Our Wildwood, Winter 2019, Volume 44

DEAR FRIENDS A Letter from Landis

Sophie described the moment when she realized that the Habits we’d so diligently encouraged had, indeed, become second nature as she reviewed a draft of a paper. Reading her own work critically, she recounted thinking that she needed to incorporate other perspectives in making her argument, as well as support her position with more evidence. Then she delved back in to improve her work. Sophie shared the story with characteristic wit and a spirit of appreciation for both the content and the skills she’d learned over the course of her 13 years at Wildwood, wisely noting that she wasn’t always conscious of the lessons she’d taken with her. Evidence, one of the many evolving skills and Habits we teach, is also a useful tool for the adults in our community. Evidence informs all we do at Wildwood, as the stories and articles in this issue of Our Wildwood outline. Research and evidence inform the structure of our internship program, featured on page 18. Evidence of the positive impact of Structured Word Inquiry to students’ mastery of the English language led to its introduction and expansion here at Wildwood, as described on page 12. Similarly, our student athletes’ success, as outlined on page 22, is evidence that Wildwood’s longstanding balanced and healthy approach to athletics provides our scholar-athletes with exactly the skills that selective college programs seek.

There’s sometimes a funny thing that happens when someone hears, “progressive.” We all bring our own experiences and understandings to the word and can often apply definitions of progressive to Wildwood that may align with other schools but that don’t necessarily characterize ours. The parent of two K-12 alumni and I were on an admissions panel together in January when a prospective parent asked a question about the intersection of “progressive” and “college preparatory.” He framed his question in a way that suggested the two weren’t always an easy fit. Debriefing with the alumni parent afterward (yes, to all the Wildwood alumni reading this, we debriefed!), she and I shared stories—evidence, really—of how inextricably linked progressive and college preparatory are in the 21st century. in developing best practice— is college preparatory in this century. Our work should rely on everything we can know about teaching and learning so we can utilize that knowledge to structure delivery of content and mastery of skills in ways that will prepare students for college, work, and life. Not only are progressive and college preparatory an easy fit, they are one and the same in today’s world. This winter issue of Our Wildwood focuses on the theme of “evidence,” one of the seven Habits of Mind and Heart that provided the organizing framework for the development of the middle and upper school program 20 years ago. One of my earliest memories of getting to know Wildwood was a dinner conversation with alumna Sophie Ragir ’07, who was an undergraduate student at Barnard. I remember that dinner fondly. Her reflection on her first year of college helped me better understand the essence of Wildwood School. The reality is this: Wildwood’s specific brand of progressive —the intersection of research and our own experience

Enjoy this issue of Our Wildwood. We are proud to share it with you.

With warm regards,

Landis Green Head of School

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OWW WINTER 2019