From the Head: Welcome to the 2019-2020 School Year

Dear Aidan Community,

Welcome, and welcome back! I hope you all had summers that were both exhausting and relaxing. I am guessing that all of you are looking forward to being back on a regular schedule as much as I am.

School administrators have a way of annually fooling themselves into thinking that everything will be slower in the summer. In reality, there’s much to do in order to tie up the school year that’s just finished, and even more to do in preparation for the school year to come. Much of the work is palpable, and I hope the physical changes around campus catch your eye. The deep clean this year was deeper than usual, and it shows. Many spaces have been refreshed with fresh coats of paint, cabinetry, back splashes and furniture. We’ve added a beautiful new kitchen area to Sweet Gum classroom and now have two rapid water bottle filling stations. The façade of the building needed some panels repaired, and this led to a new paint job that matches our pillars. Less visible is the hours of administrative work that go into making sure systems, policies and protocols are all good to go.

In preparation for the coming year, we held our annual Faculty and Staff Retreat off-campus on August 23rd. In addition to getting (re-)acquainted with our staff, we also get a lot of work done. The Retreat is an opportunity to go over who everybody is, and how to get things done internally. We review our emergency plans and important items from our Employee Handbook. We talk a lot about “traditions and transitions” so that we can all reflect on what we hold to be the core of our school as we look at things at the school that are changing. This year’s meeting featured a great visitor from Folio Collaborative, our online professional evaluation and growth program, who spoke with us and workshopped with our faculty on how to create professional development goals by asking “beautiful questions.”

As of this year, all of our classrooms will be using Transparent Classroom. This is an online database that was developed by a Montessori teacher and her husband. It is widely used by Montessori schools to track, document, and report out on student progress. Each year, we have introduced this program to a different level to try out, then implemented it in the following year. As of this year, all of our classrooms will be using Transparent Classroom, the benefits of which are many, including more easily understood progress reports and better tracking of student progress from level to level.

Not new, but returning this year, is the Montessori Model United Nations.This is a spectacular program for our Upper Elementary students. It’s a “big work” that requires the students to spend a significant part of the year understanding the challenges of another country on the global stage, and it ultimately brings them to the General Assembly of the UN in New York to make proposals in that country’s best interests. It’s quite an undertaking for young students, and Aidan students are well constituted for such a challenge.

Volunteerism at Aidan is strong, and we are very happy that our Auction co-chairs, Chloe Hawn and Paige Janes, stepped up to their positions before last school year was over, and all room parents are in place prior to the start of the school year. The Parents Association leadership, co-chaired by Zoya Davis and Jenny Nuber, has already had its first meeting of the year, and there will be much opportunity for community get togethers this year.

On September 17th, between 8:30 and 9:30 AM, we’ll be holding “Coffee and Conversations” in the church auditorium. If you are able to attend, please stop by. This is an open forum where I will be happy to discuss any of the above or anything that might come up. This is our fourth year doing this, and I learn a lot from all of you who attend. I hope to see you there.

I look forward to seeing all of you at Coffee and Conversations, Parent Association Meetings, Back to School Night, the Fall Festival, and myriad other events that will take place this year. Again, welcome to the 2019-2020 school year and I hope you are all as enthusiastic about the coming year as I am.

Sincerely,

Kevin Clark
Head of School