What's inside?
Connections 2001 Find out who came and what a success the party was!
Student and faculty accomplishments Read the Lab People column to see what we've been up to.
New University liaison Meet Anne Robertson, a University administrator in charge of keeping connections strong with the Schools.
Lab Community A letter from the director
Rites of May Annual festival.
Learning differences Inspired by Mel Levine, teachers and administrators work to improve learning opportunities for students with learning differences.
Summer field studies This summer Lab students will work in Puerto Rico and the North Woods
Balliett spends year writing Blue Balliet has spent a year on leave of absence writing children's books as the Mary Williams Award winner
Lab Directions
A publication of the Laboratory Schools of the University of Chicago.
Lucinda Lee Katz, Director
Eileen Epstein, Director of External Affairs
Sarah Lehman, Assistant Director of Development
William Harms, Editor
Kerry Tulson, Web Design
Laboratory Schools
of the University of Chicago
1362 E. 59th St.
Chicago, IL 60637
(773) 702-9450
New mission and strategic plan create vision
Many members of Lab Community collaborated in process
After more than a year of thoughtful deliberation by a wide range of members of the Laboratory Schools community, the strategic planning process has led to a new mission statement, strategic plan, goals, and objectives to guide the Schools in the future. The Board of Directors has given its preliminary approval to the goals and objectives and will formally vote on the document at its May meeting. In March, the Board approved the mission statement. That statement recognizes the Schools' traditional interest in experience-based, rigorous education while valuing the importance of diversity and recognizing differences in student learning styles. "This is without a doubt one of the finest mission statements I have ever read," said Geoffrey Stone, Provost of the University. "It not only captures the essentials of the Schools' values, but it also charts a vision for the future." The mission statement went through numerous drafts by a committee of representatives from all areas of the Schools' community before completion and it reflects the careful attention that went into the whole process. Continued
Feldman named Academic Dean at U-High
Cathy Feldman, a teacher at Lab since 1973, has been named Academic Dean for University High School, effective this fall. In her new position, Feldman will chair the Curriculum Committee and serve on the Admissions Committee. She also will work on issues related to scheduling, advisory, the senior year experience, professional development, and technology. Her other duties will include oversight of testing and helping the counseling department with students with learning differences. "We are extremely pleased that Cathy will be joining us in an administrative capacity at the High School level," said Director Lucinda Lee Katz.
"Over the years, she has expressed a keen understanding of the needs of students. She has also shown leadership professionally by the contributions she has made to the teaching of mathematics nationally." Feldman has taught sixth grade through advanced high school mathematics and also has helped prepare textbooks for the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project, the nation's largest university-based mathematics curriculum program. "Most of my work has been on Transition Mathematics (a text that bridges arithmetic and algebra). I helped prepare both the first and second editions and I usually speak at summer and fall in-services about Transition Mathematics," she said. Feldman also worked on the first edition of the Algebra text for the series and has been a coordinator for UCSMP summer institutes. She is active in other professional activities and has spoken about mathematics throughout the country. Feldman received her B.S. from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, in 1969 and her M.S.T. from the University of Chicago in 1977. She began her teaching career in Los Angeles, where she taught one year before moving to Boynton Middle School in Ithaca, New York, where she taught from 1970 to 1973.
