As we complete our “first steps” of the school year this September, I thought you might enjoy reading my opening remarks to your students as the year began. They are included below. The year has begun well, including thrilling visits from two Marshall Fund visiting artists who are energizing both students and teachers – because our normal classroom climate makes such interactions possible. I enjoyed my own visits with sixth grade at Chewonki and eighth grade in Acadia. Seeing the students in action helped me appreciate first hand how thoroughly our students are prepared for these trips, how busy they are doing valuable activities (Algae dissection preparation at 7:30 in the evening!), and how our faculty are such tremendous role models.

We have an exciting month in store.  Not only do our visiting artists continue to work with our students, we look forward to the Harvest Fair, can clean out closets for the Rummage Sale, and prepare for the Parade of Horribles. I do hope that I will see you at the Harvest Fair on October 14. It is a wonderful opportunity to build community and support the school. My thanks to the Parents Association for their energy and support!

The end of the month also brings with it our first formal progress reports in Middle and Upper School (mailed in early November). During our “first steps” in September, there is often acclimatization, socialization, and for the older children, review. The class trips in grades 6 – 9 interject a different sense of pace. By the end of September, the pace has picked up academically, and October finds us beginning to accelerate. If you begin to notice this in your student (or are not noticing any apparent academic demands!), you may want to contact a teacher or advisor. As I said in my Curriculum Night remarks, it is important for children to learn to overcome adversity, so they need to try to solve their challenges. It is also important for us to partner well between parent and school so we can monitor possible stress or anxiety – or lack of attention.

October’s end also brings with it our AISNE Accreditation visit.  Six team members, including senior administrators from four schools, begin their site visit on Sunday, October 29 and stay through Wednesday, November first. Larry Griffin, Head at Shore Country Day, leads the Visiting Team. He and Kathy Nickrosz have been talking at some length about the visit, and his team met in late September to begin reviewing our self-study materials. They will know Applewild well on paper before they arrive, and they will spend Sunday through Tuesday seeing us in person and talking with all faculty and with some students, parents, and Board members. Then they write a preliminary report Tuesday night and Wednesday, and Larry provides me with a preview before he leaves.

After the visit and the visiting team’s report, the AISNE Membership Committee reviews the report and recommends either full accreditation for three years or provisional accreditation, in each case with a series of major recommendations for future action. The school then submits a One Year Action Plan. At the end of three years, AISNE conducts a follow-up visit that usually results in continued accreditation for seven more years, at which time the self-study process begins anew. The entire process provides a valuable opportunity for schools to review their programs and practices and then have a thorough outside review based on specific standards. The Applewild community can be proud of the detailed evaluation of the self-study and confident about the validity of the process.

Included in that comprehensive report were 22 pages of strengths, areas for improvement, priorities, and next steps that we have identified for our visiting accrediting committee. This review is standard for independent schools. Among the programmatic priorities we identified were curriculum development, increasing inter-disciplinary integration, refining our professional development focus, and using technology as a teaching/learning tool. We also prioritized using technology to enhance communication with parents, enhancing both enrollment and fund raising through targeted outreach, expanding our diversity recruitment efforts, and redefining and clarifying goals for faculty/staff compensation.

Although the process reminded us of our tendency to be self-critical, we also celebrate that our school is firmly grounded in a clear mission and core values. Our emphasis on the whole child results in a rich combination of rigorous academic preparation, enriching fine and performing arts, integrated community service opportunities, and healthy sports. Our faculty is experienced, current about pedagogy, and dedicated. Offering science and foreign language beginning in kindergarten is noteworthy in this “flat world,” as is our emphasis on creative thinking through our arts programs. Particularly validating was the conclusion that every adult in our school is committed to a respectful community in which each of our students is known well and cared for. I know that our visiting committee will confirm that!

There is a saying that every journey begins with a first step. This school year is a journey, and this is our first step together on this journey. We will have fun (except in Kindergarten, where the rules are “no smiling” and “no fun”). We will get involved (particularly in US: try a sport, go out for the play, get involved in music and service opportunities). We will try new things; we will learn. And we will help others. We will all make a difference in the lives of everyone in this room – and beyond this room – and we will at the same time be getting better (learning more) about how we can make even more of a difference – provide sustained, powerful help to improve the lives of our families, our communities, and our world.

How is it we are taking a journey? Every time we pick up a book, consider a problem, or seek a solution, we are making a journey. All of education is a journey, a trip that enriches our lives. If we are going to make a difference in our community and our world, we need to learn about our place – and other places. We need to understand where we live – and where others live; what we think is important – and what others think is important. We need to learn how to see the world as musicians, artists, writers, mathematicians, historians, and scientists do – and also as people from other countries and cultures do. We need to go on those journeys of imagination.

To help us think about the journeys we will take this year, I’ve asked the ninth graders to help us by demonstrating real journeys. Sometimes actually taking a trip helps us learn, whether to Highlands, Cleghorn Community Center, the Fitchburg Museum, Chewonki, or other places. Our ninth grade leaders will help me talk about what we can learn from going other places and meeting other people. These ninth graders will be important to you in the coming year – as captains of sports teams, yearbook editors, buddies, and generally in the way they help us set the tone for the year.

[The children stood up if they had been some of the places the ninth graders had visited over the summer: from Cape Cod to Great Adventure to Disney World to China.]

This year I will be talking with you at times about what we learn from each other and from other places in the world. We will find out where our families came from in the world before they came to the United States. We will be able to learn from each other about how different this world is and yet how we all share so much. This world is precious – just as each of you is precious (very important and rare). We need to take care of each other – and this community is a very safe place because we DO take such good care of each other – and we also can each take actions that will help take care of our world. One of the most important actions we can take is to learn – to take that journey seriously.