Our Wildwood, Summer 2017, Volume 41

WHEN PARENTS DREAM One of the many outcomes of that generative process almost 20 years ago was a document—a manifesto of sorts—called When Parents Dream . One hundred and twenty parents—some of them still very involved in the life of the school today—documented what one might expect to be included in a comprehensive description of a college preparatory K-12 school. Without mention of the 21st century skills that were so often the topic of conversation a decade later, they envisioned a school that would go beyond the norm. They imagined how they’d want a K-12 Wildwood School graduate to be described and created lists of those qualities, which were then generally considered “beyond the scope” of school. That group of 120 said that Wildwood graduates should:

Have a work ethic Get the big picture Be effective communicators Think for themselves Work as a team

Transition effectively to new environments Not judge success by where they go to college Manage their time effectively Be physically active and fit Be competent learners, academically prepared for college . GROWTH AND ESTABLISHMENT

Our Wildwood /Summer 2017 12/13

Joining the work in 2007, I didn’t yet understand enough about the school to see that we were—according to one of many models describing the life cycle of a startup—in a full-on startup phase! Those 120 parents joined with trustees and current and past colleagues to see the K-12 Wildwood through its “seed and development” phase, and they had, in the years before I arrived, launched the endeavor and sent the first four small classes of students off to college. Some of those who contributed to the expansion moved on to other schools and other projects. I hope they remember that time fondly, and I hope those of us who continue to serve children and steward Wildwood make them proud. When my predecessor, Hope Boyd, arrived at Wildwood, the school served just under 200 students in K-6 on the elementary campus. Having grown rapidly in the four years that preceded me, Wildwood enrolled 700 students in 2007, my first year. In the intervening decade, our K-12 enrollment has increased to 760. We expect to grow a bit more in the coming years. Talking with people who knew Wildwood School before I arrived—and asking them to consider the school’s strengths and stretches over time—yielded some common themes. Parents with children enrolled during my early years spoke of how much they valued the philosophies that informed our work with students, yet acknowledged that practice wasn’t as consistent as it is now. Systems, policies, coordination, and consistency have expanded and evolved in ways that community members appreciate and value. Most who have known the school over time celebrate the expansion of two programs that are central to our ethos: multiculturalism and outreach. The introduction of a K-12 Multicultural Leadership Team and faculty-led scope and sequence work that identified a dynamic, spiraling curriculum to address issues of equity and justice have been transformative. The Outreach Center, introduced when Wildwood School expanded in 2000, has grown tremendously, as highlighted separately in this issue of Our Wildwood . We have expanded the scope beyond a relatively narrow focus on building small learning communities in charter schools so that the range of Wildwood’s outreach programming now includes public and independent schools around the world.

“Important decisions are made in a more thoughtful manner than they used to be. Hiring, too, is more equitable and fair.”

FACULTY MEMBER

“Commitment to diversity and multiculturalism was a ‘feelings’ level commitment, but it’s shifted toward action, structure, infrastructure in beautiful ways. It’s not perfect, but we are keeping at it.”

FACULTY MEMBER