students, Nicole Brown; Director
of Athletics, Laura Clay; and Director of
Counseling Services, Jenneil Gross-Kriever
Healthy Girls, Healthy Communities
An excerpt of a conversation with Dean of Students, Nicole Brown; Director of Athletics,
Laura Clay; and Director of Counseling Services, Jenneil Gross-Kriever, LCSW at Chatham Hall,
the all-girls boarding and day school in Chatham, Virginia.
Our approach is multi-faceted, including opportunities to grow social,
emotional, spiritual, and physical wellness, as well as to develop financial
and occupational literacy.
junior appeared in my doorway recently and asked to speak with me. “Of course!” I replied
A enthusiastically; yet, I instinctively began scrolling through the topics we would likely be
exploring. Roommate conflict? A relationship upset? Challenges in a class? “What’s going on?” I
asked. “Oh, nothing really,” she said, settling in on my office couch with a smile. “I just wanted to
ask you how you are doing.”
At Chatham Hall, thankfully, tender moments when girls demonstrate authentic kindness
and a desire to connect are a common occurrence. The pillars upon which our school is built
are strong. We speak often of honesty, respect, compassion, and integrity, but the way in which
these values are lived out in real time is due to our commitment to proactively nurture the health
and well-being of every girl. Our approach is multi-faceted, including opportunities to grow social,
emotional, spiritual, and physical wellness, as well as to develop financial and occupational
literacy. We carefully attend to the spaces
where we live and work, recognizing
that environments that foster a sense of
calm are pivotal when considering the
health and wellness of a community.
Richard Weissbourd of the Harvard
Graduate School of Education, recently
spoke at The Association of Boarding
Schools national conference and highlighted
the importance of helping students
grow solid, trusting relationships
anchored by adults. Authentic, nurturing
relationships are at the core of all
strong schools, particularly girl schools;
thus, our programming is relationally
based. We watch the growth unfold over
time, particularly for new students.
At Chatham Hall we are proud to
say that we work as a team to ensure
that every girl creates a web of support
that she can rely upon throughout her
school experience and beyond. The
trusted advisors, peers, student leaders,
teachers, coaches, administrators, parents,
and counselors who comprise this
web will assist her in navigating challenges
or disappointments, and she can
lean on them to celebrate each success
and moment of growth. We believe it is
critical that each girl is able to identify
the people on her unique and growing
web and to continue to construct it over
time. Here, the girls come to see and
hear, from adults and even peers, something
different. They begin to soften and
to trust as they make authentic connections,
laugh, and learn to embrace the
care and support we offer.
As adults, we are constantly evaluating
our programming to ensure that
our approach to health and wellness
is holistic and that we dedicate appropriate
time to this mission. We are
unafraid to model for the girls an ability
to recognize when we could do better,
do more, or do differently as a school
family. We ask questions and work to
answer them honestly. And, carrying
forward, we work to extend the competencies
that girls learn at Chatham Hall
into their college and adult life.
When we tend to the heart and spirit,
alongside the body and brain, we grow
truly empowered young women, poised
to launch into their futures. They are
able to lead and succeed, articulate
their boundaries, advocate for their own
needs, and care for themselves in order
to best care for others and the world.
As we all know, the days are busy;
the hours are short; and there are times
when we must close our doors. Yet it is
so important to leave the doors open,
as often as possible, so that girls can
practice, with the people they trust,
who they want to be in the world. They
will come to sit on your couch, look you
in the eye, and tell you, in their own way,
“Look what my time here has meant to
me! Look at who I have become!”
15 16

A Place to Connect
By Libby Addison
There’s something new at The Potomac School in McLean this
winter. Nestled in a hillside at one end of the school’s 90-
acre campus is the Spangler Center for Athletics and Community
– a 76,500-square-foot facility that opened just before
Thanksgiving. The center’s amenities include a gymnasium with
two full-size competition courts; an indoor walking/jogging
track; seven squash courts with spectator seating; a student
lounge area; and a fitness center, strength and conditioning
room, and multipurpose studio, all outfitted with state-of-theart
equipment and technology. As a sports complex, a gathering
place, and more, the Spangler Center promises to be a vital asset
for the health and well-being of the Potomac community.
C.J. Remmo, the school’s interim operations manager for
athletics, observes, “Everybody is really excited about this new
building, and I think its facilities are already attracting our
students to healthful choices. In addition to the students who
come here to practice or play their sports, I see students, faculty,
and staff coming to work out or just get in a little exercise – by
taking a few laps around the track, for example. The beauty of
this center is that it offers options for all levels of fitness and
athletic ability, so everyone gets to enjoy it.”
If you stop by the Spangler Center after school, you’ll
see what C.J. means. On a recent afternoon, the boys varsity
basketball team was warming up for practice in the spacious,
modern gym. The fitness center was buzzing with Intermediate
and Upper School students running on treadmills, pedaling
exercise bikes, and lifting weights. And in the multipurpose
room – a large, airy space with floor-to-ceiling windows that
look out onto the school’s wooded nature trails – Potomac’s K-8
health coordinator, Gay Brock, was leading a yoga class.
Gay says, “We always start with a vigorous practice, but lately
we’ve been finishing up with a guided meditation, and students
love that. The sun is setting, the room is quiet, and we all get the
chance to relax. What I try to do with my students is to introduce
a way to slow down and take a step back from the stresses of
everyday life.”
Gay also brings these techniques into her health classes,
and other teachers, in all four Potomac divisions, have adopted
some of her methods. She explains, “One technique that a lot of
people here like is called ‘square breathing.’ I’ve been using it in
my classes for about seven years; it’s a great way to help students
settle down and get focused. In this practice, we inhale for four
seconds, pause at the top of the breath, exhale for a count of
four, and pause again. Students have told me over and over that
learning square breathing has helped them get through the
more stressful parts of their day, whether at school or at home.”
There is value, Gay believes, in learning to calm and center
oneself, both inside and outside of the yoga studio.
For students who are interested in yoga but unable to take
a class, the Spangler Center offers an exciting alternative. Its
multipurpose studio is outfitted with Wellbeats virtual fitness
technology – a system that offers more than 400 classes, from
yoga to Pilates to Zumba and beyond, at the touch of a button.
C.J. observes, “At Potomac, physical fitness is part of the curriculum.
In the Lower and Middle Schools, our kids take PE. And in the
Intermediate and Upper Schools, all students participate in athletics.
Everyone can benefit from the lessons that athletics teaches –
teamwork, sportsmanship, leadership, perseverance. And the physical
and emotional rewards of being active are well-documented.”
Potomac’s Head of School John Kowalik agrees, noting, “As we
developed the plans for this new center, one of our goals was to
ensure that it would be a valuable resource for everyone at Potomac.
We are already seeing that vision come to life in many ways.”
John also emphasizes that the Spangler Center supports the
strong sense of community for which The Potomac School is
known. He explains, “We celebrated the building’s opening with
a ribbon-cutting as part of our annual Thanksgiving Assembly.
There were nearly 1,500 people present for that event – students
from kindergarten through twelfth grade, faculty and staff,
trustees, parents, and friends – and the gym didn’t feel crowded!
We are committed to being a connected community, but before
the Spangler Center, we did not have an indoor space large
enough to comfortably accommodate all-school events. This is
one more important way that this new facility will enhance the
Potomac experience for everyone.”
Libby Addison is a member of The Potomac School’s Communications staff.
17 18

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