Our Wildwood, Summer 2017, Volume 41

I’m surrounded by reminders—evidence—that the spirit of the place our K-12 founding families envisioned is alive and well, as beautifully and simply stated in Noah Goldman’s commencement remarks last year. He said, “You forced me to confront my flaws—or rather, stretches—and grow and change and improve. But that never reached a point where it became unhealthy or made me feel like I was losing a competition. You taught me I don’t have to compete with anyone but myself. You have a unique ability to foster kind, thoughtful, silly people who have enough humility to recognize that they don’t have to be perfect, only better than yesterday.”

Barnard College Bennington College

COMMITMENT TO REFLECTION

Bowdoin College Brown University Bucknell University California Institute of Technology Claremont McKenna College Colby College Colgate University Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science & Art Cornell University Deep Springs College Duke University Johns Hopkins University Massachusetts Institute of Technology Morehouse College Northwestern University Pomona College Purdue University Rhode Island School of Design Rice University Smith College

When talking with numerous parents of Wildwood graduates, one of the recurring themes I’ve heard is an observation that, while we have successfully maintained a commitment to the original design, we have also—true to the original idea—maintained a fierce commitment to reflecting on our work and seeing it as an iterative process. The Habits of Mind and Heart, project-based learning, and an emphasis on SEL (Social Emotional Learning) are just a few of a long list of stakes in the ground identified by those who preceded me at Wildwood and which those of us charged with caring for the school now earnestly maintain. Of our orientation toward growth and change that leads to innovation and evolving best practices, one of my senior elementary colleagues, who knew Wildwood long before its K-12 incarnation, noted: “We’re not a school that rests on laurels. We used to be OK with who we were and were somewhat reluctant to change—if open to new ideas—because . we were confident. But we’re even more open to new ideas now.” . From restructuring the elementary Pod program to Into the Wild in middle school, from compelling, expanded electives and the capstone Senior Seminar program to the introduction of the Institute Model in upper, the celebration of the intersection of confidence in what we do with a healthy orientation toward change is evidenced throughout . the program. . ENGAGED AND USEFUL WHEREVER THEY GO Author Frank Bruni wrote, “College is a singular opportunity to rummage through and luxuriate in ideas, to give your brain a vigorous workout and your soul a thorough investigation, to realize how very large the world is and to contemplate your desired place in it.” That group of 120 all those years ago were prescient when they set the goal that Wildwood graduates would “not judge success by where they go to college.” That sentiment—that students should choose the college that’s right for them—prevailed and has led to a gloriously diverse list of schools that has grown in both depth and breadth in the dozen or so years since our first class of 21 students received their diplomas. In the last decade, our students have gained admission to an array of large research universities, Ivy League and other highly selective schools, and small liberal arts colleges. They are, I am confident, honoring my charge to the class of 2014 to be engaged and be useful wherever they go.

Our Wildwood /Summer 2017 14/15

Stanford University Swarthmore College Tufts University Tulane University University of Chicago University of Michigan

University of Pennsylvania University of St. Andrews University of Texas, Austin University of Virginia Vassar College Virginia Tech Washington University in St. Louis Wellesley College Wesleyan University

Williams College Yale University

For a complete college acceptance list, visit wildwood.org/collegelist