The Petroglyph Magazine, Fall + Winter 2021-22

PETROGLYPH THE ALEXANDER DAWSON SCHOOL FALL & WINTER 2022

The Alexander Dawson School:

Stronger Together

From the Head of School The Petroglyph is the magazine of The Alexander Dawson School at Rainbow Mountain.

Its Mission is to celebrate Dawson’s growth and the achievements of its students, alumni, and faculty. It is published twice a year.

EDITOR Megan Gray Chief Communications Officer

Dear Dawson Community, So much of Dawson’s communications this school year have focused on what is “new” in our approach toward education: a remodeled Design Lab, a new director of academic innovation and design, and a faculty professional development plan in support of ProjectBased Learning, just to name a few. And while each of these initiatives is newsworthy and responsive to the reality of a rapidly changing world, it is equally important to remember what has not changed: the power of our collective community.

The 2020-2021 school year was one unlike any other in the history of Dawson. We juggled the stress of our students’ colliding needs – academic, emotional, and physical – and parents were placed in the unfair position of having to prioritize all three. In January, we then suffered the tragic loss of a beloved eighth-grader. Yet, the one main constant that got us through the pain and challenges was the strength of our community.

Our throughline selection for 2021-2022 was an easy choice because “Stronger Together” perfectly depicts our community’s response to the trials and tribulations of the previous year. At a time when differences of opinion seem to divide our country, Dawson chooses to find unity in our shared beliefs and to celebrate the beauty of our individuality. We faced unimaginable adversity and came out the other side as a tighter community that discovered the power of agility, versatility, and immense kindness.

EDITOR AND CONTRIBUTOR Rachael Lachhwani Advancement Manager MARKETING Shea Phillips Marketing Communications & Events Manager HEAD OF SCHOOL Roxanne Stansbury ASSISTANT HEAD OF SCHOOL Andrew Bishop

CONNECT WITH US!

This Petroglyph issue features articles that will highlight some of the many intentional ways our community exhibits our “Stronger Together” mentality, as well as demonstrates how the Alexander Dawson community is uniquely shaped by this determined mindset. And each story reminds me that Dawson is the kind of school community I am incredibly proud to lead.

FACEBOOK @AlexanderDawsonSchool INSTAGRAM @dawson_bears

Roxanne Stansbury Head of School, The Alexander Dawson School

TWITTER @DawsonSchool

NOTICE OF CORRECTIONS The Alexander Dawson School makes every effort to compile accurate information in our publications. We have the following corrections from our 2020-21 Annual Report to note, and changes have been made to the online version on our website:

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Diamond Circle • David & Roxanne Stansbury - In honor of Grace Stansbury ‘19

Silver Circle • Joseph & Joanne Borini - In memory of Farrow J. Smith

Gold Circle • Goldman, Sachs & Co. Matching Gift Program

Scholarship Fund • Crescere Foundation

VIMEO vimeo.com/ alexanderdawsonschool ISSUU issuu.com/ alexanderdawsonschool YOUTUBE The Alexander Dawson School

The Alexander Dawson School Podcast Listen and subscribe on iTunes, Apple’s Podcast app, Google Play, and Spotify

On this page: This school year, Dawson’s throughline – an overall theme woven throughout the learning process that connects various concepts to one greater meaning or purpose – is Stronger Together. Our community celebrated its collective spirit, strength, resilience, and connectedness with a special school-wide Stronger Together Spirit Day on Friday, October 1. Students, faculty and staff, and families wore Dawson Stronger Together t-shirts in unity and received Stronger Together stickers and car magnets.

On the cover: Cover art by Kaden Hammond, Eighth Grade

Contents 4 | CHAMPIONS FOR CHANGE Dawson’s Commitment to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion 10 | DEMYSTIFING MODERN LEARNING The Philosophy Behind Dawson’s People, Program & Spaces 18 | THE CO-AUTHORS OF YOUR DAWSON STORY Dawson’s School Advancement Efforts 26 | BEAR DEN NEWS Dawson Athletics and Fall Semester Highlights 32 | PERSONALIZED INTERVENTION How this Aligns with Challenge Success

34 | STUDENT VOICES The Student-Centered Pillars of Middle School 36 | DAWSON ALUM PROFILE Blake Resnick, Class of 2013 40 | ANNUAL FUND GIVING Go “All In For Dawson” 42 | LEADERSHIP-LEVEL DONOR RECEPTION Thank You to Dawson’s 2020-21 Annual Fund Donors 44 | ARTISTS’ CORNER Teaching for Artistic Behavior

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School Community & Culture

Champions for Change: Dawson’s Commitment to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Roxanne Stansbury, Head of School

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I always remember our last all-school assembly (now a yearand-a-half ago), where we had a really good time and laughed a ton. Our faculty, administrators, and students participated in some friendly yet competitive athletic challenges. At the end of the assembly, everyone erupted in our traditional closing song, Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline. There was a chorus of voices and some hilarious dancing as everyone exited the Gym. I cling to that memory because it was a powerful moment when we experienced a collective sense of belonging.

The moments that create synergy within an organization lead to greatness. We are always Stronger Together.

Dawson’s Goal for Equity and Inclusion Collective effervescence is a term I included in my first communication of the school year when I described the overwhelming feeling of connectedness with others. At Dawson, we strive everyday to create a deep sense of belonging and connectedness for every member of our community. Dawson’s historic focus on building and sustaining a culture of belonging and inclusion is deeply ingrained in our school’s DNA. It is central to who we are, and we will never stop questioning the meaning of belonging or its importance within our community and the world at large.

One of our goals at Dawson is to work hard to ensure every individual who steps foot on our campus feels like a member and not a guest of our community. Developing an awareness and appreciation of our differences helps us to acknowledge, embrace, and celebrate the richness of our community and our culture of inclusiveness. Diversity and inclusion experts explain that diversity is receiving an invitation to a dance, equity is possessing the resources to attend, and inclusion is being asked to dance. At Dawson, we take every measure to confirm all community members are a part of the dance.

We have created equity goals that focus on the pursuit of fair treatment, access, opportunity, and advancement for all while striving to identify and eliminate barriers that prevent full participation. Our inclusion goals center on creating environments in which any individual or group is and feels welcomed, respected, and valued enough to participate.

our administrative model last May that would provide more perspective on the inclusionary needs of our community.

An Innovative Model for Inclusion In recent years, independent schools around our nation have responded to the racial reckoning and the needs of students by hiring a director of diversity. Last year, we held off from searching for a director and instead examined the unique needs of our community. In the end, our belief that inclusivity work is the job of everyone on our campus led us down an alternative path for identifying DEI roles. We opted for a team approach toward leading our campus in DEI work and launched an internal search for five diversity, equity, and inclusion ambassadors who could serve on the School’s main leadership teams.

Our DEI ambassadors went through a rigorous selection process and were chosen because of their devoted commitment to Dawson’s Diversity Statement and their willingness to examine and evaluate our culture through an inclusivity lens. In our efforts to build a community where each individual is included and treated equitably, our DEI ambassadors immediately began the work of intentionally cultivating an environment where students learn the essential skills and tools necessary to thrive in an ever-changing, interconnected, and globally diverse world.

Students as Thought Partners We consistently teach our students that the most important component of communication is listening, and Dawson models this belief by carving out the time and space for student voices. Student surveys, listening circles, and focus groups have shown that not all members of our community are being asked to dance. In the past year, we have committed to listening deeply, and in doing so, we’ve learned a lot. We’ve heard that some of the new students we eagerly welcomed to our school have struggled to feel like an insider. We learned that our efforts in diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice have not necessarily translated to acceptance. And we learned that the lived experiences of our students, faculty, and families vary drastically. We, therefore, made a structural change to 5

Beginning in August of the 2021-2022 school year, the following employees were appointed to the Strategic Direction team, the Advancement team, the People and Culture team, or the Teaching and Learning team as a DEI ambassador: Chrystal Miller, Shea Phillips, Melissa Robinson, Isis Lopez, and Malcolm Hodge. In addition, our DEI ambassadors also serve on the Head’s DEI Committee with Board members and Dawson parents. These campus leaders have emerged as mentors and resources for all Dawson employees as we continue our cultural awareness journey. This includes ongoing work in the areas of professional development and personal growth, student wellness and support with voice groups, admissions and retention, financial aid, employee hiring and retention, and – along with the Head’s DEI Committee – acting as guardians of the School’s Diversity Statement.

The inclusion of DEI ambassadors around the decisionmaking table has elevated our teams’ abilities to adopt multiple lenses, learn from the stories and life experiences of others, and build empathy for voices that are absent in our conversations. Research shows unequivocally that diverse groups are more innovative than homogenous groups, and diversity forces teams to think more creatively and critically and to better anticipate alternative viewpoints. This semester, we witnessed how the addition of our ambassadors to Dawson’s leadership teams has resulted in thoughtful questioning, constructive criticism, and the welcoming of different perspectives. The diverse opinions and experiences we bring to our work make us Stronger Together.

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The Strength of a Shared Value System Each prospective family applying to Dawson participates in an admissions interview. One of the questions we ask every family is, “After reading our Diversity Statement, how do you anticipate this will look in your family’s Dawson experience?”

We know the strength of our community lies in our collective value system when it comes to inclusion. We also know that global competency is essential to our students’ future success. Simply put, academic excellence is not achievable without the presence and understanding of diversity, equity, and inclusion. We believe that students who do not have the opportunity to practice and hone these skills will be at a disadvantage during the college admissions process and in the job market. I often talk about the power of belonging. I also talk about the soul-satisfying work of being part of something that helps me find purpose beyond myself. I continue to select Dawson as my educational home because of the collective desire to deliver on our fundamental promise: to enable every member of our community to feel an equal sense of belonging. Living up to the vision of our Diversity Statement is complicated, and we won’t always get it right. But the work begins with committing to our collective beliefs about inclusion. Listening to concerns and inviting unique voices to sit around the table and tell their stories improves our work and unifies our community around shared values. I know, from our Board of Trustees to each Dawson family, we want everyone on our campus to be invited to dance.

Meet Our Amazing DEI Ambassadors In addition to serving as the conduit between a Board-level team and a campus committee, Dawson’s DEI ambassadors also serve on major school leadership teams to bring a DEI perspective to decision-making conversations.

Teacher Malcolm Hodge

Teacher Isis Lopez

Malcolm has been coaching and teaching in diverse communities for over seven years. Through these enriching experiences, he has grown passionate about promoting the values of inclusion and equity. He is enthusiastic about bringing positive change to Dawson, which inspired him to take on a leadership role as DEI ambassador to the School’s Teaching & Learning team.

Isis joined Dawson as a first-grade teacher in 2015 and is currently in her fourth year of fourth grade.

She is an advocate for social justice and equity across campus and within the classroom. Her desire to bring cultural awareness to our community through her work with our Cultural Awareness for Everyone (CAFE) event led her to pursue a leadership role as a DEI ambassador to Dawson’s Teaching & Learning team.

Teacher & BASE Coordinator Chrystal Miller Chrystal was inspired to become a DEI Ambassador to Dawson’s Advancement team because the work necessary to accomplish this role is embedded in her identity.

“I am a black woman, first and foremost,” she says. “Because of my composition, I can empathize with students who are systematically othered based on their identities, and I find joy in being a voice for those students.”

Marketing Communications & Events Manager Shea Phillips Shea joined Dawson in 2014.

Through her role as social media manager and digital content creator, she aims to affirm the School’s diversity by sharing more voices to help make it a place where all members of the community feel a sense of belonging. She currently supports Dawson’s antibias and anti-racism work as a DEI Ambassador to the Strategic Leadership team.

EC-4 School Counselor Melissa Robinson Melissa joined Dawson in 2020, and the School’s commitment to DEI work was a luring component as to why she wanted to be a part of our community. As a school counselor, she believes it is her obligation to advocate for all students and faculty and serve as a leader in collaborating with others to create systemic change. Melissa’s work as a DEI Ambassador to the School’s People & Culture team helps provide a platform to partner with others who are passionate and willing to put in the work to implement the school’s strategic DEI goals.

School Curriculum & Innovation

DEMYSTIFYING MODERN LEARNING

By Dr. Brandon Wiley, Chief Academic Officer, and Rich Lehrer, Director of Academic Innovation & Design

“From EC to finally eighth grade, Dawson has taken care of my education like a plant: feeding it, letting it absorb the sun’s rays, and removing any pesticides that would deter my goal to learn.

Now, instead of a small, vulnerable seed, I am a strong sapling prepared to face the wind, rain, and the wild.”

Izzy Tu, Class of 2019 10

The beginning of each new school year affords students, their families, and the Dawson faculty a fresh start and a new beginning. This new beginning allows opportunities for reflection, challenges, and growth. It also allows us to revisit the question, W hat does success look like? You see, for every Dawson student, the answer to this question might look a little different. For some, making new friends and developing stronger social skills is a top priority this year. For others, becoming a stronger reader, writer, or mathematician is an important milestone.

Dawson’s Vision calls us to ensure that every Dawson graduate is “ready to achieve their individual potential, savor life, and meet the challenges of the world.” Further, we hope students develop the key skills and dispositions that will prepare them for the challenges they’ll face well beyond their time at Dawson, much like Izzy suggests in her quote.

In the end, our approach to personalized learning means every student gets what they need when they need it to actualize their full aptitude.

The Dawson Definition of Success Effective communicator. Creative problem solver. Culturally competent collaborator. Empathetic change agent. Reflective and flexible thinker. While we can likely agree these are some of the skills we want for all of our students, developing these skills takes time, patience, and meaningful learning experiences. At Dawson, our modern learning approach aims to provide students with the essential foundation that will allow them to be successful in high school, college, career, and life. Modern learning focuses on the convergence of competencies, mindsets, and academic skills rooted in real-world applications. Dawson students are continuously and consistently engaged in experiences that allow them to develop core competencies and knowledge. This includes enhancing reading comprehension, crafting different genres of writing, and mastering mathematical concepts and processes, as well as developing their ability to think critically, pose important questions, and become acquainted with who they are as learners. It’s equally important for Dawson students to see themselves as change agents who model empathy and are curious and compelled to make a difference in their local and global communities. In many ways, the learning your children are experiencing at Dawson looks different from the learning you experienced growing up. This is why we hope to demystify what modern learning looks like, feels like, and sounds like for parents.

We hope to accomplish this through a variety of means, including articles such as the one you’re currently reading, podcasts, parent presentations, and on-campus exhibitions such as Curriculum Night, Open House, student-led parent & teacher conferences, and other celebrations of student learning.

The Journey of Lifelong Learning Starts Here Dawson has been talking about modern learning as an inevitable and much-needed academic movement for a while, and Head of School Roxanne Stansbury wrote a Petroglyph article in early 2020 highlighting the need for our entire community to subscribe to this dynamic concept.

As she described, this approach is light years away from the brick-and-mortar traditional learning environments in which we grew up, and it needs to be. As Roxanne aptly explains, our current youth “do not know a world without Google, cell phones, or social media, and where instant and constant access to any and all information has become a birthright.” Modern learning is rooted in the fundamental belief that in order to truly understand something, you must experience it rather than just crack a textbook to cram and flush useless information; you must dig and labor into an idea or project, wading through the messy challenges and exhausting setbacks, until an outcome is actualized and true lessons are learned. This is what real success looks like for the students at Dawson.

According to Dawson’s Core Beliefs, “We are a true learning community. Dawson’s faculty and administrators model lifelong learning by investing in educational best practices, advances in technology, and relevant world development.”

And as we endeavor to always hold ourselves accountable, our commitment to a modern learning philosophy requires 11

us toreflect every year on three main drivers: people, program, and space. To ensure the highest-quality instruction, we strive to recruit, support, and retain the most talented faculty and staff possible. Our faculty must be well-versed in research-based pedagogy and teaching strategies that meet and extend our students’ learning needs. We know that the single biggest factor in a child’s success is the teachers with whom they work every day. We examine our program to ensure it provides a well-rounded, whole-child approach that addresses the academic, social, and emotional needs of our students. Faculty members collaborate frequently to examine curriculum and highimpact teaching strategies and tools to reflect upon how to better meet the needs of our students. Through the use of internal and external data, we determine how our students are progressing and how we might respond differently as a school to their needs. And finally, we strive to provide learning spaces that allow students to create, innovate, and connect to real-world challenges as a means to apply learning to authentic tasks and scenarios.

From Ideation to Execution: Modern Learning in Action The best examples of where people, programs, and spaces join together can be found in our ongoing efforts to infuse Project-Based Learning (PBL) into our curriculum and the establishment of Dawson’s K-4 Design Lab. Project-Based Learning is one facet of modern learning that prepares students for the world by teaching academic knowledge and skills and developing lifelong mindsets about learning. PBL is so much more than creating a poster or a diorama at the end of a unit of study. Instead, it’s an inquiry-based approach toward uncovering new information, challenging assumptions, and demonstrating learning over a period of time. Importantly, it doesn’t happen after the learning; it’s how the learning takes place. High-quality PBL provides students the opportunity to experience intellectual challenges and accomplishments. It’s often based on realworld, authentic tasks that are connected to students’ lives and what happens outside of school. PBL often introduces opportunities for collaboration and communication amongst team members, helping to develop the necessary projectmanagement skills that enable students to proceed effectively from project initiation to completion. Students collaborate with other peers in person or online and receive guidance from adult mentors or experts. Projects culminate in a public product where student work is displayed, discussed, and critiqued. Public exhibitions of student work help us understand more completely what students know and can do. And throughout the entire Project-Based Learning experience, students are asked to reflect upon their work and how they performed as a learner.

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In July 2021, a cohort of 18 Dawson teachers participated in a three-day workshop offered by PBLWorks (PBLworks.org), an organization whose mission is to help build the capacity of teachers to design and facilitate quality Project-Based Learning with all students. Excitingly, our faculty have already implemented several of their novel projects during the first semester of the school year with some outstanding advances that directly align with Dawson’s Core Beliefs: • Director of Grades 2-5 Meg Aumann led all three fourthgrade classrooms in a weeks-long leadership project centered around the driving question, Who am I as a leader, and how can I create change using my leadership skills? Students took an age-appropriate personality assessment to determine their strengths and areas for growth with regard to their leadership abilities and then chose smaller internship groups to join for a variety of campus-wide leadership projects.

Several Dawson administrators and faculty partnered with the students to serve as mentors during the process.

Core Beliefs connection: “Through choice and reflection, Dawson students are active agents and advocates for their learning experience”, and “Teachers best engage and motivate students through encouragement, nurturing, inspiration and inquiry”

Tech for Good students Theo and Levi applied their knowledge of design and laser cutting to create cardboard signage for the K-4 Design Lab.

• Seventh-grade math teacher Matt Reynolds worked with his students to collect and analyze data from the food waste generated in the Dining Hall. They set out special trash receptacles that were weighed each day after lunch concluded, compared the amount of waste from each grade level, and predicted trends based on the number of school days. They displayed informative charts throughout the Dining Hall to help educate our community and met with each grade to discuss ways to reduce food waste.

Core Beliefs connection: “Global citizens investigate root causes, analyze solutions, connect with people in need and become empowered activists in the problem-solving process” • EC teacher Katie Figg’s students investigated factors that affect the growth of plants and food in the desert, information which they shared with other classes. Ms. Figg also brought an element of design into her project in which her students created possible gardening tools to help with the growth of their plants. ​​Even for our youngest learners, this PBL-based educational endeavor encouraged students to investigate the world around them and to explore and communicate their wonders, inquiries, and discoveries.

investigated how we as a community might best impact water conservation in our homes and school. To begin, students visited a local botanical garden to learn about desert-adapted landscaping. As a result of Assembly Bill 356, which prohibits using Colorado River water to irrigate non-recreational grass by 2027 in Nevada, students are now working to design and pitch ideas about new spaces around Dawson or within their own homes for long-term economic and environmental viability.

Core Beliefs connection: “Dawson graduates are complex problem solvers and collaborators; empathetic, flexible and innovative; and critical thinkers who develop into resilient lifelong learners and leaders” and “As members of the desert environment, we strive to foster an awareness of and responsibility for preservation and sustainability of our natural resources”

Core Beliefs connection: “Teachers best engage and motivate students through encouragement, nurturing, inspiration, and inquiry” • Fifth-grade humanities teacher Lana Mouzoon ran a semester-long project entitled “Learning from the Past to Build For the Future”. Students analyzed various ancient civilizations to gather evidence and draw parallels to present-day Nevada, culminating in a marketing pitch for building a thriving, sustainable local community for the future. This windows-and-mirrors approach encouraged students to take a look within themselves and think critically about the role they play as a positive change agent before taking a look at the outside world to determine the impact they can create on a global scale.

Core Beliefs connection: “A Dawson education facilitates deeper learning because students approach tasks from multiple perspectives, and draw connections across disciplines and the outside world” • Grades 5-8 Teaching and Learning Coordinator Dr. Nicole Zito’s sixth-grade global studies insights class

Tech for Good student Theo applied his design and 3D printing skills to create tool holders for the new K-4 Design Lab pegboard.

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Sessions taught by science teacher Jennifer Rosebeck and Director of Academic Innovation and Design Rich Lehrer are engaging students in PBL projects centered around the design process and the use of design technology and materials. Each grade level has its own specific focus on a different design theme that explores the use of different design technology instruments and equipment. The work implemented within the lab seeks to answer broader questions related to real-world problem-solving: • Kindergarten – Introduction to the Design Process: How do we design and why is the design process so powerful?

• First Grade – A Community of Designers: How do we design with and for others and have fun while doing it?

Students in the Tech for Good class created holders requested by Dawson’s tech team to allow them to mount their micro-converters to the wall.

One of the most beautiful aspects of these unique PBL projects is they teach our students that the things they learn in one class can be leveraged across different courses and programs. These intertwined assignments provide opportunities for creativity, coherence, and collaboration across the curriculum while solidifying long-term learning for students.

The K-4 Design Lab, an initiative funded and supported by the Dawson Parent Association, marries our three main drivers: highly skilled faculty mentoring and engaging students in robust academic projects, all within an inspiring and inviting learning environment. Students are provided with deep and meaningful educational experiences that enhance the partnership between design and technology.

What was once an unoccupied room off of the Library has been transformed into an exciting space of innovation, imagination, and problem-solving in which all K-4 students will spend time over the remainder of the year and far into the future. The newly developed design program strives to provide Lower School students with opportunities to: • experience the power of the iterative design process • become familiar with a variety of design technology devices and their applications • become empowered to use the design process and technology to solve real-world problems and create a positive impact on their community • learn to love the act of designing

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• Second Grade – Welcome to the Future: Robotics and Coding: What are robotics and coding, and how do we help others in our community learn about them?

• Third Grade – Digital Fabrication to Help our Community: How do we design for the use of digital fabrication machines such as laser cutters, and how do we use them to solve problems in the Dawson community?

• Fourth Grade – Human-Centered Design: What is the role of empathy in the design process, and how can we use design technology to make a more accessible world?

And the work remains continuous and consistent.

In addition to building our Lower School students’ design skills and mindsets, the Design Lab program also aims to prepare students for design technology experiences embedded throughout Middle School. Our Tech for Good elective provides seventh and eighth-grade students with authentic problem-solving opportunities to learn how new generations of tech tools are used to improve schools, communities, and the world. In addition to spending time iterating everprogressing solutions to problems, students further explore the concept of “change-making” and seek inspiration in the work of many young people who went on to become agents of positive change within their communities.

The School’s blueprint for the future has produced a culture that is energized, inquisitive, and adaptable. We are proudly charging forward by redefining the notion of success and applauding our students who are taking immersive risks toward ameliorating global issues, reaping the rewards of optimal teaching and learning experiences, and taking agency over their personal and educational growth. As Roxanne confidently proclaimed a few years ago, “The modern learning revolution is here.” It’s a thrilling time to be at Dawson, and we can’t wait to show you what’s next.

Students are hard at work inside the Dawson Design Lab, an exciting initiative funded by the Dawson Parent Association. This is an innovative and collaborative space where students enjoy imaginative educational experiences that enhance the partnership between design and technolog y. Through meaning ful Project-Based Learning endeavors, students from kindergarten through eighth grade apply their curiosity and creativity toward solving real-world problems that improve the School and our community at large.

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Eighth-grade student Matthew is working on a “bass bow prosthetic device” that will allow fifth-grade student Max to play in the orchestra.

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Penelope and Theo designed an organizational system for spare cardboard in the K-4 Design Lab. They sketched their ideas, considered dimensions and scale, created a functional prototype using cardboard, and 3D printed the hinges and latches. They then passed their design on to Dawson’s maintenance team, who constructed to their specifications the actual cardboard holder that now resides in the Design Lab.

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School Advancement

The Co-Authors of Your Dawson Story

By Rachael Lachhwani, Advancement Manager An independent school is incredibly unique in many different ways. Yes, we offer a private education. But we are governed by The Alexander Dawson School at Rainbow Mountain Board of Trustees, composed of parents and Alexander Dawson Foundation trustees, independent of any other entity and liberated in philosophy and mission. And yes, like many private schools, students have to apply and gain acceptance to an independent school. But at Dawson, we believe in intentional and research-based enrollment management standards that support the viability and sustainability of the School. This means we unapologetically work really hard to ensure that we recruit and retain rightfit families who firmly believe in and want to be a part of what we do in support of our students. Again yes, just as most schools everywhere, we want a community where each family feels they belong and children can be their true selves. But at Dawson, that is really just a baseline; the School has a deep and personalized commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion so everyone who sets foot on our campus feels seen, heard, respected, and valued. I can imagine you’re now saying to yourself, This is great and all, but what does it actually look like? Let me help you understand by taking you through the inner workings of this particular independent school with those who co-author your Dawson story from behind the scenes: the School’s Advancement team – again, yes, something particularly unique to our type of educational environment.

Because this might be an unfamiliar term to many of our families, advancement with regard to academic institutions is defined by Independent School Management as the “strategic process by which schools advance missionappropriate constituent relations through the integration of the school’s admission, marketing and communications, and development programs.” The holistic and dynamic goal of the Advancement team, comprised of eight highly devoted Dawson employees, is to help share your family’s narrative within the greater Dawson anthology. Today, with a 20-year-plus history, Dawson has concrete awareness of who we are and who we aren’t, something we credit for our

high demand in enrollment and the amazing educators we are fortunate to work with each year. This long road wasn’t easy, however, but as productive disruptors, we had to find courage born from a rewiring of thinking, inspiration crafted from countless hours spent strategizing, energy sought from positive risk-taking, and the audacity to try something new or original despite ideas that might result in unanticipated consequences. Dawson’s culture of feedback led us to realize we couldn’t and shouldn’t be afraid to try; failures and mistakes are inevitable learning experiences and are a piece of the exact lessons we model for our students every single day as we lean into adaptability, progress, and the evolution of our skills.

The Preface: Admissions & Enrollment Sometimes a hidden gem in a city with large public school districts, prospective families usually learn about their local independent school through word of mouth before hopping online to peruse the website, where they get their first glimpse into our unparalleled learning environment.

What follows is the campus visit for a personalized tour, a chance to see the what and the why behind what we do in an inspiring, inviting, and meaningful manner. New families inject new energy and new life into our campus.

New families can also impact our climate of care in many ways, which means we remain protective of the fundamental values, ideologies, and Core Beliefs upon which Dawson operates, seeking families who hold themselves accountable toward our Mission and Vision.

Full disclosure: I am in my seventh year as part of the Dawson staff, and this past August was actually the very first time I’ve ever been on a “real” campus tour. As two key members of the School’s Advancement team, Admissions Manager Krista Jacobsen, who works with our EC through first-grade families, and Enrollment Manager Stella Finfrock, who works with our second through eighth-grade families, each took me on the separate tours they deliver to prospective families looking to join Dawson. Commonly, Stella and Krista are the first people you will meet at 19

Dawson, quite literally your introduction to the School. And because every family has its own expectations, questions, needs, and wants for their child – especially depending upon age and grade level – they spend time becoming acquainted with each applicant so they can offer a tailored and comprehensive welcome experience for individual families in the same way our teachers would differentiate instruction for students who learn at different paces or in different ways.

we are aware of these areas and we are working toward them. I provide no false experiences, and the intentionality with which we do everything here really does matter. It’s a philosophy that we educate kids in a different way. But the more our families are invested and believe in the what and why of the process, the more in sync they are with us and in partnership with the School.”

Krista, with an amazing tenure at Dawson as a former Lower School teacher and a teaching and learning specialist, has an indispensable depth of knowledge about curriculum, social-emotional learning, and the formative and developmental needs of young kids. Her ability to connect with children is unmatched, and she consistently remains very thoughtful of the important partnership families play in our students’ education. She weaves in openended questions throughout the entire campus visit, and two crucial questions she asks families are what they’re looking for in a school and what other schools they’re touring for their children, which regularly opens the door for the adults to also share their educational background. This entire conversation piece allows Krista to hone in on what is needed or wanted from an academic experience because – and this really is 100 percent okay to admit out loud – Dawson isn’t for everyone. We’re a school that is strong in our convictions, and we find comfort in determining when we are or are not the right fit for a family or a student.

We hope that by providing families with a strong sense of belonging and inclusion, you will continue to make the decision each year to return as a member of our community, as well as support the School’s growing initiatives surrounding philanthropy and development, teaching and learning, and parent partnerships and volunteerism.

Development, which includes school fundraising and (literally) advancing the Mission of the School, means viewing Dawson through the strategic lens of today and envisioning where we need it to be in the future. This is where I come into play as my school’s advancement manager. In addition to supporting my team with our marketing, communications, and admissions initiatives, I help the School perform the research, outreach, cultivation, and stewardship of current and potential donors in support of our culture of philanthropy. Each year, Dawson’s Annual Fund supplements the School’s operating budget to provide the type of experience that sets our school apart from the rest. Development is therefore critical to the academic excellence of the school, and the mindset of deepening the culture of philanthropy provides the groundwork. Families give because you believe in and trust our school and want to continue to see it grow. Simply, if you want to recruit and retain innovative global educators who lead the profession, you must fundraise. If your facilities need a facelift, you must fundraise. If you want to keep kids healthy and safe during a pandemic, you must fundraise. If you want to allow access and affordability for a diverse, equitable, and inclusive program, you must fundraise. The buck literally starts and stops with development, and Advancement solidifies your return on investment. We show our families we’re worth it.

“We really focus on group goals that lead to individual goals at the Early Childhood level,” says Krista of the customized story Dawson tells of its youngest learners. “We strive for developmentally appropriate placements, peer relationships that meet each of our students’ needs, the celebration of everyone’s work and academic milestones, and personalized attention from our teachers.” The design is structured in such a way that while we accommodate the needs of each unique student, we’re simultaneously creating an environment where students are given the room to achieve learning goals as one.

Stella has been with Dawson since 2003, and her diverse experience in education knows no bounds. She worked as a science teacher and the Middle School counselor prior to moving into her enrollment role, and her educational expertise allows her to connect with families and our older students with ease on a really profound and personal level.

She cites her ability to uncover not only the focal points but, arguably, more importantly, the blind spots families may have to delve deep into conversations about what families don’t know about Dawson but really should understand.

“I want every child as they exist in this world to walk into this school and feel safe,” Stella says of the common ground and relatability she showcases during every tour introduction. “We are honest about our growth at Dawson; 20

The Plot: Development & Athletics

You may also be asking yourself how athletics falls under the Advancement umbrella. This was piloted by Dawson’s Athletics Manager Marc Leonor this year with wildly appealing success, and his entrepreneurial mindset has launched programs and relationships that not only serve our students but our community at large. Marc’s athletic program for middle school success not only teaches kids to develop an inclusive and healthy mindset toward competitive activities but also teaches legitimate life skills such as teamwork and collaboration, time management, leadership, risk-taking, goal setting, and flexible mindsets.

“My role on the Advancement team is to use athletics as a catalyst for shining a spotlight on our students, our

school, and our community,” Marc explains. “By forming new partnerships with local sports clubs, conceptualizing new youth athletic programs, and recruiting knowledgeable coaches and mentors, we will create an athletics program that is inclusive, dynamic, and beneficial to our students.”

This year, Marc has partnered with families whose children have an interest in different sports endeavors and capitalized on these opportunities of untapped potential. One family, whose children have a deep interest in baseball, agreed to make a generous multi-year donation in support of our baseball program. We now have a middle school baseball team through the local arm of the national Rawlings Tigers Baseball program that can become a feeder into many of our local high schools. We also have several families whose children play volleyball so we started a partnership with Sykora Volleyball Academy, a Las Vegas company operated by a former Olympian. Most importantly, these relationships are reciprocal. First, by opening our campus and facilities to outside families and organizations, we are allowing our students the opportunity to grow in mind, body, and character, and our Admissions team is seizing the chance to gather inquiries and then tour these outside families who visit the campus. The opportunities for conversion are boundless.

Secondly, our marketing and communications team is inundated with amazing personalized content to share that truly illustrates our contributions to the academic and social fabric of the city in which we live. So much of Advancement is about community engagement, so what better way to increase involvement than with spirited sporting events in celebration of our student-athletes?

The Illustrations: Marketing, Communications & Digital Content Marketing and communications is the complex marriage of media and messaging. It is super multi-faceted, involving advertising, branding, a print and digital presence, sales, events, sponsorships, and still much more. The purpose is to visually illustrate a story by creating high-quality, advantageous, and relevant content that attracts, informs, and engages our community – all with the goal of successfully promoting the value and increasing the visibility of the School across a wide-ranging audience.

As two more vital members of our Advancement team, Marketing Communications and Events Manager Shea Phillips and Production and Digital Content Manager Kyle Baker work closely as our resident digital media geniuses, amazing minds with such a keen sense of awareness for what our parents want and need to see. They put a lot of reflective consideration into cultivating personalized connections and a sense of belonging and inclusion, and they aptly and consistently find new ways to strengthen these bonds across online platforms – something that has become increasingly more important during the pandemic. This allows families the opportunity to always be a part of the adventure, growing

long-lasting relationships and trust despite the ongoing hurdle of distance, and it’s accomplished in ways that are easy to access, entertaining, and enjoyable to see.

“Research tells us that over two billion people visit YouTube on a daily basis and 1.9 billion use Facebook. Those statistics alone indicate that the appetite for photos, video, and other consumable media isn’t likely to decline anytime soon; therefore, our job moving forward is to feed that appetite with high quality, engaging, and marketable content that retains and attracts families and faculty alike to our campus,” says Kyle. “The story we tell day in and day out not only has an impact on our current families and students but our prospective families as well, as they get a glimpse into the daily life on our campus and the initiatives that are driven by the Dawson Mission and Vision.”

Stop and think for a moment about when you most feel aligned, engaged, and connected to our Dawson community.

If you’re anything like me, you feel the bond secured and strengthened when you view the educational experience through the eyes of your child. I myself feel the most joy when I see the authentic learning taking place within the classroom involving my own kids and – let’s face it – our remarkable teachers and the curiosity-sparking lessons they introduce are truly the greatest representation of the School and the magic that happens across our 33 acres.

“My favorite thing to do is bring the incredibly rich learning experiences that happen in everyday lessons and activities to life through photos and videos,” says Shea. “It’s a unique opportunity to get a feel for the Dawson experience up close and personal without having to be on our campus.

I’m always blown away by the high-level teaching that happens in every classroom here, and I’m constantly looking for different ways to showcase that. The same is true for the high-level work in admissions, Advancement, and leadership. The more layers of Dawson we can share in strategic ways, the stronger our brand.”

One of our main ongoing digital media projects includes showcasing your child’s first steps of the educational journey within our Early Childhood program with #WhatsUpWednesday. Each week, we offer a glimpse into genuine learning experiences for our students as they discover new books, engage in STEAM activities, create amazing art projects, and celebrate so many more exciting things that help form the collective classroom atmosphere. A second notable way we illustrate the Dawson Difference is through our Facebook Live series, a joint effort between marketing communications and admissions in which our Advancement team partners with our faculty to take you right inside the classroom for a real-time view of our teachers teaching.

After you hear a short introduction setting the stage for the learning taking place – whether it’s an Everyday Math lesson, 21

a Being a Writer literacy session, or a morning meeting highlighting social-emotional readiness – you’ll hear directly from our students as the drivers of the academic content; all of the classroom lessons are at their pace, and all of the work is student-generated. Each of these ventures is especially important for our Admissions team, as tours are relegated to before and after school due to our COVID mitigation protocols, leaving families unable to enter the classroom at this time. It’s a tough sell to use just words to showcase the exciting learning taking place when a prospective family can’t see kids in action, yet Facebook Live and #WhatsUpWednesday both allow you a virtual front-row seat into your child’s journey.

Binding the Book: Leadership Dawson’s Advancement team purposefully designs and continuously reinforces compelling personalized experiences, whether it be through interactive community events and open houses, the moving impact of our Annual Fund campaign videos, the writing within our Petroglyph magazine, or fun daily social media posts that highlight our essential messages and lessons to let you in on the secret. No classic siloed structures but instead, openness, honesty, and transparency while we work to help craft, collect, protect, and commemorate the pages within your family’s legacy. This brings me to our next two members, our Assistant Head of School Andrew Bishop and Chief Communications Officer Megan Gray, the visionaries behind our initiatives.

“The challenging thing about the term advancement is that it’s often synonymous with development. But everything we do on Dawson’s campus is in service to advancing the School and its Mission, Vision, and Core Beliefs,” explains Megan.

“So when defined in this way, advancement truly becomes about moving the whole school forward and the partnerships required to do this successfully. The ‘Advancement Team’ at Dawson encompasses marketing, communications, development, admissions, enrollment, and athletics, and our partners are Dawson’s faculty, staff, and families. This is the only way we can ensure Dawson’s present is excellent and its future, bright.”

Crucially, for an Advancement team to fully serve its purpose, it must be considered a leadership-level alliance on campus.

We have buy-in and support from our head of school, and leadership needs to be a part of this team in order to pave the road unwritten. The relational trust and collaboration built from their joint guidance and mentorship are of the utmost importance. They are the glue that binds this team under the promise of loyalty, advocacy, cohesion, and connectivity. They set the stage for us to be vulnerable and honest with regard to our work and each other, and they open the pathway for strategic conversations and enterprising achievements. We are an ambitious and action-oriented bunch thanks to the knowledge and perseverance of these two campus leaders. They 22

give us the support and space to make the impossible possible.

“Advancement means forward progress; a strong focus on advancement efforts ensures that The Alexander Dawson School is not just the pre-eminent EC-to-8 independent school in the Las Vegas Valley but one of the stellar, forwardthinking, and recognized independent schools in the entire country,” Andrew solidifies. “The future of Dawson’s advancement efforts is equal parts limitless and inspiring.

Personally, I hope that the immediate goals include engaging parents and alumni in meaningful conversations about their experience at Dawson, why a Dawson education is priceless, and how their time at Dawson was transformative; dreaming big about how we can continue to evolve as a school, elevate our program, and enhance our classrooms and campus; and elevating Dawson to national recognition by sharing how we have achieved advancement excellence with other independent schools at national conferences and in educational publications.”

The Epilogue We hope the experience of the Dawson Difference results in our students remaining engaged as alumni; we want our culture to be a reciprocal and rewarding one of support and involvement because our alumni are central to the current and future wellbeing of the School. Our graduates are some of the most important indicators of the power of a Dawson education, and we want them to feel proud to remain connected to the School long after they’ve exited our doors. We want to provide support, advice, attention, and mentorship based upon the individual needs of our students as they leave Dawson and then welcome those alums back to the School to share their incredible gifts, talents, and knowledge with us to more deeply involve you in your child’s individualized educational path, providing an open window into the intentions behind each of our decisions. Concrete, visible support of this priority through the Advancement team’s diligent work is how we create – and openly welcome – building connections with one another. And the School wants your feedback and insight: We are true partners in every sense of the word, and learning together is an ongoing message at Dawson. We find strength in the fact that we are most effective when we are on the same page of the same book, and few things are more fulfilling than the profound return we can receive when we work together as one toward a principled goal or project. So there really is no conclusion to your family’s Dawson story. When done right, a universal and collaborative partnership between each story’s characters – Advancement, school leadership, faculty, students, families, and even alumni – cohesively enhances Dawson’s culture so we remain Stronger Together year after year and far into the future.

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Students enjoy a delicious and healthy meal provided by SAGE Dining.

WEEKDAY COFFEE TOURS

WEEKEND OPEN HOUSE EVENTS

Grab a cup of coffee or tea, meet our team and take a tour of our beautiful campus. Coffee Tours happen during the school day, so visitors will gain an exclusive look at what it’s like to be part of our community.

Visit our campus for an informational session and personalized tour of our beautiful campus in a safe, small-group setting.

Open House sessions are limited and we highly recommend that you sign up with a friend!

WEEKDAY COFFEE TOURS

SATURDAY OPEN HOUSES

DAWSON’S SCHOOL ADVANCEMENT EFFORTS

Fall Semester Highlights

BEAR DEN NEWS DAWSON BEARS ATHLETICS

All of our runners, coached by Dawson faculty Corey Drummond and Rachel Pruitt, showed a lot of improvement this school year! They increased their race times by more than two minutes over the course of the season, and many runners consistently finished in the top 10 of their divisions. Dawson’s best finish was third place in the girls’ 7/8 division.

VOLLEYBALL (CO-ED)

CROSS COUNTRY (CO-ED)

It was a great fall sports season for our Dawson Bears athletes! Whether on the field, court, or track, our athletes represented Dawson with school pride and spirit. Here’s a recap of the Red Rock Athletic Conference (RRAC) and the National Choice Schools Athletic Association (NCSAA). Special thanks to our Dawson Parent Association for providing concessions during home games!

Dawson’s Varsity Division volleyball team – coached by Stacy Sykora, Kayla Agae, and Elizabeth Rice of Sykora Volleyball – made it to the semi-finals of the RRAC. The team also finished undefeated in the NCSAA, entering the playoffs as the number-two seed.

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The Dawson swim team, coached by Dawson faculty Jessica Balzano, had an incredible season. They made it all the way to the RRAC championship meet in November, with the 7/8 girls’ team taking first runner-up overall. The team took home 10 individual event awards.

COMPETITIVE CHEERLEADING

Coached by Dawson faculty Malcolm Hodge and Dawson alum Mikey TuccelliMargolin (‘08), over 40 students joined our flag football teams this year, and every one of them finished the season with winning records. The amazing season was highlighted by our Bears winning two huge title championship games in both of their conferences, the RRAC and the NCSAA!

SWIMMING (CO-ED)

FLAG FOOTBALL (CO-ED)

Dawson’s cheer athletes, coached by Dawson faculty Jessica Lopes and Vegas Golden Knights cheerleader Sara Simpson, support our programs throughout the year and keep school spirit high on game days and other important school events. This year, we had more than 30 students join the squad, and we are grateful for their boundless energy, leadership skills, and positive community impact. The cheer team participated in the NCSAA Cheer Showcase in November and will continue to train for competitions in February and April.

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Fall Semester Highlights

DAWSON PARENT ASSOCIATION ..................................................................................................

Dawson’s amazing Parent Association is committed to building a strong community that fosters a supportive learning environment and embraces the Mission and strategic goals of the School. Their time, talent, and energy are displayed in countless ways through their many volunteer and fundraising initiatives. Their efforts are a thriving part of the Dawson experience and a wonderful way to engage, connect, and build our remarkable school community!

PARENT UNIVERSITY .............................................

In October, we were excited to welcome families back to campus for a special in-person Parent University in support of Dawson’s Challenge Success initiatives. Families learned about the importance of establishing healthier home and school environments to reduce students’ academic stress and disengagement and increase resilience, creativity, competence, and wellbeing.

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HALLOWEEN FESTIVITIES .......................

Costumes, candy, and celebrations! Dawson was excited to welcome back our annual Halloween parades and parties to campus in October, complete with an amazing audience of family and friends. It was exciting to see the kids showcase their unique costumes and interests, and a special thank you to our Dawson Parent Association and Parent Ambassadors for organizing such fun.

NOVEL ENGINEERING EXHIBITION ..................................

In December, teacher Dr. Kelly Gooden’s sixth-grade engineering, technology, and application of science class partnered with teacher Rachel Pruitt’s eighth-grade technology, engineering, and integrated lab science class for a semester-long project that merged science and reading. The students read survival-themed books and autobiographical and biographical STEM narrative books to identify problems facing the characters and then presented their engineered solutions, prototypes, and demonstrations to the Dawson community in a culminating Novel Engineering Exhibition. Our fifth and seventh-grade students will participate in a similar project during the second semester.

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Fall Semester Highlights

MIDDLE SCHOOL ACTING SHOWCASE ......................................................................................

The end of the first semester was packed with some exciting theater experiences for our faculty and students! Our fifth-grade actors presented Once Upon A Crime: The Trial of Goldilocks, a hilarious play about Goldilocks being prosecuted for breaking and entering against the three bears. Our sixth-grade actors presented It’s Not You, It’s Me, a quick-paced production about the zing of breakups. Our seventh and eighth-grade actors presented The Elf on a Shelf Must Die, a caper about two kids racing to bring their holiday elf back to life after his accidental death before Santa finds out.

WINTER GATHERINGS: SNOW MUCH Fun! ..............................................................................

The Dawson Parent Association made a cool change to our annual Winter Gatherings in December and brought snow to the desert! This magical day allowed our students to say goodbye to the first semester and hello to winter break with lots of joy and excitement. A special thank you to the DPA and all of the Dawson families who helped support the Wonderland Snow Day festivities.

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VETERANS DAY .............................................

The Dawson community believes in showing deep gratitude for all active and retired military members, both at home in the United States and abroad across the globe. While most schools across the nation observe Veterans Day as a holiday, we join together for an inschool commemoration to honor those in uniform for their dutiful contributions of sacrifice and service. Our students, faculty, and staff spend the day in reflection and participate in critical and purposeful discussions within our classrooms about the history of Veterans Day and what it means to be a veteran. This year, we were proud to welcome service members from the 353rd Psychological Operations Company to campus for our annual flagraising ceremony and to meet with students for special Veterans Day presentations.

From The Dawson Blog

How Dawson’s Personalized Intervention Aligns with Challenge Success

By Nissa Pearson, Coordinator of Student Services

As a Challenge Success school, Dawson focuses on student wellbeing and engagement when designing new learning opportunities for students. This means using feedback from children and families as a guidepost.

For the last several years, we’ve noticed a trend as the first quarter blends into late fall. After worries about locker combinations and finding best friends leave the minds of our middle schoolers, a common stressor seems to emerge during conversations with families. Whether their students are 32

fifth graders or eighth graders looking ahead to high school, whether they are new to Dawson or Dawson lifers, two words illuminate a problem: executive functioning.

There are kids who don’t know what assignments they need to complete and forget how to sign into Canvas. There are kids who complete their homework and then lose it, or finish it early and forget to turn it in. Or those who work for hours but can’t seem to stay away from social media long enough to actually manage the assignment.

The middle school years present particular challenges for those students still developing their executive functioning skills. The expectation for independence increases, along with the amount of task shifting, while students navigate multiple classes with a variety of different structures, expectations, and content areas. At this same time, children today face limited opportunities to practice executive functioning skills outside of the school setting. Much of their downtime is adult-directed (think club sports and music lessons), and daily technology distractions lead to decreased stamina and focus for children over time.

Students’ Schedule and Use of Time The Challenge Success framework Dawson follows encourages schools to create space within the school day for students to engage with faculty and receive academic support. At Dawson, we believe in striking a balance between schoolwork, extracurricular activities, and family time, yet we know some students need more academic and organizational support. Those same students needing extra support excel most in the subject areas that are often first to disappear in a traditional remediation model – namely, electives and visual and performing arts. Therefore, we knew we had to look at the schedule strategically.

In the Middle School, we had already created a highly successful language lab program during the world language block to support differentiated literacy needs. This school year, we’ve moved forward with implementing a corresponding Student Success Lab (SSL) model: a specific, targeted intervention class designed to meet the needs of students needing explicit executive functioning skill building.

Problem-Based Learning A key component of Challenge Success is modifying the curriculum to make school assignments relevant to students’ lives. Using the SMARTS curriculum, SSL students learn goal setting, cognitive flexibility, memory strategies, selfmonitoring, and prioritizing skills. Lessons engage students by using real-life examples and teaching them various competencies they can immediately apply to their everyday lives, both inside and outside of school. Additionally, academic help days built into the SSL schedule allow students to receive targeted support; students brush up on reading comprehension strategies, writing and revising, and revisit math concepts taught in the regular classroom under the guidance of our learning support team teachers.

Alternative Assessments As part of the Student Success Lab, middle schoolers engage in self-assessments aligned with individual learning goals and work with Student Success Coordinator Matsuko Freeman to set goals that will guide their class time and academic help days. This also involves collaborating with families to reduce particular tension points at home. For example, a

student might cause family members to be late to school and work each day by moving about their morning routines without attention to time. Their Student Success Lab goals might include learning metacognitive skills related to time management, creating a visual schedule, or using pre-set timer alerts.

Climate of Care As cumbersome as a student’s skill deficits might be for their family, the teens and pre-teens experiencing them also feel the stress of insufficient executive functioning. Unequivocally, these students want to do well to garner positive responses from teachers and parents, but they’re often just unable.

This discrepancy between how a student wants to perform and is realistically able to perform at the time may lead to stress and low self-esteem. For this reason, SSL students also receive instruction for stress management techniques such as mindfulness and meditation.

The class also creates a space on campus for students to connect with peers who are experiencing the same struggles.

“Sometimes they feel alone, like they’re the only ones who can’t stay on top of their grades or can’t manage their time,” explains Matsuko. “In Success Lab, they have a peer support group. There is a feeling of belonging rather than being the odd-person out. It’s a group of students who cheer for each other.”

Educate Parents, Students, and Faculty The ultimate target for students enrolled in SSL is to internalize the systems and strategies they can apply for the rest of their scholastic lives and eventually within the workplace and beyond. Students revisit their personalized learning goals throughout the semester, reflect on their progress, and think deeply about what works and doesn’t for their progress as independent learners.

One example of this is students using planning tools to determine their academic and extracurricular schedule for the semester so they make sure they have enough downtime and get enough sleep. They learn the importance of striking a balance between work and relaxation and how to advocate for themselves if they’re struggling. This includes practicing how to proactively communicate with their teachers or other adults to explain what learning approaches work best for them.

A highlight of the inaugural semester of Student Success Lab has been the many small successes students celebrate.

Says Matsuko, “It’s rewarding to see the smiles on students’ faces when they start to do better, when they see the skills they’re learning in class start to pay off. Some of the students have never before been in the position of having no missing assignments or successfully preparing for a test.”

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DAWSON’S CHALLENGE SUCCESS VISION STATEMENT Dawson will emerge as a beacon school for Challenge Success where student voice is the fabric of the culture. Our goal is for the community to adopt a cohesive climate of care where the definition of success, engagement and life satisfaction is authentic to the individual experience.

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STUDENT VOICES

Dawson’s Student-Centered Pillars Of Middle School

By Ellodee Timmer, Eighth-Grade Student

Some of life’s most important lessons are not found in books or lesson plans. And since there is a big world beyond the walls of The Alexander Dawson School, our goals for each student include creating opportunities for personal development that can be sourced well into the future. Middle School is a time for autonomy and choice, and we further strive to nurture independence of mind, the ability to learn from mistakes, and the enjoyment of self-discovery. Eighth-grader Ellodee Timmer shares how the pillars of our Middle School program help students make growth and learning a part of their life journey.

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Leadership is an important part of our society, evident in our workplaces, political groups, and our country as a whole. This makes it no surprise that schools everywhere crave and look for students who show leadership in any way, whether it be through leading a classroom, excelling with your classmates or within extracurricular activities, or even through community service. The Alexander Dawson School exemplifies this significant quality through its students, dayto-day life, and programs provided within the curriculum.

Each area helps solidify the School’s Mission statement that focuses on embracing differences and growing as leaders and changemakers.

Examples of how Dawson has worked to inspire and shape young leaders in our community is most evident within the National Junior Honor Society, NJHS for short. This program was specifically created to provide community service and leadership opportunities for our community. As a member of NJHS myself, I can without a doubt confirm that every community service opportunity Dawson has provided us has better prepared us for whichever future we may embark upon in high school and beyond. We support our community through food drives, find better ways to improve our community, and find community service opportunities that inspire our students and ourselves. The National Junior Honor Society is led by Dawson faculty advisor Neil Ellis, someone who helps inspire us each day. Matsuko Freeman lends additional faculty support as the School’s servicelearning coordinator.

extracurricular sports teams are allowed to do so by working with our faculty to learn how to become better leaders and help encourage their teammates to do the same.

Lastly, a program which I think further exemplifies the leadership opportunities within Dawson is the Student Ambassador program, led by Enrollment Manager Stella Finfrock. This program is a source of inspiration for Dawson’s younger students to become changemakers before they experience the independent lifestyle the Middle School provides. At the moment, the program is only available to our fourth-grade students, but plans for the future include involving students through eighth grade. The program encourages students to take on responsibilities such as helping new students, shadowing students around the School, speaking to visiting families, and representing the School in its best light. In the future, hopefully everyone will be allowed to participate and truly become young changemakers in the process.

In conclusion, leadership is a necessity. People lead through human nature, and we require leaders to help strengthen our community and our own selves. Leaders bring out the best in a community. And within Dawson, its students bring the best parts of the School out into the world. Through communityservice, projects, working together as a whole, and simply standing up and using our voices, Dawson grows and shapes its young leaders every day. And I am sure that in future years, this process will undoubtedly continue.

Another way students contribute to creating better leaders is through participation in the Dawson Student Council, led by faculty member Nancy Myster. Our StuCo program is exceptional and encourages students from fifth through eighth grade to help better our community and inspire younger students to do so as well. A great example of this can be shown by eighth-grader Giacomo Ferrence, Dawson’s student body president. He says, “StuCo has allowed me to independently become a changemaker for my classmates and community. I feel that by being given this opportunity, Dawson has helped prepare me for high school leadership and any challenges I may face later in life.”

However, it isn’t simply through community service programs or our Student Council that leadership is evident at Dawson. In fact, another prominent leadership program is illustrated through the Captain’s Academy, a program led entirely by the students involved, Dawson’s health and fitness coaches, and Athletics Manager Marc Leonor. Within this program, students who wish to aspire further as part of their

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#AmazingDawsonAlums

DAWSON ALUM PROFILE

Blake Resnick, ‘13 Dawson’s Vision reads that our students are prepared to “meet the challenges of the world” as engaged, global citizens who enact positive change. The School wants its graduates to grow into resilient lifelong learners and empowered activists who collaboratively solve complex problems. Meet Blake Resnick, Dawson lifer and graduate of the Class of 2013, whose journey of purpose, perseverance, and flexible thinking in the face of obstacles shows hard work can pay off in the end.

As a kid, Blake wanted to be a scientist. Famous stories about innovators such as Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, and even fictional characters such as Tony Stark (aka Iron Man), have always appealed to him. The idea of building an organization that could accomplish big things inspired him, and at a young age, Blake took a unique approach toward his education. “I thought I could go faster,” he says. And so he 38

By Shea Phillips, Marketing Communications & Events Manager

did: Blake skipped the sixth grade and, after finishing middle school early, he attended The Adelson Educational Campus for about a year.

He later enrolled in classes at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and also studied mechanical engineering for a short time at Northwestern University. Then after completing an engineering internship at electric vehicle and clean energy company Tesla, Blake was offered a job. That’s when he realized he didn’t need a degree to continue doing the work he enjoyed, and he found an even better path for changing the world over time. Without funding or a proper office, he worked out of his parents’ living room for nearly two years on a large-scale government project with Homeland Security.

Today, Blake is the CEO and founder of Brinc, a tech startup based in Las Vegas that he launched at just 17 years old.

After the Route 91 musical festival tragedy in Las Vegas, Blake thought, “Maybe there’s a place for modern technology helping first responders dealing with something like an active shooter attack.” That’s when he began exploring how technology could save lives during critical incidents. The events that occurred on October 1, 2017, shifted the focus of Brinc toward developing technology for public safety and the public good, including creating drones that can fly inside buildings and which helped aid responders after the condominium tower collapse in Surfside, Florida in June of 2021. Growing the company to its current state – it recently raised $25 million in its first significant round of venture capital financing – has been the hardest thing he’s ever done.

For Blake, it’s about continuing to try when nothing is working.

I think almost everything worth doing is extremely hard.”

Big goals, he says, are entirely achievable. “Just start off understanding that, most likely, this is a super painful, multiyear process. But if you’re willing to make that investment, nothing will stop you.”

For more information about the incredible work of Blake’s company, Brinc, go to brincdrones.com. And for more inspirational stories about our Dawson alums, or to share your own amazing alum story, visit adsrm.org/alumni.

“I think you just kind of have to lock it in your brain that you’re just not going to give up. You almost have to convince yourself not to question if this is a good idea. It just has to be obsessive, fanatical focus. I think that’s the honest truth.” The rational thing may have been to quit after a couple of years but, “I think people who end up doing that are, in general, not the ones who succeed,” he explains.

And this is just the beginning for Blake and Brinc. In conjunction with the distinction of being named the youngest honoree on the Forbes Social Impact list for 2022, one of Blake’s broader goals is to make the police helicopter obsolete and bring global emergency response times down to mere seconds. “There’s still so much more we have to do. The day when I see one of my aircrafts flying across the sky to respond to an active emergency, I think that’s going to be a good day.”

Looking back, he says Dawson easily wins as his favorite formal education experience for its community and family-feel type of environment. “It just felt really warm, comfortable, and supportive. It’s a good place to grow up.

One thing Dawson did really well was have a heavy focus on collaboration or teamwork activities and presentations. Those two things are wildly valuable.” Blake remembers learning those important skills specifically through the Future Cities Competition in middle school, an experience he loved. Blake also credits the School for teaching the invaluable math skills he uses most often. “Calculus and linear algebra are great, but CEOs don’t really use those tools a lot. But algebra and basic arithmetic are still pretty relevant, so I think that moved the needle.”

Reflecting personally upon Dawson’s 2021-2022 througline, Blake says Stronger Together means, “It’s really hard to do anything important alone. In order to do things that are meaningful, you’re doing it in a group, working together to get something hard done. I think anything is possible, but 39

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ANNUAL FUND: ALL IN FOR DAWSON

By supporting the School through the Dawson Annual Fund, you help to enrich the educational experiences provided to our students beyond what is possible through tuition alone. There are several areas to which you can contribute to help Dawson as we actualize our Mission and Vision: We welcome donations to the areas of: • Athletics • Access & Affordability • Faculty Professional Development • Innovative & Creative Campus Spaces • All In For Dawson (Any Area Of Greatest Need) Go “All in for Dawson” and give a gift today by visiting adsrm.org/giving or using

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Leadership-Level Donor Reception During the 2020-2021 academic year, we were lucky to have many community members who demonstrated a personal commitment of generosity by donating to our Annual Fund campaign and Homecoming silent auction or serving on one of our Head’s Committees. In recognition, Dawson celebrated these individuals in November with a Leadership-Level Donor Reception in The Ruffin Organic Garden, complete with a student art showcase, music from our middle school orchestra, and student-led tours through our new K-4 Design Lab, which was funded by our amazing Dawson Parent Association. We are grateful for our community’s part in Dawson’s achievements and continued success.

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ALEXANDER DAWSON VISUAL ARTS

ALEXANDER DAWSON

ARTISTS’ CORNER The Dawson visual arts program uses the Teaching for Artistic Behavior (TAB) approach to art education. In EC through second grade with teacher Jude Ross, students are empowered to express themselves as artists and are offered real choices for responding to their own ideas and interests.

They solve problems through their art while asking questions and seeing possibilities within the world around them. In third through eighth grade with teacher Hung Le, students explore different mediums to grow their artistic skillset and navigate creative ideas. Students gain the skills needed to express the message behind their works of art through key components such as self-reflection, developmental growth, and fun.

Nicco LaBella, Second Grade

Parker Brodie, Kindergarten

Aruna Hwang, Kindergarten

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Cooper Miltenberger, Second Grade

Carter Bishop, Second Grade

Claire Park, Early Childhood

Makana Ross, Second Grade

Veda Voscopoulos, Early Childhood Rhys Adair, Early Childhood 45

ALEXANDER DAWSON VISUAL ARTS

7th & 8th Visual Arts Class

Chloe Golden, Seventh Grade

Seventh-Grade Insights Class

Tristan Saxe & Mekyle Mir, Eighth Grade 46

Lillie Berkowitz, Eighth Grade

Lilah Azous, Eighth Grade

Charles Elardi, Eighth Grade

Asher Fine, Eighth Grade

Lilah Azous & Sophia Maxwell, Eighth Grade

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NONPROFIT ORG. US POSTAGE PAID LAS VEGAS, NV PERMIT NO. 302

10845 W. Desert Inn Rd. Las Vegas, NV 89135

DAWSON'S VISION Our graduates will be ready to achieve their individual potential, savor life and meet the challenges of the world.

Learn more at AlexanderDawsonSchool.org or Call (702) 949-3600

facebook.com/AlexanderDawsonSchool

@dawson_bears

@DawsonSchool