Communications from the Director
On the Same Page
June, 2006
David W. Magill, Director
Both the eighth grade and twelfth grade graduations were ceremonies
that will be remembered by all participants and guests. As teachers
and administrators, we are so excited for the graduates, yet we will
miss each and every one as they move on to a new phase in their lives.
Importantly, we are looking forward to a successful summer school
program, followed by a return of our faculty in August and our students
on Tuesday, September 5. Enjoy your summer.
The Goals and Objectives below were created last fall to provide
direction for the 2005-2006 school year. Now that we have completed
another extraordinary school year at Lab, I would like to comment on
our progress toward reaching these goals.
GOAL I: To Improve the Educational Program
Objectives
- Select an Asian language and establish when it will
be offered beginning with the 2006-2007 school year.
Mandarin Chinese was established as the Asian language to be offered
at the beginning of the 2006-2007 school year. The administration and
members of the World Language Department were joined by a native speaker
and a member of the University's East Asian Language and Culture program
to interview prospective teaching candidates. An experienced teacher
was selected and will begin in the fall.
Twenty-nine third grade students will form the first cohort of
Lower School students, and two sections of Chinese will be scheduled
at the High School.
- Review secondary science scope and sequence.
As part of their curricular review, members of the science department
formed study groups to evaluate current practices nursery through twelfth
grade, concentrating on methods, philosophy, vertical coordination, and
integration with other department and with the University. A Science
Advisory Group composed of University faculty met with members of the
science department to discuss philosophy, pedagogy, and opportunities for
collaboration.
Lab's science department also met with both the math and computer
science departments to explore opportunities for closer coordination.
The science department will meet for a week in June to summarize their
work so far, make recommendations for changes, and design a plan to
implement them. A report of their plan will be available in September
2006, followed a year later by a report detailing actual changes.
- Plan for a coordinated health and wellness curriculum (N-12).
Twenty teachers representing each of the divisions and various subjects
have been meeting regularly to develop the basis for a school-wide
health and wellness curriculum. They organized subject matter into
six categories: mental/emotional health, nutrition, physical fitness,
sexuality education, stress management, and weight management. For
each, they have listed a series of suggested benchmarks to be attained
by different grade levels. Additionally, the committee has made
recommendations to create a healthier school environment.
- Increase collaborative relationships with the University of Chicago.
A varied and very productive assortment of collaborations between the
Laboratory Schools and the University of Chicago has been undertaken
this year. Lab's Professional Development Day in the fall was devoted to
introducing faculty to the wide range of the University's human and
institutional resources available for collaborative work. Site visits
and workshops at University facilities such as the Oriental Institute,
the Smart Museum, Regenstein Library, University Theater, and the
University Community Service Center opened the door to collaborative
work that a number of our teachers engaged in during the year. Lab
faculty in both the Middle and High Schools regularly use the Oriental
Institute and the Smart Museum, in particular, in their curriculum
development work.
The number of U-High students who have taken courses in various
departments of the University has also been quite high this year.
Each quarter from nine to seventeen of our students have been enrolled
in math, foreign language, physics, English, environmental policy,
and other courses in the social sciences.
Collaboration with individual faculty members of the University remains
the most typical way in which Lab makes use of University resources.
Literally hundreds of visits by University of Chicago faculty to Lab
classrooms in the Lower, Middle, and High School have occurred over
the course of the year, with presentations that cover a range of
subject areas that included paleo-biology, statistics, art history,
economics, Old English, and astrophysics.
A large number of collaborations with various centers at the
University—the Center for International Studies, the Middle
East Center, and the Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian
Studies—were undertaken by Lab's History Department, in particular.
The Science Department has initiated extremely productive
collaborations with several of the sciences at the University with a
specific eye to reworking U-High's science curriculum.
- Plan for the professional development components of a new
faculty evaluation plan.
The new evaluation plan specifies that teachers beginning their
eleventh year and every five subsequent years participate in a
program of professional renewal. The All-Schools Council agreed that
each cohort, as a group, should be free to determine its own focus
and activities. A steering committee composed of representatives
from each of the schools has also been formed to oversee this
professional renewal process.
Members of the first cohort of twenty-one teachers representing all
four schools met this year. They expressed interest in a number of
potential projects including, but not limited to, visiting classrooms,
"shadowing" students, engaging in renewing activities such as yoga,
and discussing issues affecting pedagogy, including societal changes
and what makes Lab distinct. Throughout the school year, different
cohort members will organize monthly Tuesday meetings beginning with
a potluck on September 19. They will write a report of their experiences
by the end of the 2006-2007 school year.
- Train administration and department chairs with effective techniques
of instructional supervision.
A two-day workshop took place on June 12 and 13 and included all
department heads and instructional supervisors from the four schools.
Two education professors, one from NYU and the other from the UCLA Lab
Schools, led the workshop. The intent was to create a common vocabulary
for those observing instruction and to create an evaluation model based
upon the values stated in our mission statement.
GOAL II: To Improve Related Services
- Complete space planning and feasibility study by January 1, 2006.
The architectural firm of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill completed a
space planning and feasibility study and presented it to us during the
first week in April 2006. The goals of the Master Plan are the following:
- To maximize utilization of existing facilities including all of Judd
Hall
- To provide necessary life safety systems and access through the
campus
- To provide a state-of-the-art infrastructure to support the campus
into the future
- To improve dining facilities within the campus
- To improve faculty accommodation within the facilities
- To expand libraries and allow for growth
- To enhance significantly the visual and performing arts facilities
throughout the schools
- To accommodate gradual expansion of the High School for 100 students
The study was presented to the administration, Lab Schools' Board of
Directors Facilities Committee, and University representatives. Included
as part of the study were cost estimates associated with several
possible options.
The next steps will determine the University's future commitment to the
identified deferred maintenance and the school's capacity for a future
capital campaign. The scope of any future project will depend upon the
answers to these questions.
- Develop a capital campaign plan associated with the Master Plan.
This objective was not completed during the school year but will be
completed during the 2006-2007 school year. The first step of developing
a capital campaign plan has been completed with the selection of a
consultant, Ter Molen, Watkins and Brandt. An audit of our development
and alumni office is their first order of business.
- Determine priorities and initiatives to address concerns related
to diversity.
This objective was not completed during this school year but will be
completed in Fall 2006. The delay is attributed to a slower than
expected outcome for deciding upon an experienced external consultant.
Interviews for a diversity consultant were completed in the fall,
and the Director selected Prexy Nesbitt, with the assistance of a
committee of parents and teachers who participated in the interviews.
Mr. Nesbitt began on January 15 and was in our schools on a weekly
basis for the rest of school year. He met with individuals and groups
from the Laboratory Schools community and is now in the process of
formulating recommendations. Supplementing his recommendations will be
data collected from surveys that will be completed by members of the
schools community.
- Complete on-going bathroom renovations and projects associated
with the acquisition of Judd Hall.
The bathroom renovations in Belfield Hall and four bathrooms in the
High School were completed in time for schools to open in September
2005. The lower level of Judd Hall was painted, cleaned, and partially
renovated during Summer 2005 and now houses the High School journalism
program and the Information Systems office. Access to the High School
cafeteria has been reestablished. The Office of Admission and the
Office of Development and Alumni Relations were relocated to the
first floor of Judd Hall. Four classrooms on Judd's first floor were
turned over to the High School and are used by the World Language Department.
|
