! s d n u o B d n a s p a e L y Growing b g, Mat t Glendinnin
Head of Schoo
l
IN 2012, OVER 1,000 members of the Moses Brown
through transformational projects, each shaped by a different
community gathered for a series of generative conversations
belief about what we value as a school, hence the name.
to explore the future of our youngest students, then threeyear-olds in MB’s nursery. Knowing that the world they
We believe in learning through experience, and in applying knowledge to solve real problems.
would find when graduating from college in 2030 would likely
In a world where you can look up any known fact in
be very different from today, we pushed ourselves to address
seconds on your phone, school isn’t just about building
a simple but challenging question: how can a 230-year-old
knowledge; it’s about using that knowledge creatively
school remain true to its time-tested philosophy while also
to solve problems. That’s why we adopted project-based
creating a culture of innovation, one that prepares students
learning school-wide and opened a 5,000-square-foot maker
for jobs that probably don’t exist yet?
space, the Y-Lab—to give students regular practice working
Those discussions resulted in a plan for 21st-century education called MB Believes, and in this issue of Areté, you’ll
in teams, using design thinking to engineer and prototype solutions to open-ended questions.
get a close look at some of the changes we’ve made in lower school as we continue to listen, learn, and evolve.
And they are. Second-graders recently built bridges that would bear a classmate’s weight. To find the best size and
MB Believes identifies three skills that the next generation
design for MB’s school garden, first-graders conducted
of leaders will need to thrive in an interconnected, rapidly
ethnographic research with stakeholders and worked with
changing world: Expert Thinking, Global Awareness, and
upper schoolers to create scale models they then presented
Ethical Leadership. We are fostering those skills in our students
to our Sustainability Committee. CONTINUED INSIDE
e t a r e t I , e p y t o Design, Prot MOSES BROWN’S STRATEGIC
well as MB parents, students, alumni,
In
plan
and teachers—and we’ve kept evolving.
prototyped, and continue to iterate—
initiatives essential to a leading 21st-
This
long-term
just like we teach our students! Below
century education.
planning and real-time adjustment
is a timeline that highlights ways
ensures students will have the full
our plans for the lower school have
advantage of leading-edge programs
unfolded and evolved.
defines
specific
skills
and
Since our initial discernment dialogues in
2012
we’ve
kept
listening—to
industry and educational leaders, as
Assistant Head of School for Academic Affairs Debbie Phipps and Head of School Matt Glendinning.
2012
combination
of
other
words,
we’ve
designed,
and our time-tested values.
Discernment dialogues: What does a nursery-age student need upon graduating college in 2030?
Partnership with Institute for Study and Practice of Non-Violence