Taking Stock

I recently read an article in The New York Times by Camille Sweeney and Josh Gosfield who proposed that a company's ultimate success often rests with its leader's willingness to step back, examine, and reset, if necessary, the company's basic assumptions and goals. For them, self-examination is seen not as a sign of weakness, but one of confidence and creativity.

At Rivers we are spending this academic year conducting a self-study as the first step in the school's re-accreditation. Committees of faculty and staff have closely examined everything from the curriculum to the administrative structure. A summary document of our findings will be reviewed by an outside committee of educators, including the heads of Greenwich Academy and Milton Academy, and they will make their own recommendations to Rivers next fall.

I have been most interested in the results of the recent surveys that our students, parents, and alumni have taken the time to thoughtfully answer, because, as our “customers,” they are the true measure of whether or not we are fulfilling our mission to educate knowledgeable and compassionate leaders of tomorrow.

Across the board, each of these groups placed the relationships between student and teacher in the highest regard. It has been, and always will be, our first and foremost goal – what sets us apart as a community – to teach, coach, and mentor our students as unique individuals.

Students also praised our strong sense of community that provides a safe, comfortable, and accepting environment. Alumni felt that Rivers had prepared them well for college, with dynamic faculty and strong academic support as key to their success.

As we move forward, we’ll use the surveys and self-study reports to chart Rivers’ future course. Already we’ve begun to address areas where we can do more. Our recent Day of Consideration grew out of the study’s finding that we as a community need more opportunities to discuss and celebrate not only what brings us together, but what makes us different. Throughout the day, students and faculty met in workshops to discuss everything from stereotypes in music to experiencing a major loss. Our hope is that, having initiated these conversations, we’ll be more inclined to talk about these topics in our daily lives.

I am excited to see where our self-study takes us. It is a great opportunity to enhance what we already do well and improve those areas that will make us an even stronger community of learners.

Service Above and Beyond

One of my most deeply held beliefs is that if we graduate students from Rivers who are great academicians, great athletes, or great artists, but who are not great human beings, then we have failed as an institution. Key to achieving that goal is instilling in our students a genuine sense of caring for their fellow man, whether it is helping a fellow student with a math concept or running a campus road race for financial aid.

Sure, we have a minimum requirement for community service for graduation, but so many of our students go far, far beyond those 30 hours. Beginning in Middle School, leadership and community service are linked together as a natural extension of our definition of leadership – to be your best self and positively influence others. Middle School leadership days are often structured around service activities. That intertwining continues in the Upper School, where a key component of the Grade 10 RISE program is for each student to reflect on what he or she feels passionate about and then initiate a service project to address that issue.

Fifteen juniors just spent the first week of winter break in New Orleans participating in a rebuilding project in that still-devastated city. One of our juniors has actually founded her own non-profit organization to help bring education to young African girls – I don’t know many adults with that kind of drive. There are the Middle School programs in conjunction with the Natick Service Council, the Special Olympics run by our tenth graders, the Rivers Givers fundraising efforts to support local youth and teen outreach programs – the list goes on and on.

What I’m most pleased by – and what makes me believe we are doing something right – is the genuine enthusiasm I sense in our students. They are becoming the caring human beings we need for the future.

Click here to read more about the recent service trip to New Orleans. 

How Children Succeed: The Importance of Grit and Character

I just finished reading How Children Succeed by Paul Trough. I was looking forward to the book because its thesis that "grit, curiosity, and the hidden power of character" are far more important than natural intelligence in determining achievement reinforces my own deeply-held perspective. I wanted data and hard science to substantiate this perspective. I must say, the first part of the book did not disappoint in this regard. In the first chapter, "How to Fail," Trough provides ample evidence to support the development of grit and curiosity as critical ingredients for success. I’ve always felt that failure is one of the underutilized yet most effective teaching techniques we educators have at our disposal. I especially like the section on "attachment" and close relationships between adults and students as vital elements in students learning how to persist.

In the rest of the book, Trough departs from scientific research and instead provides the reader with narratives about individual teachers, students, and schools. He becomes more of a storyteller as opposed to an expert, possibly because it is easier to chronicle examples than to connect those examples to real research. I felt that the salient points of his book would have made a compelling article. Moreover, he never consolidates his findings (what few there are), and as a result, the reader/educator/parent is left empty-handed. I was looking for the proverbial takeaways, but they never appeared. How disappointing! 

I'm not giving up on grit and determination and character. I still think these qualities are much more important than natural intelligence in shaping a fulfilling life. I agree with Trough that our failing students and schools are in dire need of more of this kind of "performance character." I just wish Trough had provided the proof to make my opinions rock-solid and indisputable. 

How do you feel about these traits? Did they play a role in your education and subsequent path in life?

Reaction to the Tragedy in Newtown

It's hard to put into words the emotions I have felt these past few days in the wake of the Newtown shootings - some combination of anger, fear, grief, sympathy, and sadness. I keep wondering what might have been missing in that young man's life that led him to act as he did. I wonder what can be done to prevent such an event from happening again.

I find my thoughts keep circling back to relationships. Here at Rivers our mission is to know and understand our students as individuals and help them become their best selves. Relationships are key to fulfilling that mission, and our teachers, coaches, and advisors are adept at connecting with their students, advisees, and athletes in meaningful ways. As we head into the new year and the inevitable resolution-making, I want to focus on being a better advisor; I want to be a better listener; I want to be a better mentor. I will urge our faculty - and you - to do the same. Make those connections with the people around you - those you know well, and those you could come to know better. Listen and respond. We will all be better human beings for it.

Faculty-Student Connections: Rivers' Advisor System

One of the values that defines Rivers is relationships. In fact, relationships are at the heart of the Rivers experience. We believe when students know teachers want them to be successful, and when students know they are valued not as achievement-machines but as multi-dimensional human beings, they are more likely to stretch for excellence and more likely to pick themselves up when they inevitably fall. Relationships provide the grounding for students to explore, try new things, and test themselves. These students know that adults are in their corner, ready to listen, provide feedback, mentor, and support.

Relationships are part of Rivers’ DNA.

Several years ago in an effort to do a better job of promoting relationships, the school undertook a self-examination of the advisor program. We liked our program, but we thought it could be better. We made several changes including adding more advisor-advisee time and one-on-one meetings, introducing parent-advisor conferences, creating advisor-team meetings, and using professional development money to discover best advising practices. These efforts stemmed from our desire to do a better job of living our values. The results have been dramatic. The link below will take you to a video about the Rivers advisor system. Enjoy!

VIDEO: Advisory Groups Nurture Student-Faculty Bonds

Why Rivers Implemented a New Schedule

This year Rivers introduced a new schedule, one that is significantly different from schedules of years past. With this new schedule, each course meets three times a week. On Monday each class meets for 45 minutes. On Tuesdays and Thursdays half of the classes meet for 80-minute blocks, and on Wednesdays and Fridays the other half of the classes meet for 80-minute blocks. 

So, why did we change the schedule?  What difference does a new schedule really make? 

For Rivers, the answers to these questions are in the values that define the school – specifically, our commitment to excellence, quality of experience, and innovation. 

The new schedule promotes excellence by forcing students to go deeper, gain greater insight, and revise their theories and assumptions. Longer periods mean deeper, more sophisticated thinking. Science teachers appreciate the extra time for labs and demonstrations. Teachers have had no problem varying activities within the 80-minute block to ensure students are engaged. 

Moreover, the new schedule reflects Rivers' commitment to quality of experience. We are no longer herding students from one class to another without suitable breaks and time to decompress. Students report that homework is much more manageable, and the pace of the day is not so frenetic. 

And finally, the new schedule illustrates the spirit of innovation that is a hallmark at Rivers. This is a school that is constantly looking for more and better ways to live its mission and values. The drive to find a better schedule that fosters both excellence and quality of experience emanates from this spirit.

Both students and teachers praise this schedule change! Click here to read more about the new schedule and to see some feedback from faculty members and a student.

Ready for the Real World

One of the key goals of our mission here at Rivers is to “prepare our students for leadership in a world that needs their talents, imagination, intellect, and compassion.” For the past seven years, Rivers has gone a step farther to prepare students for the future by arranging summer internships in local business and research institutions. These internships are specifically designed to enable Rivers students to be productive members at their respective workplaces, rather than observers as summer interns often are.

Rivers’ interns share their experiences with the rest of the community during the summer through Facebook posts and at symposia on campus throughout the fall. It is so impressive to hear what these students have accomplished at such a high level. How many high school students have been invited to present papers at national conferences? Last year, Rebecca Iafrati ’12 spoke to the American Heart Association about her research at Boston University Medical Center on the relationship between obesity and blood clots. The previous year, three interns -- Alex Post ’10, Aaron Behr ’11, and Charlie Harrison ’11 -- presented their summer research at Bruker Daltonics during a national chemistry and spectroscopy conference.

The summer internship program is just one of a number of initiatives at Rivers to make learning relevant to the 21st century – a time that requires students to think creatively and independently, and be an effective team player. Our interdisciplinary courses, leadership lab, and flipped classrooms all help give our students the skills and experiences they need to face their future with confidence.

Please click here to watch a video story about three of this summer’s science interns and what they gained from their experiences at Reactive Innovations and Bruker Daltonics.