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My now 8th grader has been at PDS since early elem.  I was attracted due to the social-justice, progressive ed focus with strong social-emotional focus, relative to other schools.  I just felt that we would feel at home here.

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In this unique time, I'd like to see Remote Learning develop into a more robust, interactive, engaging program.  Would like to see more true social-emotional programming and better support for kids with learning issues.
More focus on Curriculum that tracks subject matter across the grade/age span, with oversight. (7th gr Spanish and Science in 2019-20...bad/sad)

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Hold onto your hat?

I get the sense you don't need advice, but we could use yours... I think we are very ready for stability, real leadership, inspiration, courage, energy, honesty/transparency, humanity, deep understanding...
Insert Mary Oliver, Pablo Neruda, Audre Lorde or David Whyte poem here.

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From a small focus, I'd like to see the 8th graders finish strong.  7th grade was a tough year, not just due to larger external influences, but also some real weaknesses in the school program...hoping they can come together and feel the joy of learning and the best of Park Day before graduation.  Of course, wondering how we can revive school under the weight of Shelter and how to make school a place of true social justice, not just lip-service, especially now as we are called, once again, to live the questions daily.

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Can we...bring back great s*x ed (Julia Kaplan (?) had it down and we sacrificed it this past year). Can you please offer educ. for MS on Suicide Prevention.  Haven't seen it yet and it's important.

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https://gung.smugmug.com/PDS

"parkday" to access

- Dara
Mom of Marianne/8th

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Sara Sheaffer caught this wonderful moment when the entire school was on recess -- 6th graders giving piggy backs to their 4th grade siblings. (The middle pair are 6th grade twins.) I love that Cassandra is in the background because she IS Park Day. HAVE FUN this year!!

- Dara
Mom of Marianne/8th

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I asked her this question because I don't feel that it's necessarily about my mind, but what's on her mind. Her answer in 2-words: "High school."

In more words: She wants to feel academically prepared for high school.  She felt the 7th grade ended on a bit of a whimper. We know that shelter-in-place played a huge roll in this. She is hoping for more academic productive struggle.

Thanks,
Dara
Mom of Marianne/8th

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What is your favorite sweet treat?

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It would be great if Park Day could make more explicit and strengthen its K-8 through line. Both our kids started in K and we have certainly gained so much from that! There's lots of research explaining the benefits of kids going K-8 together.

And starting middle school later (9:30a? 10a?) would be superb. There's an abundance of research on that, too.

Thanks,
Dara
Mom of Marianne/8th

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the beauty of the campus - the lush gardens and trees, the openness and liveliness, the amazing light in the Palm Building; the teachers (!!!) and administration; social justice curriculum; progressive education; 

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the beauty of the campus - the lush gardens and trees, the openness and liveliness, the amazing light in the Palm Building; the teachers (!!!) and administration; social justice curriculum; progressive education; 

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no grades, diversity of student body and parent socio-economics; not showy/flashy.

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continuity in curriculum from K-8 -- knowing when our kids graduate what sets them apart from other elementary and middle schools? Celebrating our strengths; celebrating our faculty and administrators; communicating clearly and effectively with parents; explaining the importance of donating to PDS and setting expectations at all levels; properly celebrating parents' participation in the life of PDS

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continuity in curriculum from K-8 -- knowing when our kids graduate what sets them apart from other elementary and middle schools? Celebrating our strengths; celebrating our faculty and administrators; communicating clearly and effectively with parents; explaining the importance of donating to PDS and setting expectations at all levels; properly celebrating parents' participation in the life of PDS

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listen, listen, listen and don't make any promises to anyone; stay true to who YOU are! keep expressing your love for our children, don't be afraid to make bold moves that you believe are right for the school; lean on your faculty, staff, and Board

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listen, listen, listen and don't make any promises to anyone; stay true to who YOU are! keep expressing your love for our children, don't be afraid to make bold moves that you believe are right for the school; lean on your faculty, staff, and Board

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Top of mind is everything related to the impact of Covid-19 on PDS: Do we have the financial resources to support our faculty/staff, and to support families through enough financial aid? If not, what will it take? How is enrollment? What are we doing this fall to ensure that Park Day remote learning is effective and is competitive with other East Bay private schools?  ALSO - how do we retain our faculty/staff? 

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Top of mind is everything related to the impact of Covid-19 on PDS: Do we have the financial resources to support our faculty/staff, and to support families through enough financial aid? If not, what will it take? How is enrollment? What are we doing this fall to ensure that Park Day remote learning is effective and is competitive with other East Bay private schools?  ALSO - how do we retain our faculty/staff? 

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What are your goals for your first year here at PDS, and your 2nd-5th years?

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What are your goals for your first year here at PDS, and your 2nd-5th years?

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We found such a beautiful campus that was peaceful, and where kids were playing and laughing. There seemed to be a lot of joy..... a wonderful environment for an incoming 6th grader who is very playful and young-minded. Josie was such a warm and thoughtful person; we gravitated to her right away. When we toured Park Day, what stood out to us was the collaborated curriculum across several classes and the teacher's enthusiasm for unique ways to teach and for their students to learn.

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If students are allowed back on campus (Covid-19) how will the smaller groups be chosen? Please have transparency with families about this very important issue. 

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If students are allowed back on campus (Covid-19) how will the smaller groups be chosen? Please have transparency with families about this very important issue. 

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on this question are making me nervous since I have an incoming 7th grader. And we are fairly new to Park Day. I echo the previous posts - 1)I hope that my student can come away from Park Day with a strong sense of himself and his values, but also be prepared academically for high school. 2)I am concerned for the huge turnover of faculty/staff since we toured Park Day in 2018. 3)And if we need to continue learning online,what can done about making sure the students are really engaged?

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The campus, the teachers and the community

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The campus, the teachers and the community

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Double-down on leadership and vision.  While individual classrooms can be amazing, there's a lack of coherence and overall  continuity in the middle school. This was particularly seen during remote learning, but is systemic  

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Double-down on leadership and vision.  While individual classrooms can be amazing, there's a lack of coherence and overall  continuity in the middle school. This was particularly seen during remote learning, but is systemic  

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I hope to see a stronger focus on rigorous academics in the middle school. I hope the school will hold the middle school students accountable to high standards of learning and getting them to feel like they are prepared for high school. I think this is especially important if we continue with remote learning. The spring remote learning program was very disappointing for the middle school.

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Don’t be afraid to make the changes you think are necessary. You were hired for your experience and expertise.

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Top of my mind is worrying what will happen if kids can’t return to campus. We were deeply disappointed in the academic program this past spring. I am worried about the money we are spending on this education if the programming isn’t dramatically improved in the fall.

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History, Mission and Environment felt aligned with our values and wishes for our daughter

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History, Mission and Environment felt aligned with our values and wishes for our daughter

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- Leader in Progressive Education
- Very seasoned teaching staff,  many who'd been part of founding the school or here for 20-30+ years
- Social Justice commitment
- Beautiful campus
- Also, alumni and enrolled families we knew and respected

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It is imperative that Park Day reevaluate the virtual learning program.  I can not express enough how disappointed I am in the middle school program this past year. I have had a child go through another independent middle school program and I can honestly say, Park Day is so far behind I feel like I am not getting what I am paying for. How are our students going to thrive in high school when their peers are much more prepared. Park Day needs to focus its teachers on teaching.  We all have struggles working from home, but teaching is their job and somehow that got lost the last three months of of the school year. Our students can not afford any more lost school hours.

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Retain Excellent Teachers, Innovate on Remote Learning, Strengthen Academics

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Retain Excellent Teachers, Innovate on Remote Learning, Strengthen Academics

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We are very concerned about teacher attrition and rapid turnover--especially the loss of very experienced educators and the stability they brought to the fabric of the school community.

We'd love to see Remote Learning (if needed) get more synchronous and rigorous for older students and allow for more of the social-emotional development that happens in the classroom.

For remote learning, if needed, perhaps teachers could come to school to teach from their classrooms (with kids at home) so it is more clear that we're maintaining an academic structure. Note: we probably need to invest in support for teachers with young children who may not have their own child care options available if we have to shelter in place again.

Some subjects need to be strengthened to be competitive, for example foreign language study. I want my 7th grader to be ready for high school when it's time to go there.

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Ask questions, listen to the answers, build channels for transparency, but also -- don't be afraid to lead and diverge from traditions. We are thrilled to have you here and are ready to go where you lead. 

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Ask questions, listen to the answers, build channels for transparency, but also -- don't be afraid to lead and diverge from traditions. We are thrilled to have you here and are ready to go where you lead. 

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Also, maybe watch your own boundaries and find scalable ways to communicate with families. I think past heads of school felt like our community demands a lot of face time and it's not sustainable. Take care of yourself!

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The world: Layering education and social development on top of Covid-19, Racial Justice/Civil Rights, Election 2020

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The world: Layering education and social development on top of Covid-19, Racial Justice/Civil Rights, Election 2020

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How do we form and support healthy cohorts of kids and families and partner together to maintain health and safety while also providing as much normalcy and academic quality as possible? How do we teach our children to be change makers? How can we build ties as a community if we're not on campus?

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How can we support YOU in this transition? What would you like our children to know about you?

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How can we support YOU in this transition? What would you like our children to know about you?

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Don't be afraid to make changes. There is a small amount of the community with a very loud voice and often times this is the only voice that gets heard. My hope is that you can set the tone for the school and lead. Changes need to be made and I hope you can  make these while also keeping the foundation of the school strong.

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How will families be involved in cohort formation? Can we be surveyed or have input? For example, if we have an at-risk relative or are at-risk ourselves, can we request that this be factored into cohort formation?

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How will families be involved in cohort formation? Can we be surveyed or have input? For example, if we have an at-risk relative or are at-risk ourselves, can we request that this be factored into cohort formation?

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What changes will be made the to virtual learning program? How will PDS step up their virtual learning program so that kids are spending a full day "at school". As a parent I do not need my child occupied with busy work, I need them doing actual work that prepares them for high school and teaches them skills for academic success.

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Just as advisory groupings and learning groupings are made by the teachers and leadership, will you be keeping this same format for the cohorts? I feel very strongly that these groupings be made to set the students up for the best learning group possible, and not be determined by parent requests or parent committee. When I read messages about parents wanting to have input in these possible cohorts it makes me very uneasy. Parents should NOT be determining these groupings or even have input. How will you handle these different view points the parents have?

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Math and Science Combination for 7th & 8th

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Math and Science Combination for 7th & 8th

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If Math and Science are combined into a single teacher, how will both subjects be taught well, and still meet educational standards?  I'd like to make sure there is clear curriculum oversight and previously defined benchmarks and criterion on whether the new system is working.  There's something that seems incongruous about breaking out English and Social Studies (which better aligns with High School curriculum) while at the same time combining Math and Science (which moves further away from High School curriculum).

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The promise of progressive education, teaching made to fit the child, not trying to make the child fit into one inflexible teaching mode. Learning projects bringing together several subjects of study, the way life really works, not keeping education divided into separate compartments. Ilya's Innovation Workshop.
The pledge to supporting and teaching social and environmental justice, the social-emotional focus, the wonderful warmth and welcoming from families. The wonderful calming, centering, soothing campus gardens and chicken coop were the icing on the cake. Oh, and the coffee cart.

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Leadership. Returning to the mission and vision. I feel it has been lost in the past 2 years. Walk the walk, there's too much empty talking, it doesn't mean anything when some kids still experience injustice and feel they don't have a voice.

Retain quality teaching staff. My student learned absolutely nothing in 7th grade Science and Spanish except that some kids get to use their smartphones while others dont, and some teachers will break the rules about smartphones and give you candy.

Making sure our middle schoolers are beyond prepared for highschool. I feel there is quite a lot to catch up on in one single year of 8th grade given the deficiencies of last year, and the distancing and possible remote learning measures will surely add challenge to this. It will take strong leadership to tackle this.

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Be You! Be the person you have presented to us, reassure us you are genuine. Please do not change in an effort to please, we love the person you showed us you are. We chose you because of the combination of your warmth, expertise and experience. You reach out to people, human to human. We believe you're not preoccupied with numbers and your priority is the students, not the budget (of course that's on your mind, but people come first). Include families, connect with parents - we are more than the money we pay. Something happened to the warm community feeling between staff, parents and students, and we want it back. We believe you can restore this. (no pressure...lol)

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Tom Little's book, "Loving Learning". When we first came to PDS, my son had always hated school but loved his new school. In the past couple years, he has reverted to hating school. Why is this? The school has changed, but not for the better.  I welcome change, when it brings us higher. The words of progressive education have become hollow memorizations. This will be my son's last year at PDS. I want so badly for him to rediscover the joy of learning in a truly progressive environment, in the place that PDS was when we had arrived.

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How will you possibly ensure us that students are truly being kept at safe distances, wearing masks when necessary, properly following all safety protocols? I have a hard time getting my child to comply with masking and distancing rules, and there's only one of him. I wonder how the school with manage this with all these students, who are flat out tired of all this and give eye rolls whenever asked to move apart, put on their mask, or disinfect something they just purchased?

On the last day of school, just before Shelter-In-Place, the school decided to go forward with the annual Read-a-thon. We were promised that students would remain at least 3 feet apart, and be spread out among several classrooms. I showed up to deliver a book my child had left at home and was horrified to see the entire grade crammed into one room with almost no ventilation, bodies in sleeping bags snuggled up against each other, all breathing in each other's faces. There's no way I could have extracted my child at this point. Had I know this promise would be broken, I wouldn't have brought him there in the first place. I wonder if we could be reassured there will be better control when school returns to campus.

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Please do not view feedback or questions of concern as attacks on faculty or staff. Hear parent feedback as genuine concerns coming from a place of love. Our priority is our students, and teacher egos must be strong enough to see that it's always about the students, not the teacher whom we want to work WITH, not against. We do not want our concerns for our children's education to be hijacked into conflict with faculty. This has happened and it should be something to be aware of so that this attitude can be transformed into collaboration.