This is a big topic of conversation at our school, and so many others.
The right age to give a child their first cellphone is really up to you. Age isn’t as important as your kid’s maturity level, their ability to follow rules at home and school, and their sense of responsibility, as well as your own family’s needs.
At Seven Hills, we often say to students “when you have a choice, be kind…” This is a great distillation of the “why.”
There’s a difference between nice and being kind—even our bodies recognize the distinction. Kindness not only pours a lot of good into the world, but it’s also good for one’s own health.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/13/health/nice-vs-kind-difference-wellness/index.html
I am here in Africa for only the second time in my life, the second time in 12 months, as it turns out, preparing for a personal challenge to climb Africa’s tallest mountain. It is sunrise. I am listening to the sounds of Africa waking up. It is magical.
The other thing that I am celebrating is David Brooks’ Op-Ed. It is a walking advertisement for the Whole Child Education we espouse at The Seven Hills School.
“I have learned something profound along the way. Being openhearted is a prerequisite for being a full, kind, and wise human being. But it is not enough. People need social skills. The real process of, say, building a friendship or creating a community involves performing a series of small, concrete actions well: being curious about other people; disagreeing without poisoning relationships; revealing vulnerability at an appropriate pace; being a good listener; knowing how to ask for and offer forgiveness; knowing how to host a gathering where everyone feels embraced; knowing how to see things from another’s point of view.“
On this day, in this part of the world, against the backdrop of immense human suffering in Israel, Gaza, and Ukraine, juxtaposed with the fervent, unproductive divisions in our own government, this writing is a beacon.
Read it once. Read it twice. Know that this is what our children need if they will do a better job at leading, governing, and stewarding than we have done.
Thank you, Mr. Brooks.
I am not sure why it has taken me a year to get back to this blog. A year ago I was preparing for my sabbatical and planning to take time away, during a school year, for the first time in my 35-year independent school career. I was also very focused on writing during that sabbatical, and after. Which I did. But not here. I have no explanation. But, here I am back at the start of my 36th year in independent schools in the New York TriState area or the San Francisco Bay area.
On this 22nd anniversary of September 11, 2001, I feel contemplative. It feels like just yesterday that we were all navigating a typical and gorgeous Tuesday morning in Westchester County, NY, just north of the city. Our Parents Association was meeting in the cafeteria. We were in the second week of classes since school never starts before Labor Day on the East Coast. In fact, it was probably only the fourth day of actual classes that morning. In this sleepy commuter suburb of New York there were zero degrees of separation between the events unfolding in lower Manhattan and our school community: spouses of employees, parents of students, siblings, neighbors, cousins, they were all connected in some way.
I remember sitting in utter disbelief watching the news, trying to comprehend the magnitude of the events, while also ministering to colleagues looking for family, and watching parents come in and eyeball their children during the school day. Some brought them home, but many did not. Despite multiple losses in the community, we had 100% attendance on September 12. Parents felt school was the safest place for their children to be, where they knew we would not allow access to news and where children could just be children, doing their jobs of attending school.
That is the ultimate promise of an independent school: that children will be known and loved for who they are. IT helped us then. It still helps us today.
May we never forget that day.
School is a community, a common place to gain relationships. School is for social interactions and learning to become an active member of society.
Most grown-ups believe that school is only for learning back-to-back. They don’t understand the parts that build character for us teens. They don’t understand that school is where we grow and learn to express ourselves. The things we go through are like the practice tests for what comes next. Kendal Erving, 15, sophomore
I love what this series of essays and statements say about education right now in this country. At Seven Hills, we know why we exist. It’s in our mission, our creed and our Seven Beliefs!
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/articles/learning
Common sense media always has some back to school advice for families; in addition, we suggest that parents help get their children school-schedule ready! Ease into changes in routines, shifting meal and bed times to reflect schedule during the school year. At Seven Hills, we are eager and ready for our children returning next week!
At Seven Hills, we really do help students with their struggles. As young as first grade, our students learn that mistakes make your brain grow and are a natural part of the learning process.
But many educators and learning scientists say that now, as students look to rebuild academic confidence, is a crucial moment for teachers and parents to step back when learning gets hard and to be explicit that the challenge offers rewards.
While we were on break last week, Russia invaded the Ukraine. It is a lot for adults to process, let alone try and make understandable to children. Helping them make sense of the realities of war can be daunting. Here are a list of resources, first offered by the Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS) that could help in this endeavor.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RPP5dtpl6C5VbvVHHGGrp_is7Ri4Kysyt3N-XqO20rQ/edit
This certainly makes the case for vaccinating our students and having more opportunities open up, especially at school…
What we mean about a little bit of “arrested development” in School Year Three of the Pandemic
Head's Up, Kathleen McNamara 