Our Wildwood, Volume 53

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Wildwood’s evolution over 54 years has not just benefited the Wildwood community; it has impacted independent and public education on a national and global scale.

25! K-12

STRENGTHENING K-12 COHESIVENESS Part of strengthening the cohesiveness of the K-12 community involved unifying the Life Skills and Habits to create the Portrait of a Lifelong Learner. This dramatic change came about as a result of reflection during the accreditation process a few years ago. The Habits of Mind and Heart that guided the middle and upper school from the beginning were: Connection, Perspective, Evidence, Convention (Mind) and Collaboration, Service to the Common Good, Ethical Behavior (Heart). At the K-6 level, the equivalent Life Skills informed the program, including: Integrity, Common Sense, Patience, Curiosity, Sense of Humor, Responsibility, Flexibility, Effort, Problem-Solving, Perseverance, Organizing, Tolerance, Initiative, and Interpersonal Skills, including respect, caring for others, cooperating, and making friends. Across the board, everyone at Wildwood expressed love and appreciation for those frameworks for teaching and learning; they are indeed still ingrained in the ethos of the school. “The Life Skills were core to our school culture and identity,” said Melanie Benefiel (P. ’17, ’21), who started as an elementary teacher in 2000 and is now an assistant director of elementary. “They were up in every classroom. You could ask a 5-year-old or a 10-year

old what Life Skill they were working on and they knew exactly what you were referring to. They knew their strengths and stretches in terms of those Life Skills.” And while the language may have changed, people feel the Life Skills and Habits have not gone away. “They have just evolved, and I think that is who we are. We look at ourselves and reflect on how to make things better—that’s always the goal,” Melanie said. Jaimi agreed this is also true in the upper grades. “We are still an incredibly collaborative school; we are still very interested in making space for different perspectives. So even though we are not talking about the Habits the same way, I don’t think those things are gone. “I feel my role is to try to hold up and strengthen those things that are the best of what Wildwood was, while also exploring and having vision for what Wildwood could be in the future.” A MODEL FOR EDUCATORS Wildwood’s evolution over five decades has not just benefited the Wildwood community; it has impacted independent and public education on a national and global scale. Wildwood was the first independent school to receive a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to fund the launch of its Outreach Program. That program has engaged thousands of teachers and school administrators in more than 25 states and 20 countries. Educators have participated in workshops that have guided them in developing their own DEIB frameworks, Advisory and project-based learning programs, Systems Thinking, and more. “That group that launched the venture in 1996 wanted Wildwood School to be about more than just serving the kids and families in their care,” Landis said. “They wanted a school they could envision to be a model for educators in other schools—especially public schools—so that more children could have the kinds of experiences that Wildwood students would have. “As the innovation continues, we’re doing just that.” W

Faculty and staff collaborate on developing the Portrait of a Lifelong Learner.

OWW SUMMER 2025

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