Goal V

Growing in courage and confidence

{Goal V . Criterion 1}

Community Understandings

STRENGTHS

There is a strong consensus among constituent groups that all at 91st Street are encouraged to cultivate their strengths, learn from mistakes, and develop empathy especially in the face of challenges {V.1}. Throughout the most challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic, including when New York City was an epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, 91st Street exercised its resilience, adaptability, courage, empathy, and confidence to keep the school open and safe for in-person learning and work. In the spirit of St. Madeleine Sophie Barat, who believed that education is a relational endeavor, our passionate faculty and staff seek to find the loving heart of Jesus in each and every student entrusted to their care.

Every day, both in and out of the classroom, faculty and staff create opportunities and spaces for students to grow in their confidence through courageous hope, effective communication, and future-ready life skills {V.1; V.3; V.6}. In a world of crisis and chaos, each day presents new challenges and our 91st Street educators endeavor to practice and model respectful dialogue, informed and ethical decision-making, creativity, and agility {V.3; V.4; V.6}.

For examples of how 91st Street lives Goal V, please ✦ see pages 46–48.

Figure 9. Areas of Excellence in Goal V

by Criterion. Our community members overwhelmingly feel that they are exhibiting personal growth {V.1} through resiliently responding to the numerous, COVID-era challenges before them, perhaps because the community members strive for respectful, clear communication {V.3} in their interactions with others.

CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES

We live in an ever-changing atmosphere of external forces, and all constituent groups identify the prioritization and promotion of personal growth and a positive school- or work-life balance as a clear opportunity for further growth {V.2}. Faculty and staff look to school leadership to intentionally and prominently model work-life balance and personal growth in an atmosphere of wise freedom {V.7}. Adults and students need stronger social-emotional well-being awareness, learning, and support by the entire 91st Street community, including families. With the increased demand for mental health education—particularly for girls and young women in the age of social media, a digital world, and global pandemic—parent education on these evolving subjects presents an opportunity for continued vigilance.

Students seek a more interconnected and cohesive approach and experience to learning and living at 91st Street, including more consistent and effective inter-grade cross-divisional communication, conversation, and initiatives {V.3}. In particular, Upper School students wish for a more explicit emphasis on choice-driven offerings in community life, broader interaction with people outside the 91st Street community, and cultivating life skills that will serve them in their futures {V.6}. As technology continues to evolve, the school must not only keep up with training and implementation throughout school systems and processes but also anticipate and be forward-thinking in developing skills and ethical use of technology {V.5}.

As faculty and staff anticipate the future, they are conscious of how important ethical discernment is in an atmosphere of wise freedom. There is more work to be done as we inculcate in students a conscientiousness of and responsibility for their digital use and footprint {V.4; V.5}. As graduates, they will need to carry on as empathetic, contemplative listeners, capable of caring for themselves and others.

We also need to be more intentional and strategic about cultivating future leaders among our faculty and staff. Our talented faculty and staff are our greatest resource; looking to external, proven leadership development programs as inspiration, we can provide more encouragement and paths for them to develop as future leaders of the school {V.7}.

Figure 10. Areas of Opportunity in Goal V

by Criterion. While many community members identify the responsible use of technology {V.5} and the cultivation of creativity {V.6} as areas of opportunity, all members, and especially the faculty, are concerned about the overall well-being of the community {V.2} during challenging times.

Shaking Hands & Charges

Students in the Lower School are given multiple opportunities to exhibit wise choices in both work and play. Each day students are greeted by name and taught to look adults in the eye and shake hands, a tradition that promotes politeness and respect for authority. Grade 4 students take on special responsibilities as leaders of the Lower School, proving that they can demonstrate maturity and fulfillment of assigned tasks. These responsibilities foster confidence, as well as the notion that it is crucial to do one’s part and to be a reliable community member. The Courtesy Counts program, an integral part of our daily morning prayers routine, encourages and reminds students to treat classmates, teachers, and all community members with respect, dignity, and care.

Dialogue Framework

The Middle School ✦ dialogue framework promotes open, clear communication in the classroom and beyond, in the hopes of establishing brave spaces for dialogue that lead to understanding. It is understood that each agreement needs to be unpacked with students to maximize their ability to create and nurture the community. All Middle School teachers are trained in this framework and utilize it in their classes.

Digital Citizenship Program

The technology program focuses on three major strands: digital citizenship, operational use, and computational thinking. Digital citizenship teaches safe, ethical and responsible use of technology. In the Lower School, students use the ✦ Internet Traffic Light as a reminder to access websites that are safe, secure, and appropriate. In Grade 8, students use Canva, Piktochart, and/or Infogram to create infographics on a social media topic, such as usingInstagram and Snapchat responsibly, to teach their peers about digital citizenship. The ✦ Social Institute is a new program used by both the Middle and Upper Schools to help students, families, and teachers explore the complex intersection of wellness, technology, and social media.

Community Wellness

Each division implements an age-appropriate wellness program that helps students understand how their overall sense of well-being is informed by several factors—physical, psychological, social, and emotional—and the choices that they make. We are ever-mindful that students benefit from a rigorous academic environment only when their physical and social emotional needs have been met. Departments and teams collaborate to support the students and help them build on the foundations established in earlier grades.

In Grades K-2, students work on developing a positive sense of self through our unique Positively Me! Program, which gives them the tools to develop mindfulness, emotional intelligence, leadership, study skills, healthy habits, executive function, and strong character.

The Lower School psychologist facilitates Banana Splits, which convenes students in Grades 1 -4 who live with either one parent or one parent at a time. The purpose is to build emotional connection among peers with similar family experiences, to offer a safe place to express thoughts and feelings, and to provide some problem-solving strategies.

The Lower School Affinity Group for Students of Color, facilitated by two Lower School teachers of color, is open to students who identify as Black/African-American, African, Asian, Pacific Islander, Southeast Asian, First Nations, Latinx/Hispanic, Greater Middle Eastern, and/or Multiracial. The sessions involve an engaging, student-centered combination of read-alouds, discussions, group games, art projects, celebrations, and field trips. Middle School Wellness, being healthy in mind and body, is an essential component of the curriculum that enables students to develop wellness practices that will serve them as they enter adolescence—a time of rapid change in physical, social, and cognitive development—and form the foundation of healthy adult habits. We work in tandem with parents to educate and support students through these transitions. The ✦ goals of these programs include: ● Providing students with information necessary for safe social decision making ● Empowering students to make choices that are good for them ● Teaching students tools to communicate effectively with others ● Encouraging students to care for their bodies

On Wellness Days, students attend workshops and presentations by experts on nutrition, sexuality education, and personal safety. In addition to Wellness Days, Grade 6 students meet once a week for a wellness course.

406 Facility Privileges provide faculty and staff access to the weight room before and after school and on weekends, free swim hours Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4 to 5 pm, discounted group and private swim instruction for the family, and discounted masters swimming open pool time. The Upper School physical education curriculum focuses on life skills that prepare students for the outside world, such as swimming, CPR/First Aid, self defense, and weight room proficiency. Passing a swim proficiency test is a graduation requirement. Students also receive a full certification in adult CPR/AED and First Aid from the American Heart Association and complete basic self-defense training. The weight room proficiency class provides skills to workout safely and efficiently in hopes of developing a love for exercise and physical activity.

In Life Skills classes with the Upper School Social Worker, Grades 9 and 10 explore biological, socio-cultural, psychological, and spiritual dimensions of human development. The entire Upper School community works with leading clinicians in various fields throughout the year. Students discuss decision-making, peer pressure, sexuality, individuality, identity, families, friendships, community, online media, depression and anxiety, and other aspects of mental health and wellness.

Dogs Hank and Stevie are beloved members of our 91st Street community. Students in each division find time to visit them on the third floor when they can, finding Hank and Stevie therapeutic and soothing when they have been upset or anxious. At times, the Middle School takes Hank outside to join their physical education classes and outings in the park.

Advanced Biology: Biotechnology Ethics Project

Advanced Biology is a rigorous introduction to college-level biology, focusing on cellular and molecular biology, heredity, and evolution, and organisms and populations. Intended for highly motivated students who are willing to devote considerable time and focused attention to learning biology at the first-year college level. Students develop a sophisticated approach to data collection and analysis through laboratory experiments, reinforcing the concepts and mathematical relationships of biology. Students also consider ✦ ethical issues raised in biology and scientific research and their consequences to the health and lives of people as well as the society and environment.

Forensics on Fire

The forensics team, endearingly described as Forensics on Fire, competes annually in local, regional, and national speech and debate tournaments. Opportunities abound to improve ✦ stage presence,

self-confidence, expression, and

public speaking skills, as well as to compete and socialize with students from other schools and regions. In choosing their individual events and preparing for competition, students are challenged to utilize time management, communicate a message that they are passionate about, and give and receive ongoing feedback throughout the season.

Philosophy and Ethics: Logic and Arguments Unit

The course examines the western tradition of philosophical thought and its influence on the Church and Christianity. Students are exposed to the great thinkers and debates of western culture and become familiar with philosophical methodology and terminology. In the first unit on logic and arguments, students study different kinds of arguments used in philosophy, particularly valid and invalid forms of if-then statements. The ✦ 91st Street Moral Machine is a Python program with two purposes: to show students the connection between logic and coding and to get them thinking about ethics, which they’ll study later in the year. Coding is based on if-then statements and the principles of argumentation, with the code acting like premises and the outputs acting like the conclusions. Students code their own CSH-themed moral dilemmas through Python to visualize how incorrect logic (or “control flow” in coding language) can generate bugs or errors and how understanding logic can produce complex, functioning computer programs.

Senior Capstone

As part of the graduation requirements, each Grade 12 student completes a culminating mission-based capstone project that is born out of her engagement with the Goals and Criteria and the progressive plan of studies in the Upper School. It calls on students to integrate and use skills of critical analysis, creativity, leadership, and ethical judgment that have been embedded throughout the Upper School program. Students reflect on and articulate how their Sacred Heart program has helped them identify their individual interests, curiosities, challenges, and gifts and identify a ✦ culminating experience beyond the available curriculum that they engage over the course of senior year that will reflect in-depth research, learning, and a plan of how the student intends to share her intellectual and personal interests to serve the social good.