ETON EDITION Vol. 35 No. 3
December 2012
From the Head of School
Developing an Informed Community Every school has its own unique culture. An important part of that culture includes the patterns of communication that emerge over time. Those patterns are developed by the ways in which students, parents, teachers, administration, and Trustees interact with each other every day and throughout the year. My personal belief is that great organizations operate at high levels of collaborative, proactive, and transparent communication. Schools, in particular, thrive with diplomatic, positive, and mindful communication that always puts the best interests of students first. In today’s world, the World Wide Web has become the dominant communication technology, and — for any organization — an effective website is indispensable. Different organizations, however, have different needs from a website. For an independent school, an effective website provides information to prospective parents in a visually appealing and useful manner. It also, however, serves a very important function by enhancing opportunities for parents to communicate with the school and to stay informed about their child’s education. A good website combined with an effective communications plan will help parents feel more involved and a part of (rather than apart from) the school community. Such a site would move us closer to one goal of our current Strategic Plan, “Enhance communication to develop an informed, proud and invested community of current and alumni parents and students.” Over the coming months, we will be vetting several different vendors who design and create websites for schools. There are several characteristics that will be essential in the option we choose. We will want our new site to provide good functionality, ease of use, personalization, and responsive design (work well on mobile devices as well as desktops and laptops). In terms of functionality, a good school website will allow parents to easily access the information, calendars, and media pertaining to their child(ren). It will provide teachers with
the ability to safely share classroom activities and student work using a variety of multi-media options. Finally, it will allow the school to build and maintain a closer community with better communication between parents, Eton, and the broader community. This process is an exciting one that will require time and resources, I expect, however, that the rewards will be very worthwhile. Stay tuned! Dr. Russell Smith, Head of School E-mail: russellsmith@etonschool.org
In This Issue Board Corner............................................................... 2 Eton Parent Council................................................... 2 Admission Event......................................................... 3 Check It Out................................................................ 3 Development Office................................................... 4 Annual Auction........................................................... 4 Grandparents and Grand Friends Day................... 5 Eton News..................................................................... 6 From the Library......................................................... 7 Student Activities....................................................... 8 Class News.................................................................. 10
Specialist News.......................................................... 13 Learning Specialist................................................... 18
From the Office......................................................... 19
Eton School Newsletter