On Monday, February 10, 2014, the Superintendent’s Task Force for Middle Level Education‘s recommendations will be made public at the Board of Education Meeting! Since October, 2013, nearly 140 members of the community worked together on issues of immediate concern with respect to educational programming for students in grades 6-8 in our District. Sub-committees were Social Emotional Learning, Gifted/Tracking, World Languages, Fine Arts, Exploratories, and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). Committee members were students, parents, non-parent community members, teachers, administrators, and members of the Board of Education. At our meeting on Monday we will share the committee recommendations as well as the administration’s recommendations to the Board for 2014-2015 and beyond.

From a letter I sent to the members of the Task Force: “…

Please know that all of the recommendations put forward were excellent and we gave all of them very careful consideration. It was a large and complicated puzzle we put together, and I believe that we have created a plan that will transform our schools, and the way that our teachers teach and our students learn. Our aim is to Engage, Inspire, and Empower students, staff, and community as we prepare schools and schooling for the future of our students – not in the image of our past – but in a new image.

At Monday’s meeting, there will be opportunities for community participation (you can view the Board’s process for community input), and I encourage your comments and questions at that time.”

In 2006, in a Time Magazine Article (excerpted below) I was struck by the subtle power of the commentary … schools in the 21st Century were still organized by and modeled on 19th Century standards, models, and structures. If we are to Engage, Inspire, Empower a new generation of leaders, it’s incumbent upon us to Transform – not Reform. It is incumbent upon us to focus on the future – the students’ future – not our past. It is incumbent upon us to CHANGE – and change wisely!

From Time Magazine – December 2006: “There’s a dark little joke exchanged by educators with a dissident streak: Rip Van Winkle awakens in the 21st century after a hundred-year snooze and is, of course, utterly bewildered by what he sees. Men and women dash about, talking to small metal devices pinned to their ears. Young people sit at home on sofas, moving miniature athletes around on electronic screens. Older folk defy death and disability with metronomes in their chests and with hips made of metal and plastic. Airports, hospitals, shopping malls–every place Rip goes just baffles him. But when he finally walks into a schoolroom, the old…” Read more: How to Bring Our Schools Out of the 20th Century – TIME http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1568480,00.html#ixzz2slQFzFVQ

Essentially, Rip Van Winkle immediately recognizes the school room – it, unlike nearly every other place he visits – is the SAME – unchanged by progress, unphased by growth, unaltered by time, unchanged! Our challenge and our charge is to create Student-Centered Change. I’m pleased, humbled, proud, and honored that the recommendations that will be brought forth on Feb. 10 to the Board will ensure that our 166 year old educational institution is on a trajectory of growth, change, and future focused transformation.

We can maintain “Clarissa’s Prairie” on Wilmot School’s property, we can value the great and many contributions of the Deerfield village founders and we can honor their legacy by moving our village schools forward and by engaging, inspiring, and empowering our youth toward THEIR future!

The video embedded below is a video clip that will be shown Monday night at the Board meeting. It is reflective of one of the recommendations for action and transformation. It depicts a Communication Media Arts Lab as part of the Exploratory Program in neighboring school district 112.