The Overlaker Magazine - Winter 2024

W I NTE R 2024

ALUMNI AND SCHOOL NEWS FOR THE ENTIRE OVERLAKE COMMUNITY

Teacher Becomes S tudent

W I NTE R 2024

CONTENTS Teacher Becomes Student 8

Teachers reflect and learn more about their own practice with the greater goal of being able to increase student opportunities to learn in the classroom.

ARTS 2 International Thespian Society 3 2024 Arts Calendar SCHOOL NEWS 4 Meet Overlake’s New Director of Experiential Education, José González 5 Farewell, Kent Renno 6 Overlake’s Re-accreditation 7 Preparing for the Next Head of School 13 Updates on Overlake’s Strategic Plan ALUMNI NEWS 17 Class Notes ATHLETICS 18 Fall Sports Wrap-Up

THE OVERLAKER EDITOR: Susan Messier, Director of Communications & Marketing smessier@overlake.org ASST. EDITOR: Tara Mounsey, Communications Associate tmounsey@overlake.org ALUMNI NEWS: Christian Fulghum (’77), Director of Alumni Engagement cfulghum@overlake.org

Dear Overlake Community, It is a tremendous honor to be working at The Overlake School this year as the Interim Head of School. I am impressed by the care and commitment that permeates the campus, and the ways that people work together to support one another and continue to learn and grow.

Schools are unique places since, by definition, we are learning communities marked by selfreflection. We ask students to reflect on their learning, and this year, the school has launched Professional Learning Communities, which are structured collaborative groupings of faculty and staff designed to promote critical reflection on one’s practice.

One of my “go to” thinkers who has heavily influenced the way I lead is Peter Senge. Senge, a professor and systems scientist at MIT’s Sloan School of Management and founder of the Society for Organizational Learning, has shown that when people are learning they are generally more fulfilled and happier at work. When work becomes rote and overly predictable, his research shows, we are less satisfied and more likely to underperform. Senge poses that companies (and schools) need to be Professional Learning Communities (PLC) where team learning, a shared vision, challenge to our mental models, personal mastery, and systems thinking are the five main disciplines that characterize the organization. If we can weave these disciplines into our work, we will create learning organizations marked by high motivation and continual improvement. Critical self-reflection is a central tenet of this work.

The launch of PLC’s is just one part of the theme of self-reflection. We are also writing our self-study for our Northwest Association of Independent Schools (NWAIS) re-accreditation. Every member of the community, including board members, is part of a chapter team. Many are working on chapters that are far from their everyday experiences, such as faculty on the admission or finance or governance chapter teams. By expanding institutional knowledge, we promote systems thinking and learn that all parts of the organization are connected and interdependent. As a school we are involved in a year-long self-reflection to identify our strengths and areas for improvement. We will submit the report to NWAIS in December of 2024 and the visiting committee will be on campus for our re-accreditation in the Spring of 2025.

Finally, as you can read about on our website, the school is busy working on the goals of our Strategic Plan (Coming Together). The four pillars (Well-being, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Institutional Identity and Attract and Retain) that make up the plan, adopted by the Board of Trustees in 2021, are helping us to deepen our commitment to our wholistic view of education. The school remains invested in its whole-child approach, and the strategic plan is helping to guide us in the development of programming and policy to ensure that we are meeting the myriad of needs for today’s Overlake student.

Sarah Lawrence Lightfoot, the Harvard University ethnographer, reminds us in her book, The Good High School, that truly good schools are self-reflective. As you can see from the many endeavors taking place, The Overlake School is taking the time to truly understand how we can continually improve. I hope you enjoy learning about how school is dedicated to not only inculcating life-long learning for our students, but also modeling it as an institution.

Warmly,

ERIC TEMPLE INTERIM HEAD OF SCHOOL

THE OVERLAKER WINTER 2024

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ARTS

Overlake begins the International Thespian Society

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parliament of Middle and Upper School owls are excited about their newly formed troupe as a part of the International Thespian Society.

The International Thespian society has been around for nearly 100 years, “it’s a way to honor student achievement and theater arts. It’s part honor society and part advocacy,” Kera Wright, Arts Faculty and Troupe leader says. “Unfortunately, arts programs are the first things to get cut at many schools when funding is short. This gives students a way to share why it’s important to them and why it matters to keep it going.” Fortunately at Overlake, the arts programs are robust and well supported by the entire community.

To join a troupe, students must be involved in the theater troupe at their school and earn different amounts of points for different levels of involvement. Although points may be earned, for example, at a local theater camp, the majority of points must come from involvement in their school’s theater program.

“I joined the Thespian group because I thought it was a great opportunity for me to have fun with my friends while nurturing my theatrical interests and being able to connect with people who love theatre just as much as I do,” seventh grader and Jr. Thespian President Laasya S. says.

Troupes have been formed at Overlake in years past but have been dormant for several years and Wright is excited to bring it back to Overlake. “I think it’s really beneficial to our students. I know they have a ton going on. I try to make it a low commitment but with a high impact.”

One thing that Wright is looking forward to is taking students to compete in the Thespy awards later this season. The Thespys are a chance for students to compete and get outside feedback on their performances. Students can perform individually or in a partnered scene, but the competition also allows those involved in non-performing theater arts, like costuming and light design, to compete in their own categories.

“There’s a competitive aspect of the Thespys, but it’s more like you are competing against yourself,” Wright says. “The environment is very collaborative and supportive.” Students are scored individually but it also gives them a chance to see how their own

I joined the Thespian group because I thought it was a great opportunity for me to have fun with my friends while nurturing my theatrical interests and being able to connect with people who love theatre just as much as I do.”

LAASYA S., JR. THESPIAN PRESIDENT

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ARTS

2024 ARTS CALENDAR FRIDAY, JANUARY 12

Into the Woods (Upper School Musical) • 7:30pm SATURDAY, JANUARY 13

Into the Woods (Upper School Musical) • 2:30pm/7:30pm SATURDAY, JANUARY 27

Benefit Concert • 7pm FRIDAY, APRIL 19

Upper School Play • 7:30pm SATURDAY, APRIL 20

Upper School Play • 2:30pm/7:30pm WEDNESDAY, MAY 1

Orchestra Concert • 7:30pm Ghostlight was put on by the 7th/8th grade drama class this Fall.

peers are performing, which is especially important for younger students who don’t always have the opportunity to see students of similar age and skill perform.”

“I am excited to go to events like the Thespys because it is a great experience to meet new people and have opportunities to collaborate with my friends to create something amazing,” Laasya S. says.

The troupe is primarily a student driven group which has given way for students to step up in leadership roles. “I have enjoyed seeing the kids step up to the plate to be officers. The program is in its infancy. The kids who are willing to take on that responsibility are really passionate and have really cool ideas for what this program could be and how they can support the theater,” she says.

Although the program is just beginning to blossom this year, Wright is very excited to see where it goes and encourage students as they prepare to compete in the Thespy Awards.

“This will be a new experience for me as well as the kids, but I think if we can continue the momentum it will be very enriching for students and the Overlake community.”

THURSDAY, MAY 2

Upper School Band Concert • 7:30pm FRIDAY, MAY 3

ArtsFest • 3–5pm Upper and Middle Schools Choir Concert • 7:30pm THURSAY, MAY 16

Middle School Strings Spring Concert • 7:30pm FRIDAY, MAY 17

Middle School Bands Spring Concert • 7:30pm FRIDAY, MAY 31

5th & 6th Grade Musical • 7:30pm SATURDAY, JUNE 1

5th & 6th Grade Musical • 2:30pm

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SCHOOL NEWS

Meet Overlake’s New Director of Experiential Education, José González

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verlake has a new Director of Experiential Education, José González.

He joined Overlake this fall and has been digging in and getting to know Overlake. “I’m excited to be here and to get to know the students and go on trips with them and explore the Pacific Northwest!” he says.

Get to know José with some fast facts.

1. Born and raised in Puerto Rico. Married with two boys ages 10 and 13.

2. Has lived and worked in New Hampshire, Illinois, Massachusetts, Florida,

Puerto Rico, and California, just a name a few places. But this is his first time living in the Pacific Northwest!

3. He has logged more than 700 days of experience in the field over his 30-year career in experiential education.

4. Most recently he worked as an assistant professor at California State

Northridge teaching recreational management and entrepreneurship.

He also worked for the Sierra Club as the Risk Management and Strategy Implementation Senior Manager.

5. One time he took a leadership class on an overnight trip to Joshua Tree

To see the evolution and growth of the students, that’s the main reason I am excited to be here.”

JOSÉ GONZÁLEZ DIRECTOR OF EXPERIENTIAL EDUCATION

National Park and the next morning they woke up to an unexpected overnight snowfall they were not prepared for. Sleeping bags were wet from the snow and they still had a four-mile hike back!

6. His passion for the outdoors was sparked during his first experience with the boy scouts. He took his first backpacking trip at age 14 with the scouts and then went back at 16 years old to volunteer to build trails.

7. What is he most excited for about Overlake? Through his career José notes

that he generally only had students for a short amount of time. Typically, around three weeks for a trip or a semester at a time in college. “At Overlake I will get to see the students in fifth grade, sixth grade, all the way to graduation, and see the development throughout the years. To see the evolution and growth of the students, that’s the main reason I am excited to be here.”

8. Nuggets of wisdom learned on the trail: “I learn so much from my students

every time I go out. They teach me how to be more compassionate, how to have resilience and patience. I stay curious and still keep my ‘beginner hat’ on and try to put myself in the place of a novice in the outdoors. That allows me to see the world through their eyes.”

9. What does he never leave home without on a camping trip? His multi tool that includes pliers, screw drivers, knife, etc.

10. Any wildlife encounters? He has seen bison, black bears, moose, nurse sharks, and even great white sharks in the surf break while he was in the water!

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Thank You and Farewell After 24 years and countless outdoor trips, Kent Renno is stepping into his next adventure. Having built the Experiential Education Department into the pillar it is, and influenced students to embrace the outdoors, he will be fondly remembered all around campus, especially on the trails that weave through the grounds. In honor of his tenure, the trail known as the Blue trail will now be called “The Kent Renno Trail.”

In his own words Renno recalls his time at Overlake in the following letter: I still can’t believe that 24 years ago, I first drove up to Overlake because I was asked to be a last-minute trip leader taking a homeroom out on a backpacking trip. I was working as an engineer at Boeing at the time. The parking lot was gravel, the Art Barn was a barn, and without any background checks or driving training, I was given the keys to the old Overlake van and drove off into the mountains. One of the students just happened to be our very own Dr. Sam (Director of Health & Wellness, Samantha Hillyer (’01).

engineering job on a Friday and Saturday morning I left for a Project Week backpacking trip to Utah, and the rest is history.

I loved every minute of it. Someone recently asked me how many trips I led over the years, or how many students I’ve had out in the mountains or on international trips or at retreats or at Field Studies. I’m sure I could do the math to figure it out, but more importantly, were all the connections with students. It’s the reason we all do what we do here. I had a parent write this to me: “I doubt you’ll ever fully grasp the breadth of your influence on the students you’ve mentored. Yours is a precious life’s work.”

I would always joke that all the trips are really all about me, but I do hope (and know) that the students learned a lot about themselves and the world around them. I know I have learned a lot more from all the students and from all the faculty and staff I have worked with over the years. Thank you all for that.

I know I will miss this place, but really, I’ll miss the people and students here. I have thoroughly enjoyed all my time here and do feel good about the future of the EE Department and Overlake.

Something about Overlake and working with students on that trip stuck with me. Eventually (thankfully) I was laid off from my

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SCHOOL NEWS

Overlake’s Re-accreditation

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he Overlake School is engaging in the NWAIS (Northwest Association of Independent Schools) re-accreditation process, which NWAIS member schools use to evaluate the delivery of a quality educational experience to its students, as well as strengthen and sustain resources, staffing, leadership, and put structures in place to allow for continual improvement. This process happens every seven to eight years and is required to maintain our membership in NWAIS. During the year (or in some cases two) prior to the visit from a group of individuals selected to serve on the Visiting Team, the school begins the Self-Study Process. We kicked off our re-accreditation process in August 2023 with a celebratory gathering of the community prior to the start of the 2023–24 academic year. Using some of the time dedicated to adult collaboration, teams have been created, which include all full-time faculty and staff, and are meeting to work on areas of the study called Standards.

Overlake School Re-Accreditation Timeline

AUGUST 2023

Re-accreditation kick-off!

The Overlake School last participated in the NWAIS Re-accreditation process in 2014–15. All documents pertaining to that are located on our website at overlake.org/about.

If you have any questions pertaining to the Overlake School re-accreditation process, please contact the Re-Accreditation Chair, Jessica E. Butler, jbutler@overlake.org.

SEPTEMBER 2023 – MAY 2024

Monthly meetings for work on the Self-Study Report

NWAIS Accreditation Standards • Self-Study Process • School Mission and Culture • School Program • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion • Governance • Administration • Finance • Institutional Advancement • Enrollment Management • Human Resources • School Campus and Facilities • Health, Safety, and Wellness

JUNE 1, 2024

Draft of Self-Study Report to the accreditation chair due for revisions and editing AUGUST – NOVEMBER 2024

Final group meetings and polishing of the Self-Study Report OCTOBER 2024

Preliminary visit from NWAIS Visiting Team occurs (date TBD) DECEMBER 2024

Self-Study Report receives final review and is submitted to NWAIS SPRING 2025

Visiting Team visits campus for final report and review (date TBD)

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SCHOOL NEWS

Preparing for the Next Head of School

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he Overlake community has been under the steady leadership this school year with Interim Head Eric Temple as he prepares the school for the new incoming Head of School Gretchen Warner, who will begin her headship at the start of the 2024–25 school year. “Gretchen and I meet approximately every three weeks virtually,” explains Temple. “I’m excited that she’s joining us for the annual October board retreat and will meet with all school administrators and board members.”

Earlier this fall Warner joined the board of trustees and school administration at a full-day fall retreat to learn updates on the school’s current strategic plan, Coming Together. This plan was adopted by the board beginning with the 2020–21 school year and focuses on four main pillars of work: Well-Being, Attract & Retain, Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion, and Institutional Identity.

“I anticipate second semester our meetings will be more frequent, and we will start digging into more details about the school and its successes and upcoming needs,” explains Temple.

“I’m excited for Gretchen to spend more time on campus second semester so she can get to know this amazing community even more.”

As Warner gets to know Overlake more in the coming months, the community will also get to know its new head. “I am a research and data aficionado who loves to spend time reading about how teachers can use what we know about the neurobiological principles of how students learn so that we can affect learning at the highest levels,” explains Warner. “I dive into research about metacognition and how we can coach this from students in every aspect of their educational process: from the classroom to the field to the stage. I believe passionately that a community where the adults are learning is a community where the students are learning, and as a Head of School I am the lead learner.”

I believe passionately that a community where the adults are learning is a community where the students are learning, and as a Head of School I am the lead learner.”

GRETCHEN WARNER

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PR O F E S S I O N A L LE A R N I N G CO M M U N IT I E S (PLC s)

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Teacher Becomes S tudent

eachers by nature understand learning. They are educated in colleges and universities on various models of pedagogy — learning how teachers teach, as well as various models of curriculum — learning what teachers teach. And when teachers graduate with a teaching degree and certificate, they take that learning into the classroom where they become subject matter experts in both a discipline of learning as well as a grade-level of the learner.

But what if the real learning for teachers began after the degree, in their classroom, with other teachers at their school? What if a

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teacher’s learning began when they started asking questions of themselves about their own teaching methods in their classrooms with their students?

That’s the idea behind professional learning communities, or PLCs. Flavia Vidal, PhD, Overlake’s Director of Teaching and Learning is helping oversee the implementation of PLCs. “Connecting the ongoing professional growth of adults to work that happens in the classroom and then being able to pinpoint the connections between the learning and growth of the adults and the growth of the students.”

PR O F E S S I O N A L LE A R N I N G CO M M U N IT I E S (PLC s)

“No matter how we have been trained, we can continue to grow and learn, which is something we also want to model to our students.”

FLAVIA VIDAL, PhD, DIRECTOR OF TEACHING & LEARNING

Vidal, along with Instructional Coach, Clarissa Toupin, and Kelly Vikstrom-Hoyt, Director of Library and Instructional Technology, have been working prior to this school year to set up a structure to support the PLCs. “This was the main idea behind adult collaboration sessions when I got hired nearly two years ago,” explains Vidal.

doing is through that lens. When teachers really reflect and look at their own practice, like ‘what is happening in my classroom?’

‘Who are the students I have?’ Doing so within a multidisciplinary cohort of your colleagues creates so many positive opportunities for learning and growth both for the students and for teachers.”

The three are joined in their work with PLCs by the MS and US Heads, Assistant US Head, Learning Specialist, Assistant.

Director of Experiential Education, and an academic Department Chair. The team is called the Learning Leadership Collaborative.

“We met last year throughout the year and our first thing was to determine ‘what are we, what are we doing,’” explains Vikstrom-Hoyt. So, they created a mission to guide their work: The LLC generates and supports collaborative initiatives across the school that help translate the big-picture aspirations of Overlake’s mission, values, and vision into viable curricular and pedagogical pursuits to enhance student learning. “Once we came up with that mission it became very clear to us that this was what this time was for — the adult collaboration — and what we want to do moving forward.”

Toupin coaches faculty with the question formulation technique, which requires teachers to ask themselves twenty questions.

“There is a level of discomfort with the method,” admits Toupin.

“It is based on the brain science that usually the first few questions you have about a topic you already know the answer to or it’s full of assumption and bias, but if you keep digging and struggle through eventually you start to find some clarity. You open up your mind a bit and you start thinking about it from a different angle. Many people end up choosing the last few questions they ask themselves.”

Beginning this school year, and continuing into future years, PLCs will be formed and will have regular touchpoints throughout each year, with a large portion of the collaborative work done during Wednesday adult collaboration mornings. Currently Overlake has 22 PLC groups made up of a variety of adults in the community who either teach students or have interaction regularly with students. Each PLC is tackling one of the three main areas of focus for the year: 1) grading and assessment, 2) differentiation, and 3) curriculum standards integration of DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion), Wellness, TRIM (Technology, Research, Information Media), and EE (Experiential Education).

“Our brains are in this mode that we need to go out and find the research and find the best solution to a problem. And when Clarissa got here, we were able to flip that and look inside and see what we are doing and I think that made a lot of sense,” explains Vikstrom-Hoyt.

The PLCs are using a method Instructional Coach Clarissa Toupin describes as practitioner inquiry. “Practitioner inquiry is a pursuit where teachers reflect and learn more about their own practice with the greater goal of being able to increase student opportunities to learn in the classroom. So, everything we are

Once a teacher gets to their question they are to work on, it becomes their investigable question of which they collaborate with their peers to come to better clarity around for the betterment of their teaching and their student’s learning.

For example, a teacher may work in their PLC on their rubric as a piece of data for inquiry.

“Your colleagues would look at the rubric in a collaborative way and would ask questions about what your intentions are for the student outcomes you are looking for,” explains Toupin. “Your colleagues’ insight you get from that is incredible because it’s from other collaborative adults from the same community in a way that you could not ask students.”

Toupin believes, using that example, the outcome for the teacher and the student is a true win-win. “The students have a better understanding not only of the content that they are expected to learn, but they also have a better understanding of the mastery they are expected to show. And that gives them more trust and facility on their own to learn it and with their teacher, so it increases relationships between colleagues as well as between teachers and students.”

Trusting the Process Looking deeply inward into your own professional practice is not typically a comfortable place to be for most people. “It is really

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PR O F E S S I O N A L LE A R N I N G CO M M U N IT I E S (PLC s)

difficult for educators to introspect because we have been trained in the more traditional model of education where we are the experts of our own content areas,” explains Vidal. “This is very much a 20th century model of education. And now with our mission and vision statements that reflect the whole child approach to education and commitment to life-long learning, we start from this place of inquiry and reflection and a real level of understanding that ‘I’m not perfect. I don’t know everything.’”

For anyone experiencing a sense of the unknown, it can be unsettling. “This brings us to a level of vulnerability and questioning everything that we were told that we do so well for so long.

So, it takes courage and vulnerability to even begin this process.

That’s hard,” shares Vidal.

And yet the pain has rewards. “It helps with burnout, with the feeling of being so scattered,” explains Toupin. “It increases retention and satisfaction, these positive spirals that occur from this work. I’ve seen it happen and I’m so happy that we’re starting.”

Looking Ahead As Overlake begins its first formal year with professional learning communities, the goal will be to seamlessly work them into the school year cycle annually. “The research on PLCs is that it takes time for a community to shift from being in a space of not doing

“ Practitioner inquiry is a pursuit where teachers reflect and learn more about their own practice with the greater goal of being able to increase student opportunities to learn in the classroom.”

CLARISSA TOUPIN, INSTRUCTIONAL COACH

that work to doing it. The timeline is usually two years for the time it takes most of a school community to shift,” reflects Vidal.

“I think once we all are better for having gone through it and see the benefits it can have; it will be easier to do again,” explains Vikstrom-Hoyt.

At the time of printing this magazine, the PLCs were just beginning their individual practitioner questions to research. “Teachers are identifying their investigable question,” explains Toupin.

“What is meaningful for them in their classroom, and they have identified a line of data that they can bring to their PLC to share

Meet Overlake’s Instructional Coach

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larissa Toupin joins the Teaching & Learning team as Overlake’s new Instructional Coach. Toupin is taking the lead in assisting faculty with their work in the professional learning communities. And true to the spirit of continual learning among our community, students and adults, Toupin also is spending a good portion of her first-year learning about Overlake. “I have two overarching goals this year: First is to learn about this wonderful community in every capacity I can, and second is to support teachers as a collaborator in any way that is needed.”

Toupin is no stranger to coaching, having worked in various other independent schools for 15 years prior to arriving at Overlake. “An instructional coach is a faculty support position,” describes Toupin. “Coaches work with teachers in a variety of capacities: instructional support, classroom management help, curriculum collaborator, practitioner inquiry coach, idea generator, and more!”

All in all, Toupin believes her work is done in partnership with faculty “in the field”.

“Overlake faculty are caring, hard-working, and independent teachers. The Teaching & Learning Team, of which I am a part, supports teachers through professional development, growth accountability, curricular partnerships, and serve as a direct connection to the mission and vision of the larger community outside the classroom.”

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PR O F E S S I O N A L LE A R N I N G CO M M U N IT I E S (PLC s)

with their colleagues. And we’ll bring a protocol to the PLCs that will provide a structured way for us to look at each other’s work.

This will bring curiosity and that will drive further data collection, and by the end of the year we will have a direction of change for their classroom.”

For Upper School Humanities teacher Tina Proctor, professional learning communities are a familiar way to collaborate. “I’ve done formal PLCs before where I worked on a specific teaching strategy.”

Currently Proctor is working with other Humanities faculty in the PLC grouping that is looking at grading and assessment work. “We are looking to see how our assessments line up with our report card outcomes — the rubric on the report card that students and parents see,” explains Proctor. “In addition, I’m looking at what role Artificial Intelligence plays in our assessment process because a lot of that assessment is going to have to fundamentally change.”

And while Proctor and her colleagues might have more questions than answers at this point in the process, there is some comfort knowing that all faculty are in this work together.

“Collaborating with my colleagues helps me personally take more risks and I’m more comfortable taking risks when I know I’m sharing with someone else. It’s really great to share ideas and disagree, then you get stronger ideas. It’s less isolating and it makes me a better teacher,” says Proctor.

Fellow Upper School Humanities teacher, Karen Parker, is also a veteran when it comes to participation in professional learning communities. While Parker is new to Overlake this year, having a collaborative network of fellow practitioners to bounce ideas off of is not. “At my previous school my PLC for the past two years focused on culturally responsive teaching, where we really delved into Zaretta Hammond’s Ready for Rigor framework,” explains Parker. “It was a great experience working with so many peers as we honed our teaching and instruction. As a new member of the Overlake community, this PLC is not only a great way to get to know teachers outside my department but allows me to talk about and investigate an issue I chose as incredibly important to me as an educator.”

Being able to stay vulnerable with colleagues in this work is crucial to its success, and Parker at times has acknowledged that feeling. “I had to learn to be vulnerable and acknowledge that maybe the way I was doing something in the classroom could be improved upon, and that people outside my discipline could have valuable insight into my practice as an educator even if they weren’t experts in the content,” says Parker. “PLCs are an important tool for educators as it validates much of what we are already doing and gives us the space and processes to engage with big educational questions in a way that promotes positive changes in our own classrooms.”

“ PLCs are an important tool for educators as it validates much of what we are already doing, and gives us the space and processes to engage with big educational questions in a way that promotes positive changes in our own classrooms.”

KAREN PARKER, UPPER SCHOOL HUMANITIES TEACHER

Parker chose to examine the question: What does assessment for equity and justice look like? “While our PLC as a group is exploring this, we are doing this work through the lens of our own practice and classrooms. I’ve had the chance to share resources and data about a recent assessment I gave my 10th graders, and my PLC asked questions and made comments that encouraged me to reflect more deeply about my assessment, specifically in the way I am providing instructions and resources so students know how to be successful.”

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PLC in Action

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verlake’s fifth-grade teaching team is part of a PLC that is hoping to tackle an essential question under the grading and assessments category of How can I shift away from a culture of grades as currency and motivation in my classes?

“Make your classroom a lab,” was one idea thrown out during the Wednesday Adult Collaboration time by 5th grade humanities teacher Robe Roberson. “Maybe eliminate the score on the top of papers and instead have students read the comments; shift the bullseye,” was another idea tossed around in the group.

The overarching work for this PLC is to determine what factors and motivators influence a fifth grader’s enthusiasm for learning.

The team plans to go about this through conducting surveys of their students, asking questions like — I put effort into my science class assignments. Of which 5th grade science teacher, Patricia Noble suggested, “maybe ask about connecting to their future, so asking them if they see a career in science?”

Beyond these surveys, the fifth-grade team will also receive a quarterly self-assessment by the students that reflect on their Citizen Owl values, as well as a Citizen Owl rubric completed by each 5th grade advisor. These will be available for fifth-grade families to see in the student’s report card.

Citizen Owl Values

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he values, which define what it is to be a Citizen Owl are prominently displayed in the fifth-grade classrooms: Compassion, Community, Curiosity, integrity, Respect, and Independence, and each have specific actionable attributes outlining how each value lives in school. While they are similar to Overlake’s overall school values, they are specifically designed for the youngest owls in our community.

COMPASSION

INTEGRITY

• Welcome and greet everyone with kindness and good manners • Cooperate and collaborate with others • Speak and listen to self and others without judgement

• Manage technology appropriately • Admit and own mistakes • Give credit where it’s due

COMMUNITY

• Recognize when apology is needed • Speak positively to self • Stop, THINK, Act CURIOSITY

• Embrace the growth mindset • Ask relevant and respectful questions • Extend learning outside the classroom and make connections

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RESPECT

• Respect self and others in wins and losses • Respect learning space and materials • Respect learning environment INDEPENDENCE

• Advocate for self • Manage schoolwork, supplies and study time • Be an independent problem solver

SCHOOL NEWS

Updates on Overlake’s Strategic Plan The 2023–24 school year is off to a strong start for Overlake’s Strategic Plan as the community enters year four with the goal of completing the current plan by the end of the 2024–25 school year.

Coming Together includes four pillars: Well-Being, Attract & Retain, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, and Institutional Identity. Ongoing progress can be seen on Overlake’s website. In the pages ahead, you’ll learn more about each pillar and the research and data used to measure our success.

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L- B E I N

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Well-Being: The Health & Wellness of Our Community PILLAR LEADER: Dr. Samantha Hillyer, Director of Health & Wellness

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he work in this pillar of the strategic plan is focused on the community’s physical and mental health and well-being. This year, Overlake developed a new health and wellness team to tackle the goals in the pillar. “Already, we have made strides this year to improve the well-being of students and adults here on campus,” explains Dr. Samantha Hillyer, Director of Health and Wellness. I am so excited about the work we get to do around well-being this year, focusing on providing the skills, mindsets, and priorities for students to go out and make the world a better place while still minding their own well-being.”

The Well-Being pillar includes three overarching goals: defining, integrating, and communicating well-being for our Overlake community. As the strategic planning working group for this pillar prioritizes defining wellbeing for Overlake for the first time this year, they are immersing themselves in research about well-being

from K-12 education, higher education, and industry to ensure Overlake’s definition feels relevant here and beyond. The school is conducting focus groups with Middle School students and will move to Upper School to learn more about how students see well-being as they seek to balance it with achievement.

While the team waits to formalize and communicate Overlake’s definition of well-being, they are not standing still with their programming and integration of the work into the life of the school. Programming abounds for students and employees. Time has been carved out in the student schedule for programming during advisory and wellness block time, including a recent assembly on the Culture of Grades and its impact on well-being. Dozens of employees participate in personalized and group physical well-being sessions with Joey Swidler, Overlake’s Strength and Conditioning Coach. (continued next page)

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SCHOOL NEWS Well-Being (continued) From the program side, the school continues to build a curriculum around social-emotional learning (SEL).

This December, five employees attended training at Yale’s RULER program for emotional intelligence and have brought this expertise and content back to campus for implementation. Students at least once a month also have the opportunity to build mindfulness skills through sessions led by a group called Space Between. In addition, Overlake’s Life Skills teacher, Laura Triebold, continues to build on her existing curriculum to emphasize well-being and incorporate sexual health into the program.

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Part of the pillar’s work also includes partnering with parents and guardians. Dr. Hillyer recently partnered

with Overlake’s Student Support office for a discussion with families of ninth graders about implementing well-being practices across school and home.

Finally, the pillar goals include measuring the progress.

One way to do that is through the regular administration of surveys to students. “This year, we will share with families the executive summary of our 2023 student survey, called the the High Achieving Schools Survey (HASS), so that we are prioritizing feedback from students about their well-being,” explains Hillyer.

The HASS survey will run again later this school year.

The employee and family engagement surveys will also have questions related to well-being that can serve as a barometer for success.

Focus on Overlake’s Greatest Asset: Attracting and Retraining Employees PILLAR LEADER: Sean Clark, Director of Human Relations & Controller

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he heart and soul of a school are its people, so the Attract and Retain pillar is particularly urgent and essential in today’s labor and education market.

Overlake has learned a lot from its strategic plan data dashboards that are located on the school’s website.

These dashboards indicate current demographic and employment trends since they were launched last year.

It is common knowledge that global economies have been volatile in recent years, and with them, labor markets. The school is not immune to these effects, such as the “Great Resignation” and the after-effects of COVID-19 on the labor market, not to mention historic inflation and wage growth.

Beginning in 2022, Overlake engaged Compensation Connections to benchmark the school’s salary and benefits packages. From that review, school administrators learned that the school’s benefits package is highly competitive, with special mention of its retirement offerings. Those unfamiliar with schools may not know that compensating employees constitutes about 75% of Overlake’s annual operating budget, so adapting the compensation structure is significant.

This partnership resulted in a new salary scale for faculty benchmarked against publicly available data from three local public-school districts: Lake Washington, Bellevue, and Northshore. For administrative and support staff, supervisors and HR reviewed every job description to benchmark each job description against similar jobs in similar organizations. That work created

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wage bands for all staff positions at the school to provide transparency for current staff and pave the way for a new state requirement on January 1, 2023, to share transparent salary ranges in new job postings.

Overlake will continue to work with a consultant bi-annually to ensure alignment of salaries and benefits with the broader market to ensure it can attract and retain top talent.

Doing this work means building the people power to evolve the school’s HR program to support its employees. To do so, Overlake has expanded its HR presence with dedicated roles of Director of HR and HR/Payroll Coordinator. Again, the strategic plan data dashboards enable transparent tools to monitor hiring, diversity, and retention trends. The HR office continues to systematize hiring and retention processes, including establishing hiring policy standards, developing a “stay interview” guide (as opposed to only interviewing “exiting” employees), continuing to refine the annual Employee Engagement Survey to measure success from what employees say about their engagement with the school, and finally strengthening feedback loops from new hires and current and exiting employees.

The on-going work in this pillar is focused on the best possible experience for Overlake’s employees and, in turn, its students. The school’s strength lies in its employees’ well-being, engagement, ongoing learning, and feelings of support.

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Building Cultural Competency Throughout Our Community PILLAR LEADER: Mahtab Mahmoodzadeh, Directory of Diversity and Inclusion

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verlake historians may recall that the current strategic plan was initially planned to launch in the spring of 2020. Overlake spent the first week of March preparing to shift online during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the strategic plan was briefly shelved to focus on living in our new reality. With the murder of George Floyd in May of 2020, the national conversation on racism in America was ignited anew. Like many institutions, anti-racism work became a top priority for Overlake. Thanks to the hard work of our DEI Office, Overlake already had the DEI pillar of the strategic plan to advance the work of equity and inclusion, so it was launched first in the fall of 2020, with the other three pillars launching in the spring of 2021.

The DEI pillar of the strategic plan calls for Overlake to integrate cultural competency throughout the community: with students through admissions protocols and in-classroom and co-curricular work; with employees through hiring, retention, training, and evaluation processes; in the parent/guardian community through committees, DEI leadership, and training; and in the school leadership teams through professional development for the administration and board of trustees.

Significant work has been accomplished on this pillar to date. Staffing has increased in the DEI Office by adding an Associate Director of DEI and a DEI Curriculum Coordinator. The school has also launched and/or bolstered significant programming around cultural competency curriculum through the DEJI program and affinity programming across 15+ affinities. Overlake’s Admissions team has engaged in rethinking the process to admit, accept, and yield students at Overlake and building relationships with more local schools to support the school’s admissions pipeline. Driven by the DEI pillar, the school also launched the first three strategic plan data dashboards that include student and employee demographics, as well as employee retention.

This year, the school is focusing on hiring and the retaining of employees, specifically in growing culturally competent employees as well as increasing ethnoracial representation of underrepresented faculty and staff. The work in this pillar includes defining how Overlake assesses socioeconomic diversity and what actions will be taken to increase economic diversity.

It is a privilege to attend Overlake, and the school is

Measuring Success – Overlake’s Institutional Research Program When Overlake celebrated 50 years during the 2017–18 school year, volunteers with the Board of Trustees began the school’s focus on institutional research. “That year, we began serving our constituents in a rigorous, methodical, and privacy-oriented fashion to understand how our constituents feel about the school,” explains Jay Heath, Director of Technology since 2015 and now also the Director of Institutional Research and Strategic Plan Management.

Overlake conducted employee and parent/guardian engagement surveys.

“This year, we will run our third family engagement survey since 2017–18, our third student survey since 2021–22, and our fourth employee engagement survey since 2018–19,” explains Heath. “Working with industry leaders like Qualtrics and informed by the work of the Center for Institutional Research in Independent Schools, these longitudinal surveys are key metrics that allow us to understand the experience of our constituents and how they feel about different areas of the school.”

These surveys give Overlake essential data to measure success across pillars of the strategic plan as well as other areas of the school.

Next school year Overlake’s alums will be another constituency brought into the process of ongoing research.

“As another significant piece of our strategic plan unfolds in the Institutional Identity pillar, Overlake’s Portrait of a Graduate, who better to answer the value and outcomes of an Overlake education than our alumni?” remarks Heath. “We are excited to continue working with the alumni relations office, as well as our alumni board, to build a longitudinal understanding of how Overlake alums walk in the world after their time here.”

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SCHOOL NEWS Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (continued) mission-aligned to provide greater access of an Overlake education to more students. The current capital campaign, Doors to Discovery, directly supports this work by growing the financial aid endowment to ensure current and future students’ financial needs may be fully met.

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As Overlake considers the diversity of its employee body alongside its student body, the dashboards indicate the school has grown increasingly diverse over the last few decades. At the time of publishing, 72% of its students identify as a race other than white or decline to answer. Faculty and staff of color represent about 30% of the school’s employees. Work in this pillar includes adding a new admissions-focused dashboard that will allow Overlake to better under-

stand its admissions pipeline, from inquiries to applicants to accepted students, and those who stay a short period at Overlake, or long period through graduation.

This work is at a time many states are increasingly passing laws affecting transgender students and gender-affirming care. It’s also during a racial reckoning ignited by Floyd’s murder, and the increasingly controversy in the national discourse with the popularization and polarization of “Critical Race Theory” or CRT. Overlake remains committed to this work and as part of the school’s values, mission, and vision, understands that building a diverse school that creates belonging and inclusion for all members builds a stronger community for past, current, and future Overlakers to be part of.

Institutional Identity: The Why and What of Being an OWL

PILLAR CO-LEADERS: Dr. Flavia Vidal, Director of Teaching & Learning, and Susan Messier, Director of Marketing

& Communications

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he first task of the Institutional Identity pillar of was to come up with the school’s new mission statement and first-ever vision statement. These statements, approved by the Board of Trustees in 2002, help reaffirm Overlake’s values (compassion, curiosity, inclusion & equity, integrity, mutual respect) and identity as a strong, wide-reaching liberal arts school, pointing the way for the transformational work of educating students in the 21st century. They represent why we exist as an institution and why an Overlake education is needed and relevant.

With the new mission and vision statements ready, the next step in the Institutional Identity pillar has been to develop a Portrait of a Graduate (PoG): an articulation of the traits and competencies that a student will acquire during their time at Overlake and that they will rely upon in multiple aspects of their adult lives. In the 2022–23 school year, we formed a Portrait of a Graduate Task Force comprising of faculty, staff, students, and administrators and engaged every academic department, co-curricular program, and office team in discussing and answering four framing questions at the heart of the Portrait of a Graduate process: What should an Overlake graduate know?

Understand? Be able to do with their knowledge/ understandings? How will they apply their knowledge/ understandings to the real world?

During this school year (2023–24), the PoG Task Force has been sorting through all the responses we

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received to these questions and, once again, engaging our campus community in identifying the most prevalent themes that emerged. We are also beginning to connect these themes to specific learning competencies that they represent. For example, a popular theme was the idea that Overlake graduates should be able to gather information and data from multiple sources, analyze their value, and document them carefully, therefore demonstrating critical-thinking, analytical skills, and ethical competencies. Another emerging theme posits that Overlake graduates have the communication skills, empathy, and intercultural competencies that will allow them to interact productively with multiple people in a global society.

The Portrait of a Graduate will then guide a deep and broad curriculum review during the 2024–25 school year. We will measure what we currently do in relation to the Portrait’s aspirations and make the necessary changes to our program to align our teaching to the learning goals we will have for each student. Externally, the PoG will help us differentiate ourselves from other independent schools and better communicate who we are and what we do to prospective students and families.

All in all, this process will help us recruit and attract new owlets who are a match for our school community, provide them with a transformational education as they grow and learn during their time here, and continue to define who they are as adult Owls once they leave.

ALUMNI

CLASS NOTES 1970s

2000s Congratulations to Sahar Fathi (’01), the recipient of this year’s Distinguished Alumni Award.

Sahar addressed the entire student body, faculty, and staff on November 3.

Jeff Anthony (’76) has relocated to Coeur D’Alene, Idaho, with his family.

Congratulations to Spafford Robbins (’77) on his engagement to Raymond Gastil.

The two plan to make their home together in Seattle.

1980s We regret to share that Sandra Nanette Miller (’80) passed away earlier this year.

Sandi’s stepfather Glenn Miller was a trustee at Overlake, and her younger brother Tony (’92) is also an Owl alum. There will be a celebration of life on July 20, 2024, in the Whitten Math & Sciences Center on campus.

Please contact alumni@overlake.org if you would like to attend.

Mark Bain (’84) and his family recently visited campus from their home in Switzerland. Mark is a sound artist who uses seismic inputs to create live performance art.

1990s Greg Bamford (’92) is heading up the new Sustainability Committee of the Overlake Board of Trustees, along with faculty, parents, and students. The idea for a Sustainability Committee was brought to the Board by the school’s Environmental Club, which is advised by Gerald Blycker.

Carrie Brownstein (’92) and her band Sleater-Kinney will play two nights at The Showbox in Seattle next April as part of their national tour.

Mohamed Rali Badissy (’98) reports that he and his family are relocating from Pennsylvania to the Seattle area. Mohamed is an attorney and sustainable energy scholar, advisor, and advocate.

Finya Swai (’16) has joined Overlake’s staff as our new Justice and Belonging Fellow.

Grace Fujinaga (’19) is a member of the Penn Women’s Lacrosse Team that won the Ivy League. Congratulations to Grace and her team!

Congratulations to Jaq Nordhoff (’19) selected as the NESCAC Player of the Year.

She served as Captain on the Williams College Womens Soccer Team.

Congratulations to Alumni Board President Kate Berry (’08) and her husband Tom Austin on the arrival of their first child, Samuel.

2010s Kevin Bush (’10) found his company Molten Industries being tweeted enthusiastically by Bill Gates recently. Gates was citing the company’s innovation in bringing energy solutions for a zero emissions future to market.

Kevin Sample (’12) shares that he is now living in Baltimore, Maryland, where he works as a strategy consultant. In a recent email he recalled his Project Week experience traveling with Janet Rothfels and his Latin Class.

Congratulations to Andrew Gold (’14) and his wife Andie on the arrival of their first child, Leo. Julia Turner (’15) will take a yearlong leave of absence from her PhD at the Northwestern University School of Education and Social policy to join the White House Council of Economic Advisers as a Staff Economist.

She was previously awarded an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship.

2020s Congratulations to Lucas Brito (’20) who was awarded the Goldwater Scholarship in Physics at Brown University.

Faculty & Staff Kent Renno, Director of Experiential Education, retired from Overlake in October after 24 years. You can read a short interview with him here. See page 5.

Alum parent Patty Stonesifer (Matt (’99) and Sandy (’02)) was named interim CEO of The Washington Post. Patty was founding chief executive of the Gates Foundation, and more recently the director of the Amazon board, according to the Seattle Times. Thanks to former faculty member Ellen Zarter for the tip!

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ATHLETICS

Fall Sports Wrap-Up

For complete season results, go to overlakeowls.com.

CROSS COUNTRY

Coach Colton Umberger (’14)

2023 CROSS COUNTRY ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS BOYS’ CROSS COUNTRY FIRST TEAM

Jack K. (’24) Keith H. (’24) Aleksy U. (’24) GIRLS’ CROSS COUNTRY FIRST TEAM

Avani B. (’25) Sarah G. (’24) Sae K. (’26)

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ur Overlake Cross Country team welcomed new coach Dave Parsons this year.

While this was Parsons first year coaching Upper School, he has coached our Middle School team for 12 years and been a runner himself since circa 1964! Under his leadership, the cross country team is making a run at State this year! Adding to the team’s success was the Twilight Invitational, where many team members gained new personal bests.

Parsons also noted that, “We have had some exceptional seniors as team captains this year — Keith H., Jack K. and Aleksy U. for the boys, and with Sarah G. and Talia W. for the girls.” With these great student leaders, the whole group was positive, hard-working and fun to be with. Parsons added “I would like to thank my assistant coaches — Dan Evans, Katie Hill and Chris Hayes — the students have benefitted from a very experienced coaching team.”

While next season looks to be very different without the eleven graduation seniors, there are strong runners joining from Middle School and the rest of the current team looks to return stronger and faster.

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ATHLETICS

BOYS’ GOLF

Coach Justin Prohn

The Boys’ Golf team had another meaningful season with Coach Justin Prohn. Prohn shared, “This was a real fun group to coach.

We were a young team, but we really liked each other and genuinely rooted for each other all the time.” A special memory for Prohn was “a match at Bear Creek Country Club and the boys all sitting together laughing and cheering on their teammates coming up on the 9th hole. It was just a good moment to see a group of kids smiling and enjoying their company!”

feeling this team has “a real special bond that I haven’t seen in a long time at Overlake.”

This young team is gearing up for a bright future. The 2023 season has been a learning experience for them, as they worked through challenges and developed their skills, setting the stage for future success. Prohn is looking forward to next season,

The golf team is in a good place to find success next year and continued improvement for all the team members.

Prohn wanted to put in a special mention for team Captain Amir S (’26), who excelled in communicating with the team and kept things fun and relaxed for his teammates. Also, Zidan S (’27) was a medalist in two matches and Prohn shared “is as competitive of a person as I’ve ever coached and I’m excited to see what the future holds for him.”

GIRLS’ SOCCER Coach Sally Goodspeed

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he Girls’ Soccer team was proud to be honored this year with the league Sportsmanship Award. While on paper their record wasn’t all they might have wished, the team battled hard in every game and improved as the season progressed.

Coach Sally Goodspeed remembers, “Senior day was a highlight.

We had our MS girls participate in the pregame walkout, then had a great game on the field with a 4–0 shutout win and a great celebration of our four seniors (Sadie W., Noni C., Libby L. and Bess H.) with speeches from teammates honoring them.”

Teamwork and team spirit remained high throughout the season, and the team showed resilience and a never give up attitude.

Goodspeed also wanted to thank the Overlake community for coming out and supporting the team throughout the season!

2023 GIRLS’ SOCCER ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS FIRST TEAM

TEAM

Audrey G. (’25)

Sportsmanship Award

THIRD TEAM

Libby L. (’24)

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ATHLETICS

BOYS’ TENNIS

Coach Jeff Loranger

2023 BOYS’ TENNIS ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS SINGLES

Rishi S. (’26) Henry Z. (’26) DOUBLES

Ben T. (’26) Avery V. (’24) TEAM

Bi-District Champions

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oach Jeff Loranger’s 12th season as Boys’ Tennis coach saw the team have great success on the courts, finishing second in the league. Senior Captain Avery V. was a great role model for the team, and he helped maintain a competitive environment while keeping the players understanding that they are team.

Loranger was impressed with the team’s cohesiveness, “our team created a nice bond as we have a bunch of different ages and personalities. They have constantly cheered each other on, and some have even tried taking on the role of assistant coach, giving each other advice during practices or matches.”

A highlight of the season for Loranger was “the home match against University Prep for the league title. They had beaten us earlier in the season which meant we needed to defeat them to have a share of first place. Unfortunately, we did not win, but it was one of the most competitive matches our program has been a part of in quite a while. Each individual match was high quality tennis and could have gone either way that day.”

Next season looks to bring even more success as this young team will be working off-season to improve their skills.

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ATHLETICS

GIRLS’ VOLLEYBALL Coach Mindy McGrath

2023 GIRLS’ VOLLEYBALL ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS FIRST TEAM

Carolyn D. (’24)

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verlake Volleyball enjoyed a strong season with fifth year coach Mindy McGrath.

The team also boasted very strong team captains; seniors Carolyn D., Jiali G., Anika K., and Sylvia L. were incredible team leaders. The captains were consistently organized, inspirational, and always looking for ways to bring the team together on and off the court.

The home games were especially memorable, and McGrath appreciates the supportive families and greater community that consistently show up for the team. Reflecting on her coaching tenure, McGrath shares, “In true form, every team and every season is unique and different. I really love the relationships built and watching our program grow and change. It’s a magical sport that teaches so much more than just volleyball skills.”

This year’s team truly enjoyed and learned from one another both on and off the court.

An early season trip to Yakima helped set the tone for the special season they shared.

McGrath feels this season was “eventful, exciting, joyful…and maybe a little wacky!”

While she knows they will miss their graduating seniors, McGrath is looking forward to seeing growth in the returning players for next year’s team.

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ATHLETICS

BOYS’ ULTIMATE

Coach John Quandt

2023 BOYS’ ULTIMATE ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS FIRST TEAM

Aidan R. (’24) Elliot K. (’27)

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he Boys’ Ultimate team welcomed new Coach Ben Ostman this year. Previously, Ostman coached his former high school ultimate team after he graduated, and then went on to do the same thing after college at The University of Central Florida. He also currently plays ultimate at the club level and has been playing for over a decade.

In recalling a highlight from this season, Ostman shares, “In the very middle of our season, we had a late, away game against Northwest. The game went down to the wire, under the lights, and it was the best second half that we played all season. It was a testament to this team’s resilience and skill that we were able to fight back into the game and come out with an outcome we could be proud of.” Ostman also credits his team’s senior players with the great experiences the team shared, “Evan S. and John B. have used their positions as captains to set the tone for the entire season! That said, all our seniors have been a coach’s dream, and have been representing the school admirably, all season.”

With this season over, Ostman is looking ahead to next year, as the younger players step up into bigger roles and grow into the example set by this year’s upperclassmen. Ostman shares, “I am so proud of this whole program. Our players and coaches have stepped up in huge ways to start building ultimate at Overlake into the program they’d like to see in the future!”

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