Empowering a community of passionate learners
Upper School Archive
March 21, 2016
Taking Care of Ourselves and Each Other
“The world doesn’t care what you know. What the world cares about is what you do with what you know.” -Tony Wagner A Look Back: Two words: C4C! Our amazing Brian Herrick led our dynamic students, parents and faculty through the talents of SFDS! Starting as an opportunity to build... » read moreThe Power of Perseverance
The week leading up to high school admission letters, there was laughter...and tears...joy and frustration. Despite the wave of adult emotions (smile)...our students persevered. Eighth grader letting us know that she gives the “thumbs up” to our amazing staff! Seventh grade science... » read moreClassroom Visits and New Learning
Last week I observed more great learning, leading, and community support happening at SFDS. I’m continuing to visit classrooms and providing lengthier observations and feedback to my wonderful faculty. I am always inspired by the teaching, the receptivity to feedback, and the little... » read moreA Week of Collaboration, Risk-taking, Reflection, and Engagement
We began the week with a collaborative and engaging faculty meeting led by the People of Color Conference ('POCC') working group. Our wonderful SFDS faculty participated in difficult dialogue and thinking around diversity and race...It was inspiring to see people developing trust and to hear... » read more
February 20, 2016
My First Grandparents and Special Friends' Day
Dr. Ruth M. Bissell, Upper School Head – Over the past two weeks we have had many opportunities to engage with our parents and extended community. We began with an upper school tech coffee led by Christopher Sokolov, our director of technology and 21st century learning: Parents and a few grandparents asked a broad range of questions... » read moreGetting Some Pep in Our Step!
Dr. Ruth Bissell, Upper School Head – "The best thing parents can do is to teach their children to love challenges, be intrigued by mistakes, enjoy effort, and keep on learning."- Carol Dweck A Review of the Week: On Monday we revitalized a pep-rally to cheer on our SFDS teams...our students played their hearts out in robotics,... » read more
February 03, 2016
New Year, New Blog
Dr. Ruth Bissell, Upper School Head – Welcome to the Upper School Update, a forum for the SFDS upper school administration, faculty, and program leaders to share the latest news on our young scholars. NEW VIDEO! Click here to watch a brief video introduction from our Upper School Head, Dr. Bissell. Upper School Week... » read more