volume 44 number 3

A PUBLICATION

OF THE PARK

SCHOOL PARENTS’

ASSOCIATION

DECEMBER 2011–JANUARY 2012

in this issue:

WINTERTIME

REMINDERS // 2

TAKE HOME

FOODS // 2

FACULTY LEADERSHIP

PROGRAM // 3

CELL PHONES

FOR KIDS? // 4

OF BATTLES AND

BLESSINGS // 5

MATH MATTERS // 7

GLOBAL PARK // 10

AUTHOR BRYAN

COLLIER VISIT // 12

FALL PHOTOS // 13

The Park Parent

continued on page 6

continued on page 9

Like anything worth its salt, the Investigations math

curriculum at Park has slowly and steadily evolved

into the strong program that it is today. Current

Grade VIII students were the first to pilot Investigations as

first graders in 2003. At that time, the Investigations cur-

riculum had been in development since 1993 and many

schools throughout the country had begun using it.By the 2006-07 school year, all grades K-V were using the

complete Investigations curriculum, Katrina Mills came on board as the math specialist, parent workshops were held and most impor-tantly, students were receiving an hour of math instruction per day.

The Neuroscience of Park’s Social-Emotional CurriculumBY DOROTHY RICHARDSON, Park Parent Editorial Board

The new field of developmental neuroscience

informs us, or perhaps reminds us, of the critical

importance of human relationships in shaping

the brain and priming it for learning.

Relationships, Jack Shonkoff and colleagues at the Center for the Developing Child argue, form the primary bridges and high-ways through which information flows in the brain. Shonkoff con-denses this infinitely complex process into the following motto:

“Relationships build brain architecture.” So how is Park responding to these scientific discoveries, which

have profound implications for education? “Social-emotional

Investigating Math in Grades K – VBY JEAN WILMERDING, Park Parent Editorial Board

The previous issue

of The Park Parent

covered Katrina Mills’

report on the shifts that

have taken place in U.S.

math education over the

past 20 years. In this

issue, the focus is on the

impact the Investigations

curriculum has had at

Park over the past five

years in Grades K-V.

DECEMBER 2011–JANUARY 2012 // PAGE 3The Park Parent // PAGE 2

Wintertime RemindersBY JERROLD I . KATZ, Head of School

Snow DaysDuring winter storms, Park broadcasts “No School”

announcements to all families through AlertNow and leaves messages on both our phone system and website by 6 a.m.

To reduce the likelihood of losing an entire instructional day when early-morning conditions are treacherous, we will also continue to consider delaying the opening of school by one hour following a major snowstorm. If a delay is called:

n Classes will begin for all students at 9:15 a.m.n Carpools will be expected to begin arriving at 9 a.m.n Bus pick-ups will be one hour later than regularly scheduled.n All early morning sports practices/games will be canceled.n Regular dismissal times will remain in effect for all students.

If a storm begins during the school day, we shall remain in session at Park, although afternoon sports/drama and evening activities may be canceled. Students will not be released early, unless accompanied by a parent or other authorized adult.

As always, please know that in addition to valuing instructional time, I respect the work responsibilities of parents throughout our community and will continue to use my best judgment about the welfare of children and adults on those inevitable “bad weather” mornings that lie ahead.

Yule FestivalAs the December holiday season nears, I wanted to share

some of the thinking behind our annual Yule Festival program.

Park is a school of religiously and culturally diverse families, and we approach this time of year as an opportunity to acknowledge both the common values and the varying traditions that enrich our community. It is no small challenge to strike the right balance, but we believe it is important to share our traditions and celebrate together. We want all Park students to understand that they can embrace their own heritage here, and we want them to learn from and connect with the traditions of others.

Our annual Yule Festival program features a range of songs performed by students across all grades, and we ensure that over their years here all children participate in songs from a variety of traditions. We also work hard not to trivialize the principles and spirit of Chanukah, Christmas, and Kwaanza; statements of faith enter our program through readings presented by members of our Upper Division Pangea club and in a performance by our faculty/staff chorus.

I look forward to seeing many of you in the West Gym on Friday, Dec. 16 at 9:30 a.m. Following our winter vacation, school will resume on Tuesday, Jan. 3. Best wishes during this season of light, hope, and peace. – JIK

TAKE HOME FOODS IS BACKChefs and Bakers Needed!

“Take Home Foods” is a

great opportunity to buy

a special food item from

fellow Park families and

get a break from the

kitchen.

All funds support your

Park Parents’ Association!

THANK YOU!

Timeline for “Take Home Foods”

Through Jan. 6 – Use the form inserted in this issue of The Park

Parent to prepare your favorite entrees, soups, appetizers, and

desserts. Forms will also be available at the front desk and on

the Park website.

Jan. 17 – Pick up food containers for your donated food items

at the front desk.

Jan. 23 – Pick up menus and food order forms at the front desk

or access them on the Park website.

Feb. 8-9 – Drop off your donated specialties in the main lobby.

Feb. 10 – Pick up your ordered food in the main lobby.

Any questions? Please contact:Krista Ference kbradford16@hotmail.com

Messeret Worrede ghebremuse@aol.com

Jen Dolins mdolins@comcast.net

DECEMBER 2011–JANUARY 2012 // PAGE 3The Park Parent // PAGE 2

HEAD’S LINES

Peter Amershadian Faculty Leadership ProgramBY JERROLD I . KATZ, Head of School

True to the spirit of teaching excellence that Peter Amershadian embodied, The Peter Amershadian Faculty Leadership Program will provide Park teachers with the opportunity to look outside Park’s walls, wherever excellent teaching is taking place, to find, to study, to understand, and to bring back to Park classrooms the most compelling ideas about teaching and learning.

The teaching profession offers little in the way of a “career ladder” to talented educa-tors who are not interested in exploring

a move from the classroom to school administra-tion. At Park, we have designed a new program to give selected teachers the opportunity to apply for fellowships that will allow them to take on a major leadership initiative in service of program innovation and the mission of the School.

The Park School already offers significant sup-port for faculty professional development. Named to honor Peter Amershadian, who retired at the end of the 2010-11 school year after 23 years of extraor-dinary service as head of our modern language department, The Peter Amershadian Faculty Leadership Program is intended to enable motivated individuals to provide leadership outside of their present faculty roles. Work may be in areas identified either by the administration or by applicants themselves, as long as the proposed project is recognized to be critical to the fulfillment of the School’s mission.

During the program’s initial year, the administration has encouraged proposals to address any of the following strategic priorities:

Identifying new approaches to faculty supervision and evaluation

Weaving 21st century skills throughout the curriculumBuilding a comprehensive, integrated approach to multicultural

education throughout the curriculum

Initially, two teams of teachers per year will be awarded leadership grants of $10,000 per person. Each leadership team will have access to an additional $2,500 per person for travel to attend national or international conferences and/or to visit other schools. The program year will begin on July 1, and leadership fellows will

be expected to commit substantial time to project work over the summer and the ensuing academic year. Specifically, it is expected that applicants will submit a plan for project work that includes a minimum of 30 days over the summer, on weekends, and/or during vacation periods. During the school year, each fellow will need to manage his or her time and ongoing teaching responsibilities in order to complete leadership tasks, while working under the super-vision and with the support of the head of school. At the comple-tion of their projects, fellows will be expected to provide written reports, including recommendations for further action, and they will be asked to make presentations to colleagues, administrators, and/or Park trustees.

Recipients of 2012-13 Peter Amershadian Faculty Leader-ship Awards will be announced early in 2012. Park students surely will benefit from this opportunity to empower our teachers and to bring “the most compelling ideas about teaching and learning” into our classrooms.

P.S. Readers wishing to celebrate Peter Amershadian’s legacy at Park

are encouraged to send a gift to The Park School directed toward

the Peter Amershadian Faculty Leadership Program. The School

hopes that donations made to Peter’s program will be in addition to

your continued Annual Fund support.

Peter Amershadian taught French, Spanish, Latin, Social Studies, and Growth Education at Park from 1988 – 2011. Described as the “epitome of a Park teacher,” the Faculty Leadership program is a fitting honor. The new award was announced at Peter’s retirement celebration in June.

DECEMBER 2011–JANUARY 2012 // PAGE 5The Park Parent // PAGE 4

Ask Ray: Cell Phones A Dialogue with Raymond Stewart, Director of TechnologyBY TC HALDI, Park Parent Editorial Board

PARENTING

Q. What do you know about kids’ use of cell phones today?A. According to a 2010 New York Times article, 75 percent of 12-17 year olds have a cell phone. ( June 9, 2010) Typically, there are three reasons that parents allow their children to have cell phones:

1. They are responsible enough to have one and use it appro-priately (following school, parental, and general safety rules).

2. A phone enables them to stay in contact with parents or friends as part of their active social life.

3. It gives them the ability to reach you or others in the event of an emergency.

While cell phones are typically used for phone calls and text mes-saging, current cell devices can also take pictures/video, play games, download applications, and access the Internet.

Q. When should kids get cell phones?A. What age children get cell phones is an extremely subjective question. While Park requires students to put them away while at school, the question of use before and after school is a differ-ent story. When to provide children with a cell phone is not much different from when to provide them with Internet access. With issues of peer pressure, safety, expense, and purpose as some of the deciding fac-tors, weigh all of the circumstances and arrive at an age/time that is most comfortable to you. Straw polls have indicated that many families use age twelve as baseline to begin the conversation.

Q. What are some of the issues to consider when getting your kids a cell phone?

• There is no way to monitor behavior/use of the phone with-out additional tools or set-up with your cell phone service provider.

• If you do decide to introduce monitoring capabilities, you need to handle this delicately as you could jeopardize your child’s trust.

• You can’t control what your kid and other kids do. Cyber bul-lying, sexting, and sending/receiving inappropriate messages/images are all on the rise and are very serious concerns.

• Cheating, plagiarism, and other honesty related problems are prevalent.

Common Sense Media, an organization dedicated to working with schools, parents, and children around online/cell phone safety, has excellent resources. www.commonsensemedia.org/advice-for-parents/cell-phones-tips

Q. What advice would you give parents if they are thinking about getting their kid a phone?A. Parents should consider the following questions:

• How independent are your children?• Do you have safety concerns that would require them to be in

touch with you frequently? • If you have more than one child, will there be different rules

and limitations?• Do you understand the implications of adding more services

to your cell phone plan? For example, unlimited text messag-ing, data plans, ability to buy apps, ringtones, etc.

• Do you have rules/responsibilities that you want them to fol-low that might guide their overall use of a cell phone (i.e. use during homework, amount of texting, times the phone has to be off )?

• If you are providing the phone for safety reasons, have you considered how you will address situations when the phone is used improperly?

• Once you determine how the phone will be used, there are a myriad of choices in terms of features and limitations. You don’t need to go for the phone with “all the bells and whistles.” There are devices available that are “just phones” with no internet access, texting ability, etc.

Q. What web sites would you recommend to learn more about these issues?Safety Web

• blog.safetyweb.com/kid-cell-phone-safety/

• www.safetyweb.com/teens-and-mobile

Safety Clicks

• blog.safetyclicks.com/

Scholastic

• www.scholastic.com/resources/article/10-tips-for-cell-phone-safety/

Do you have other questions for Ray about Technology and Kids? Please submit them to: communications@parkschool.org.

DECEMBER 2011–JANUARY 2012 // PAGE 5The Park Parent // PAGE 4

Of Battles and BlessingsBY OLIVIA MOOREHEAD-SLAUGHTER, Psychologist

CHECKING IN

In all fairness, I am beginning this article with a disclosure around my own personal and professional bias related to parent-ing. My default position tends to be one of moderation in pretty

much everything. Thus, I was in “the deep end of the pool” almost immediately when I began reading Amy Chua’s bestselling book, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. Where to begin… The list of pro-hibitions for her daughters, Sophia and Lulu, on the very first page was my first clue that this would be no ordinary parenting book. They are as follows: attend a sleepover; have a playdate; be in a school play; complain about not being in a school play; watch TV or play computer games; choose their own extracurricular activities; get any grade less than an A; not be the #1 student in every subject except gym and drama; play any instrument other than the piano or violin; not play the piano or violin.

This is a pretty impressive list of “shalt nots.” As the mother of two sons who are phenomenal drummers, my own personal wood-shed moment happened on page 8 with Chua’s declaration that playing the drums leads to drugs. I knew this would be a daunting albeit fascinating read, and indeed, this book did not disappoint on either account. It is evident that Chua dearly loves her children and that she holds a very strident philosophy about how to ensure that they will become successful and accomplished adults. Her methods of achieving this goal are exacting and inviolable. And, she gets breathtaking results of the kind that many parents would love to have with their own children. For Chua, seemingly no price is too high and there are many recounted childrearing moments where blood, sweat, and copious tears are assumed to be the price that one pays for unqualified excel-lence. To be fair, there are also tender moments and praise for the most lofty accomplishments, but the tone of Chua’s parent-ing is decidedly set by her ultimate focus on ensuring that her children are top performers in both the aca-demic and musical realms.

Nuance à la Chua comes in the form of how the outcomes of her parent-ing ministrations differ

for her two daughters, who have very different temperaments. To her credit, she does not attempt to make herself

“look good” by omitting some of her harshest words or methods along with the resulting anguish of her children. There is no attempt to concede mod-eration or acceptance as a strategy for raising children even as Chua admits that she was ultimately forced to make some concessions with her second daughter and that this did not turn out badly. Lulu “chose“ tennis, “unchose” violin, and the world did not end.

Reading The Blessing of a B Minus by Wendy Mogel imme-diately after finishing Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother was akin to experiencing parenting whiplash. In this case, the titles are quite apt as Mogel’s approach is to advise parents to find the “bless-ing” in the inevitable messiness of parenting versus the mental and physical fortitude to do “battle” on all fronts. This book was written for parents of teenagers and is organized around highlight-ing some of the most challenging aspects of raising adolescents such as “letting your teen learn from bad judgment and stressful situations,” “managing your teen’s materialism, entitlement, and carelessness,” and “a sanctified approach to substances and sex.” For younger children, Mogel’s The Blessing of a Skinned Knee includes a

similar philosophy around how to successfully parent through the vicissitudes of childhood.

Mogel’s approach is decidedly “kinder and gentler,” while at the same time not letting kids or parents off the hook around establishing and maintaining high expec-tations for responsible behavior in all aspects of their lives. She is as affirming of chores as she is of academics, insisting that children understand the value of their partici-

continued on page 8

DECEMBER 2011–JANUARY 2012 // PAGE 7The Park Parent // PAGE 6

WHY INVESTIGATIONS?Investigations was chosen for its strong mathematical content, excel-lent professional development materials and instructional support. According to Katrina’s report, “Park chose a curriculum that is clear, complete, connected and cohesive and that expects a rigorous understanding of mathematical ideas. The rigor and challenge lies in being asked to do more than memorize steps and procedures.”

One of the things that makes a curriculum like Investigations work well is the commitment from teachers and the administration. It challenges teachers to rethink their own understanding of math learning and instruction.

“The curriculum allows children a wider range of access

points into mathematics. I’ve noticed a change in the num-

ber of children who are comfortable with numbers and who

can discuss the math we are doing in class. Everyone in the

class is involved, engaged, and excited about mathematical

work.” Grade IV teacher

“I am now in my fifth year of teaching math the “Investiga-

tions” way, after teaching math to second graders for well

over 20 years. I realize that many of my students in the past

who were considered successful were really just parroting

back facts and algorithms they had memorized, with no

real understanding of what they were doing. With Investi-

gations, I see kids who really understand the concepts, who

can manipulate numbers and who can truly figure out solu-

tions to problems in multiple ways.” Grade II teacher

All K-V teachers have participated in Investigations workshops and other professional development opportunities since the pilot-ing began in 2003. Administrators, including Head of School Jerry Katz, have attended seminars, most recently on algebraic thinking, in order to be well informed of the current trends and methods necessary for math instruction today.

MEETING A RANGE OF LEARNERS

There is no doubt that parents have had plenty of questions about the Investigations curriculum over the years. Usually, these questions center on how to help children at home, and how teachers adapt their instruction to different learning styles. Guidance on instruct-ing a wide variety of students has always been a strong aspect of the program. Park teachers continually adapt the program to reach all students and get ongoing guidance and training from Katrina Mills.

One might wonder if some children have trouble with the cur-riculum because they are expected to read, write, and talk about math, as well as learn to be computationally fluent. There seems to be an impression that Investigations is “language based.” Katrina feels that this largely refers to word problems, discussions that are

part of most lessons, and that student must demonstrate their think-ing. Couldn’t certain students simply learn the steps and algorithms? Katrina points out that all students need to develop thinking skills regardless of curriculum and math is no exception. Accommoda-tions are made for some students by building math vocabulary and breaking down the problems in smaller, digestible chunks. Inter-estingly, students who do have “language processing” issues benefit from the extra layer of concepts and ideas in Investigations.

Students who already have a strong grasp of math are chal-lenged to understand the concepts at a deeper level. For example, second graders are challenged about the order of operations in addi-tion and subtraction. Does it matter? Can you prove it? “We want kids to know and use mathematics,” says Katrina, “not just do rote arithmetic. They think more deeply and are curious about numbers, patterns and problem solving.”

MATH LEARNING IN THE UPPER DIVISION AND BEYOND PARK

Katrina’s report reveals that the majority of students who move into the upper division having had Investigations in the Lower and Middle Divisions are doing very well. The teachers are thrilled with the depth and flexibility of their students’ thinking. When teaching a new topic, such as factoring in Grade VI, teachers can start at a deeper level because students are thinking mathematically. Students are very clear and articulate about what they know or don’t know. And the report from next schools is equally positive. Math teachers identify the Park students as the ones who not only can do the math

but can talk about the work. Upper Division math teacher Elaine Hamilton has been taping Lower Division students explaining their solutions to math problems. “It’s great to hear them communicating mathematically at such a young age!”

Park has certainly devoted a lot of time, energy and resources to

Investigations, continued from page 1

continued on page 8

DECEMBER 2011–JANUARY 2012 // PAGE 7The Park Parent // PAGE 6

Parent Pointers for Math SuccessBY KATRINA MILLS, Math Specialist for Grades K – V

MATH MATTERS

As a parent, you can help your child develop a life-long love of

mathematics!

Here are some tips:

• Bepositiveabout math! Have a good attitude and your child

will, too.

• Talkabout the math your child is doing. Let him or her

explain what is being worked on at school and for home-

work. Listening can be difficult at times, but it is important!

• Have highexpectations.

• Respect the way your child learns.

• Ask,don’ttell! Once children are told how to do it, thinking

usually stops. Instead, ask questions about the problem and

help them find their own methods of working through it.

You do not need to be the teacher. Good questions to ask:

• What do you need to find out?

• What do you already know that can help you?

• What strategies are you going to use?

• How did you reach that conclusion? Does that make sense?

• Why is that true?

• Is that true in all cases?

• Why did you decide to use this method?

• Can you think of a more efficient strategy?

• How did you organize your results? How do you think this

would work with other numbers?

• Can you convince me that your answer makes sense?

• Do and show your child the mathyouuseeveryday. You can

model successful approaches to solving problems when you

verbalize your math thinking and show your child your meth-

ods. By asking questions, making mistakes, and talking about

what you think, children will see the importance of working

through a problem to make connections with mathematics in

everyday situations.

• Don’tworryaboutusingthesamestrategythatyourchild

uses.In everyday situations, people have devised many dif-

ferent, effective ways to solve problems. What is important

is that each person solves the problems in ways that makes

sense to him/herself.

• Practiceestimation with your child whenever possible.

Estimation helps in thinking about a problem that precedes

the doing, and is one of the most useful and “sense making”

tools available.

Model persistenceandpleasurewith

mathematics. Include enrichment

and recreational mathematics in your

family routine. Try to introduce math

ideas while traveling, cooking, sorting

laundry, buying stamps, grocery shop-

ping, setting the table, reading and

playing board games.

Practicecomputation“facts.” This

practice should promote fluency and

flexibility, not just memorization.

Most of all,HAVEFUN!

DECEMBER 2011–JANUARY 2012 // PAGE 7

RESOURCES TO SUPPORT YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF MATHEMATICS

The Investigations Student Math Handbook, available for every grade level, contains

math vocabulary and a few related problems for each unit of study, There is a

compiliation of games at the end of the book that are played throughout the school

year. Ask your child’s teacher for a copy. It is a wonderful reference tool for students

and families.

The Investigations curriculum also has a web site with a section specifically for

families. Exploring this web site will give you a multitude of insights and ideas.

http://investigations.terc.edu/families/doing_math/index.cfm

DECEMBER 2011–JANUARY 2012 // PAGE 9The Park Parent // PAGE 8

changing the way mathematics is taught in the Lower and Middle Divisions. Katrina’s report emphasizes that “in order to continue this growth, we must sustain our investment in and dedication to qual-ity teaching and mathematical learning of our students.” Through the Investigations curriculum, as well as other curriculum materials that support the NCTM and CORE standards, Park is in a strong position to prepare and support the students in gaining the tools necessary to be 21st century learners, thinkers, and leaders.

Investigations, continued from page 6

Park School’s Expectations for Mathematics in Grade K-V

We expect children to:

Understand mathematical ideas and concepts. Conceptual

thinkers know more than isolated facts and procedures.

Compute with fluency. Developing fluency requires balance

and connections between conceptual understanding and

computational proficiency.

Be mathematically powerful. Mathematically powerful

children develop meaning from numbers and operations,

look for relationships among numbers, and know how to

use different strategies effectively, accurately, and flexibly.

Experience and understand the breadth and depth of

mathematics. The study of mathematics must include

geometry, data analysis, algebraic thinking, problem

solving, and communication, not just computation.

pation and performance in all realms of their lives. She encourages parents to view less than stellar results and outright failures as learning opportunities and preparation for the real world and life without the parental safety net. Mogel provides both philosophi-cal and practical guidance across a range of frustrating and sticky parenting situations, with suggestions around how to understand and approach them, what to say, and how to say it.

Not surprisingly, I found merit in both of these books though I admitted my bias toward moderation at the outset. The complex-ity of parenting is hardly overstated and there will be critics galore regardless of which methodology you choose. All of this would be much easier if children were widgets instead of living, breath-ing individuals with their own special abilities, talents, proclivities, and personalities. What works wonderfully with one child may not be the right approach with another. What worked with your own upbringing may or may not work with your own child. The more you examine this subject, the more complexities you will see. Maybe the best approach is the one which allows you to parent authentically and respectfully. This respect should extend to your child as well as to others.

Perhaps one can approach parenting similarly to some other audaciously daunting task, by beginning with the end in mind. The last chapter in Mogel’s The Blessing of a B Minus is “The Cour-

age to Let Them Go.” Preparing our children to go forth into the world as confident, kind, generous, and resilient young adults who can manage their own lives is a tall order. Fortunately, there are many paths to this destination.

Of Battles & Blessings, continued from page 5

Featured in the Library

Please visit the library to enjoy these featured books and explore the new horizons they present.

December’s book is Peaceful Pieces: Poems and Quilts about Peace by Anna Grossnickle Hines. Themes include personal tranquility, global harmony, and self-expression.

January’s book is Celebritrees: Historic and Famous Trees of the World by Margi Preus, illustrated by Rebecca Gibbon. The themes are nature, history, and special places.

DECEMBER 2011–JANUARY 2012 // PAGE 9The Park Parent // PAGE 8

Neuroscience, continued from page 1

learning has been part of the fabric of Park School for a very long time,” says Jerry Katz. Indeed, prioritizing teacher-child relation-ships, group learning and community building have long been prior-ities at Park and social-emotional development con-tinues to be an important part of the strategic mission of the school. Jerry asserts, “Park is committed to the fundamental belief that if you don’t attend to the inner life of kids, not just their skills and what they can do, they cannot perform at peak. In a complex world where kids are met with increasing challenges growing up, this goal is more important than ever.”

Social-emotional learning has become an area of increasing global attention. When Chinese educators from Park’s partner school (Greentown Yuhua Qin-Qin School in Hangzhou) visited Brookline last year, Jerry Katz reports that the Chinese were most inter-ested in learning about Park’s social-emotional cur-riculum. Even during Park’s recent reciprocal faculty visit to China, Jerry commented, “Our hosts wanted to hear more about what we are doing at Park to sup-port children’s social-emotional development.”

Supporting children’s emotional development from ages four to fifteen is indeed a tremendous goal. I spoke with Dr. Olivia Moorehead-Slaughter, Park School’s psychologist, to summarize how the School supports children’s social-emotional development from the earliest grades through the middle school years. Olivia explains, “Park takes a developmental approach to introducing social-emotional learn-ing, from developing self-awareness in the youngest grades to gradually helping children develop the abil-ity to take the perspective of another in social prob-lem-solving, in age-appropriate ways, as they mature.”

In the Lower Division, many of the teachers have received training in the “Responsive Classroom” curriculum, which helps children develop proactive social problem-solving skills. A hallmark of Respon-sive Classroom is a morning meeting time, where wonderful group discussions flourish about children’s relationships with each other and with the School.

“In the moment, minute to minute, day to day, we help children to resolve conflicts,” states Olivia. In last spring’s Diversity Forum on social-emotional curriculum, Grade II teacher Sheika Luc emphasized critical ingredients of social success for children in the Lower Division: assertion, empathy and self-control. Indeed, these are critical neurodevelopmental functions for future success. Moreover, Sheika highlights that the key to Responsive

Classroom is in the relationships developed between teachers and students: “Knowing a child and family and having a child feel known by the school is the most important thing we can do for a child.”

In the Middle Division, Olivia emphasizes the growing social-emotional complexity that children bring to the classroom setting. In Grade III, Jen Riley’s “Dare to Care” curriculum broadens perspec-tives on social problem-solving skills for older chil-dren. Our Chinese visitors watched Jen’s classroom puppet shows with intent curiosity, where beloved puppet characters enact age-typical conflicts in the classroom or on the playground. In Grades IV and V, some teachers are implementing the program, “Bully Proof,” http://www.bullyproof.org/, supporting chil-dren in the development of social problem-solving skills.

Beyond bullying prevention and helping children develop appropriate social behaviors, the most impor-tant Middle Division goals focus on how relationships are navigated both between teachers and students and among students. To achieve this aim, Olivia facilitates many small group discussions among students around age-typical social-emotional issues and challenges, such as locker-room decorum and anxiety around dif-ferent rates of changing bodies and the growing emo-tional complexity of children in their social milieu, particularly among girls.

The Upper Division highlights Morning Meet-ing, the advisory system, the Service Learning cur-riculum and the prized Growth Education curriculum led by Margo Smith, as the hallmarks of Park’s social-emotional curriculum. Jerry Katz summarizes these important goals for the Upper Division students, “that adults will make time to care for and listen to them and that they will learn to care for others.”

Harkening back to the earliest social-emotional goals, Jerry reminds us, “Kids need to learn by making mistakes and experiencing disappointments. Resil-iency allows kids to persevere in the face of stress.” The very term resiliency can literally be mapped onto brain function; the bridges and highways that Shonkoff and colleagues outline are developed through the moment-by-moment relationships between students and teachers that Park quietly, but diligently, invests in. Park has been building brains for a very long time and continues to strive to develop healthy and happy

children, who graduate as peak performers throughout their lives.

For more information, see From Neurons to Neighborhoods (2000) Jack Shonkoff, Ed; National Academies Press; ISBN-13: 9780309069885

DECEMBER 2011–JANUARY 2012 // PAGE 11The Park Parent // PAGE 10

Global Park: Observations on a New Phase of Partnership in ChinaBY PAULA IVEY HENRY, Park Parent Editorial Board

“Today, there is a need for a more dynamic and durable trans-pacific system, a more mature security and economic architec-ture that will promote security, prosperity, and universal values, resolve differences among nations, foster trust and account-ability, and encourage effective cooperation on the scale that today’s challenges demand.”

Secretary of State Hillary ClintonNovember 10, 2011, Honolulu, HI

“Tune in to WILD-AM 1090 these days, and you can learn to speak Chinese, hear Beijing pop songs, and follow breaking news out of China.”

Chinese state radio takes to local airwavesBy Johnny Diaz, The Boston Globe, July 1, 2011

“As a center of learning, the School generates ideas and responds thoughtfully to new ideas, emerging technologies, and social change.”

The Park School Philosophic Guidelines

The Park School’s development of a global educational experi-ence began a new phase this fall as Head of School Jerry Katz, Lower Division Head Andrew Segar, Upper Division Head Alice Lucey, and Mandarin teacher Mulian Chen traveled to Hangzhou, China, to continue groundwork for collaboration with Greentown Yuhua QinQin School. Current Grade VII Mandarin students will travel to China in March 2014 as the first student ambassadors for The Park School. The Chinese language trip is a natural extension of Park’s commended language program. It is also the spearhead of broad cross-school ambitions to prepare students for understanding and participation in a world defined less by continents and cultures, than by connectivity and comfort with diverse intellectual and human experience.

This new partnership offers stimulating opportunities for professional development and curricular improvement across Park. In 2012, Park administrators and faculty will return to Hangzhou to participate in an international conference with counterparts from independent schools in Singapore, Germany, New Zealand, Sweden, China and the United States (represented by The Park School) to explore and share best practices. “Ultimately,” explains Jerry, “this is an extension of Park’s commitment to look outward

– to benchmark not against Boston or New England-area schools, but against world-class schools across the globe.”

Andrew, Alice, Jerry, and Mulian shared their experience and observations, as well as unfolding plans for future Grade IX travel.

CONTRAST AS DISCOVERYAndrew Segar (AS): “The one word that best captures the

experience of China for me is contrasts. The country is itself so old and so new, densely populated, but so beautiful. Beside bold new construction and optimism there is deep poverty and tradition. The two extremes are stark, side-by-side, in a way that we do not see them here in the United States.”

Alice Lucey (AL): West Lake in Hangzhou, for example, looks just like the paintings of Chinese landscapes I’ve seen and studied. Turn your back on the bustling city and stare out at the water…and the scene does not seem so far removed from the place Marco Polo described in the 13th century. But turn around, and the city is filled with construction, Starbucks and more, and nightmarish traffic. One wonders about the intersection of these two realities.

Jerry Katz (JK): Already we have had a tremendous professional development experience from the visits of our Chinese counter-parts to Park. Their questions, the features about our environment and student experience that were most remarkable to them, take our thinking new places. Seeing ourselves through their eyes challenges our assumptions about what children can learn, how to organize schools, and what schools should be doing.

A HUNGER TO LEARNJK: Exposure to such different academic environments is a

powerful experience. We all aspire to the same values, but use very different ways of working to reach these goals.

AL: Schools have a “feel” to them. In so many ways, the Hang-zhou school felt like Park – so welcoming.

AS: There are 1,200 first- through ninth-graders on campus. The monitors at the gate announced our arrival, and there was great formality and excitement from the students about our visit.

DECEMBER 2011–JANUARY 2012 // PAGE 11The Park Parent // PAGE 10

The children were very polite and very curious.AL: Kids went out of their way to greet us – in English! AS: The focus of the children on their teachers was remarkable.

But there was also the sweet universality of children behaving as children: the affection, giggles between friends, holding of hands. This was as evident as the quiet and attention we observed in the classroom.

AL: The kids followed directions in the blink of an eye. Thirty-five second graders turning from the lesson at the Smartboard to the work at their desks, and everyone had a pencil! We observed kids who were engaged and excited about what they were learning.

Mulian Chen (MC): They expect very good behavior from chil-dren, and teachers were very supportive and encouraging.

AL: There is something universal about a good teacher: teachers who were so proud of their students, and who wanted to talk about teaching, asking us all about what we do and why we do it.

AS: There is recognition that character, social and emotional development are important to creativity, but the exam system and ‘top-down’ pressure on students – and schools – has made it more difficult to implement new ideas into the curriculum.

EXCHANGING OPPORTUNITIESMC: We are well into planning the 2014 trip for Mandarin IX

graders. We will first visit Beijing to see the Forbidden City, Tem-ple of Heaven, and the new and very old China. We will travel to The Great Wall, and have several days to explore, rest, and become accustomed to the culture. Travel is arranged with an experienced advisor for The Winsor School and the educational resources non-profit organization, Primary Source.

AL: In Grade VIII, students study China, which means that Mandarin students will go with a really good understanding of, and appreciation for, the history and culture.

AS: The food will be a very new experience for most children, but there is Western food available almost everywhere, so accom-modations can be made at each meal.

MC: We will fly to Hangzhou, where the children will meet their pen pals – they will have corresponded with each other over two

years – and attend a reception at the school. They will stay in pairs with host families who live very close to the school.

JK: We are exploring ways to nurture relationships between students, as well as teachers and administration.

MC: We will attend classes in the morning, and have excursions to the Silk Museum, and the Tea Museum in the afternoons. We also will spend a day performing community service away from the city, so students will also see rural China and life in agricultural and mountain areas.

AS: We traveled from Hangzhou to Shanghai. The World Financial Tower in Shanghai has a remarkable time-lapse video showing the evolution of the city in comparison to New York and Tokyo. There is a dramatic full room model of the city.

MC: It is a half hour trip, but by road is three hours.AS: The Urban Planning Museum in Shanghai has remarkable

videos showing the evolution of the city in comparison to New York and Hong Kong. There is a dramatic full room model of the city.

MC: Old Shanghai has a beautiful garden, the Yuyuan Garden, across the river from tallest building in China. We will stay at a Western hotel in The Bund, and hope to visit the Shanghai Circus.

JK: Next fall, 2012, Park will send a group of faculty to an inter-national conference hosted by the Hangzhou school, where some of the most globally successful schools will share innovations.

MC: And in May 2013, Hangzhou will send eight students to Park. The pen pals of our Mandarin students will be first on the list to be selected to represent Hangzhou at Park. By March 2014, Park’s Grade IX Mandarin students will know 1,000 characters, which means they will be able to read signage, express their needs and feelings, and be able to ask questions fluently. They will be ready to travel and ready to speak. They are making great progress, and will return from China very confident with the language.

JK: Where, you ask, does global learning take The Park School next? I think that Finland has some fascinating work in progress with math and reading. Globalization presents many challenges, but for education, it offers countless learning opportunities.

DECEMBER 2011–JANUARY 2012 // PAGE 13The Park Parent // PAGE 12

The P.A. Green Com-

mittee works with

groups across the

School to promote

green activities. This

fall, successful pro-

grams included composting vegetable scraps from the Chop-a-thon,

an Electronics Recycling Day, the Blue Blazer, Halloween Costume

and Sports Equipment Swap, and the fall season of the Garden Club.

Our winter programs will focus on making smart choices about

electricity usage, including the Kill-A-Watt Electric Usage Meter,

which you can use at home to find out how much electricity the

various appliances, electronics and chargers around your home

are actually using. Kids or families will be able to borrow these

meters for a few days. We plan to use the data for an “electricity

challenge” to see if the Park community can reduce the amount of

electricity we use in our homes.

P.A. CORNER

We meet the second week of each month.

Questions? Contact:

Rebecca Mayne r_mayne@altvil.com

Nancy Pinchera npinchera@gmail.com

Louise Reohr louisereohr@hotmail.com

Green Committee

Author and illustrator Bryan Collier challenged Park’s second and third graders to describe their Friday morning during a visit to the library in November. “What was the

color of the day when you walked outside this morning?” he asked students. “Stories are always flowing through us,” said Collier. “The child’s job, as artist and/or writer, is to tell the world the commonly missed details.”

Mr. Collier, 45, said he has been “making art” since he was 15 years old and began illustrating books 11 years ago. He has illus-trated books by authors Marian Wright Edelman, Nikki Giovanni and Zora Neale Hurston, but does not collaborate with them. Rather, he takes the completed manuscript and creates collages and watercolors to complement the text. He usually doesn’t meet the writers until subsequent book tours.

The first editorial advice he remembers was to “write what you know.” He followed that advice and wrote about his neighborhood in Harlem, submitting manuscripts to publishers every week for seven years before Uptown was accepted and published in 2000.

When asked by a second grader why all his books feature African-American characters, he answered that when he was a child, his three favorite books were The Snow Day, Whisper for Wil-lie, and Harold & the Purple Crayon. That was the first time he saw

“a kid like me in a book” and wanted to replicate that experience for other children. He uses his extended family as life models, posing them, taking numerous pictures and working their images into col-lage and watercolor.

He likens his collage/water-color process to cooking a pizza or a pot of soup. Each ingredient is separate and has no relation-ship to each other until they are all combined to make the whole. He started making collages after graduating from Pratt Insti-tute and was influenced by his grandmother, a quilt maker. Both use the same piecing process and share “inner peacing” as well!

Mr. Collier was invited to Park by the library, the P.A. Diversity Committee, and the Foundation for Children’s Books, who also sponsored his subsequent visit to Dorchester’s Trotter School. He lives and works an hour north of New York City with his wife and two daughters, ages 8 and 7 months.

Bryan Collier Inspires Park StudentsBY SUSAN GREENWOOD, Parent

Parent participation as of 12/1/11

Parent support of the Annual Fund reflects our deep

commitment to Park and our children’s education, and each

gift to the Annual Fund enhances every student’s experience.

An amazing 72 percent of Park’s families have already made

their commitment to Park’s 2011-12 Annual Fund. Thank you

to all who have pledged. As always, our goal is 100 percent

participation among the parent community. If you have not

yet pledged, and wish to participate, please contact Bea

Sanders (Bea_Sanders@parkschool.org, 617-274-6020). You

may also give online at www.parkschool.org/waystogive.

Every gift makes a difference.

THANK YOU!

GOAL 100%72%

ANNUAL FUND 2011-12

Bryan Collier shared his port-folio with students on a recent visit to Park’s library.

DECEMBER 2011–JANUARY 2012 // PAGE 13The Park Parent // PAGE 12

FALL SPORTS & DRAMA IN ACTION

UPCOMING DATES OF NOTE

December 16 Friday Yule Festival (Pre-K – IX Dress Day), 9:30 a.m. 11:30 a.m. dismissal – No ASP Winter Vacation begins

January 3 Tuesday School resumes

January 16 Monday Martin Luther King, Jr. Day – NO SCHOOL

Visit the calendar on the Park School website for more dates!

The Park ParentThe Park School171 Goddard AvenueBrookline, MA 02445617-277-2456

DECEMBER 2011 – JANUARY 2012

The Park Parent

The Park Parent is a newsletter that highlights academic, extracurricular, social, and fundraising activities at The Park School. It is currently published six times a year, and its readership includes parents, grandparents, faculty, alumni, and other friends.

Read The Park Parent online at www.parkschool.org

Editor:ANNE HARVEY KILBURN

Director of Communcations:KATE LaPINE

Editorial Board Chair:TODD IDSON

Editorial Board: LAURA CARROLL, TC HALDI, PAULA IVEY HENRY, SARAH KEATING, PAM MATHEWS, DOROTHY RICHARDSON, DARSHAK SANGHAVI, STANLEY SHAW, CAROL SMITH, JOHN STRAND, JEAN WILMERDING

President, Parents’ Association:CAROLINE SCHERNECKER

Chairs, Aide Brigade:KATIE BULLIVANT, LAURA SALCEDO

Chair, Board of Trustees:SUZIE TAPSON

Head of School:JERROLD I . KATZ

The Parking Space Is Online!parkschool.org/parkingspaceThird graders perform at Grandparents’ & Special Friends’ Day in November.