Our Wildwood, Volume 47

Be of service to students and educators both within and beyond the boundaries of Wildwood.

SHARING OUR EXPERTISE WITH THE WORLD The fourth pillar of the Framework speaks to Wildwood School’s promise to be of service to students and educators both within and beyond the boundaries of Wildwood. “When Wildwood opened its middle and upper campus in 2000, our Board of Trustees had a parallel vision of creating a lab for the future of education that’s devoted to sharing our approach with others in both independent and public schools,” said Dr. Joanie Banks-Hunt, director of upper school. “This vision is predominately fulfilled through the work of the Wildwood Outreach Center, which saw significant demand for its services during the pandemic.” Looking ahead, Wildwood plans to re-envision the Outreach Center to house professional development for Wildwood and non-Wildwood faculty, and maximize opportunities for the exchange of research—and evidence-based ideas and practices on teaching and learning. In addition to serving the educator audience, Wildwood also seeks to develop new parent/guardian education programming that provides tools for good parenting, demystifies innovative pedagogies, and fosters healthy school-family partnerships. “We have created learning experiences that students can benefit from during and after their time at Wildwood, and similarly, beneficial experiences for educators and parents/guardians,” Dr. Banks-Hunt said. “As we look

beyond COVID-19, part of our work will be in expanding these experiences to others across the globe.” This pillar tasks Wildwood with considering how more robust programming—Community Involvement, Internships, the Institutes, Systems Thinking, the ICI program—might provide enhanced opportunities for constructive connection and service in Los Angeles and beyond. BOLDLY LOOKING AHEAD If these priorities seem bold, that’s on purpose. Each pillar is designed to ensure Wildwood emerges from the pandemic stronger than ever. “Global events are accelerating change at head spinning speeds,” Susan said. “We can’t afford to be generic.” Rather than a checklist, Susan said, the beauty of the Framework is that it gives Wildwood the freedom to adapt to the world as it evolves—a world we might not be able to imagine even as we plan for it. Dr. Banks-Hunt added, “No matter what the future holds, with this Framework, we’re really putting a stake in the ground—one that will be appreciated by our community, and also by our peer schools. “We have work to do, and we’re excited to do it.” W

To read the full Framework for the Future of Education, visit http://www.wildwood.org/frameworkforthefuture.

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OWW SPRING 2022