Enjoy the women’s history month episode of The Ravens Nest Podcast.

Enjoy the inau­gural episode of The Ravens Nest Podcast.

Enjoy the second episode of The Ravens Nest Podcast.

Mid-October is a time of tran­si­tion, when the novelty of school has worn off and it may seem like every­one else’s child is succeed­ing or achiev­ing some new goal and ours may strug­gle. School is for the strug­gle. School is for the chal­lenge and the growth. Skilled teach­ers work as guides that help students and parents find their own path.

If you talk to people online and they think you’re out of touch, they’ll say you need to touch grass! It’s true. We need to get in touch. We need to see what else is out there, under­stand what we value, and under­stand the value of others and find ways to commu­ni­cate across differences.

A preschool-12 envi­ron­ment offers a unique oppor­tu­nity to work with fami­lies across a studen­t’s entire youth. Students and parents are always looking for peers and mentors to help them through the expe­ri­ence. We all need people to look up to and share notes with. This week we restarted our Buddies Program with the aim of build­ing these critical connections.

Progres­sive educa­tion focuses on ​“learn­ing by doing,” as opposed to memo­riz­ing. We encour­age students and teach­ers to think and do, rather than cram and forget. We know that learn­ing is not linear. We know that skills are devel­oped with appli­ca­tion in the real world and we know that every student learns in differ­ent ways at different speeds.

Waverly remains a school commit­ted to social justice educa­tion. This means support­ing and affirm­ing the most margin­al­ized members of the commu­nity, devel­op­ing programs to meet every members’ needs and helping students develop the skills to change our world for the better­ment of all. This goes beyond diver­sity and multi­cul­tur­al­ism and means that we help students under­stand their expe­ri­ences and the expe­ri­ences of others while helping them fight for what they believe is right.