Our Wildwood, Volume 53

25! K-12

FEATURE Celebrating 25 Years of K-12 “No good school is exactly the same from one year to the next.”

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— THEODORE R. SIZER, EDUCATION PHILOSOPHER AND REFORMER, FORMER DEAN OF THE HARVARD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

of School Landis Green. “Some schools hold fast to tradition, but Wildwood was never envisioned that way. The people who joined Wildwood early on wanted to be part of something new and dynamic and changing.” Education reformer Theodore R. Sizer, whose work shaped Wildwood’s upper grades, put it simply: “No good school is exactly the same from one year to the next.” And yet, Wildwood remains grounded in the core beliefs that have made it such a beloved school: students learn best when they’re active participants; a teacher’s primary role is to guide and coach students in their academic and intellectual growth; social-emotional learning (SEL) and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) are essential, not extra; research and brain science inform practices and their evolution; and students are expected to become kind, contributing, responsible citizens. “I hope everyone at Wildwood sees reason to be proud of and connect with how the institution has evolved and grown without losing the heart and soul of what everybody always loved about it,” Landis said. “Our school has evolved and it will continue to evolve—that’s how we prepare students for a future defined by change.”

Reflection is part of Wildwood’s ethos, and a starting point for learning and growth. Students continually consider who they are, what they think, how they feel, what they can do, and why—the key elements of our newly unveiled Portrait of a Lifelong Learner, which represents the integration and evolution of the elementary Life Skills and middle and upper school Habits of Mind and Heart. Faculty and staff engage in the same practice. “We’re always reflecting, individually and institutionally, on how we got here, why we do things a certain way, and where we might adjust,” said Associate Head of School Jaimi Boehm (P. ‘32, ‘34). In fact, the creation of the middle and upper school began with such questions. In the late 1990s, a group of passionate trustees, educators, and parents asked: Why should a Wildwood education end at sixth grade? That spirit of innovation, an openness to new ideas and a desire to always improve, has remained at the heart of the school’s culture for 54 years. Wildwood was never meant to stand still. “The whole world has evolved, and the most successful schools have evolved with it,” said Head

Construction takes place on the facade of the middle and upper campus (2001).

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