Like many independent school leaders, I think a lot about the place of our schools in today's world. All kinds of new school models have appeared in recent years: charter schools, for-profit entities like BASIS that focus on academics and testing to the exclusion of extracurricular and co-curricular activities, schools devoted to personalized learning, and virtual schools. Sal Khan of Khan Academy has founded a laboratory school in Silicon Valley. Some of these educational philosophies and pedagogies have more merit than others, but whatever we think of them, we need to recognize that families have far more choices. How do we distinguish ourselves in this competitive environment? Academics obviously sit firmly at the foundation of all we do, and we unquestionably give our students exemplary academic preparation for college. But many other schools also do that, including our local public schools. Strong academics are sine qua non. Moreover, because we expect our graduates to "make a difference in a complex and changing world," their Holton experiences need to provide more than superior academic preparation.
↧