Academic Excellence
Inside Atrium February 2019
Atrium’s Kind of Excellence
Welcome to the latest edition of Inside Atrium. This year, each issue of our new periodical has embraced a different theme. In the early fall, we chronicled the primacy of joy at Atrium School. Last November, we illuminated how the spirit and practice of innovation deeply informs teaching & learning here. The issue in your hands focuses on academic excellence, and coming this spring we’ll explore the importance of inclusivity and community at Atrium. Collectively, these themes shape a bright constellation of what we value most. It’s a compelling and complex question: just what is excellence in education? Many conversations on this topic, unfortunately, over-focus on words like rigor, acceleration and achievement, and assume that the main ingredients of academic excellence include competition, individualism, linear notions of intelligence, and moving students into curriculum “ahead of grade level”. Instead of catalyzing children’s innate sense of wonder and nurturing the journey of learning itself, benchmarks for success and sources of motivation too often are external to the children themselves. To be sure, education driven by these values can produce excellent outcomes—but just for some. At Atrium, we believe that there are multiple routes to excellence for different kinds of learners, and here we strive for excellence for all. We foster balance, intrinsic curiosity, and collaboration in a receptive and exciting learning environment. Students face unusually challenging tasks and intricate multi-faceted problems, and they wrestle with profound moral dilemmas. I’ve long believed that there is a “hidden secret” to schools like Atrium: even for students who might thrive in the most “demanding” and competitive schools, a progressive education
develops nuance of thought, creativity of expression, and balanced, integrated humanity—superb preparation for the myriad complexities and challenges of life. Recently, a small group of Atrium teachers, administrators, parents and board members gathered to identify what makes our school distinctive, and distinctively excellent. The responses were varied and wonderfully insightful. One contributor wrote, “lessons are a blend of curiosity, creativity, and challenge; students are not merely taught that things happen, but are encouraged to find why and how––with the understanding that failure is an essential part of learning, which allows for academic bravery.” In a similar vein, another noted that “Atrium teachers manage to strike a balance between providing incredible support for students while at the same time really pushing and stretching them. The alchemy of Atrium manages to help young people think broadly about the world and their place within it, and to develop the confidence to put themselves out there and speak up in front of others.” “Ultimately,” a third wrote, “at Atrium, students thrive academically, socially, and emotionally because the school is focused on what we know to be in the best interest of children.” The articles in this issue of Inside Atrium reveal the thoughtful and inspiring architecture of excellence in profoundly student-centered teaching and learning here. Interspersed are writings by our current fifth graders, describing their own first-hand experience of excellence at Atrium. To paraphrase one student’s words, reading this issue will make your synapses fire!
-Marshall Carter, Head of School
Excellence with Joy by Blythe ‘22 When you walk into a classroom, you will see kids wrestling with a challenge with passion. Here at Atrium, students find joy in following their dreams! We help them make it possible.