Voyager II- Village Newsletter

VOYAGER THE

VOLUME II , ISSUE I 2017-2018

The Village School, founded in 1966, has a tradition of rigorous and highly personalized learning paired with hands-on innovative methods of teaching. The Village School offers an American educational experience to its diverse and international student body who represent six continents and more than 60 countries. The Village School is known for its excellence in math and science, and its collaboration with The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which will enhance its widely-recognized STEAM curriculum. The Village School is a proud member of Nord Anglia Education, which operates a network of schools globally consisting of more than 38,000 students across 16 countries. Our dedicated and caring faculty and staff continue to prepare students for future success at the most prestigious colleges and universities throughout the world. We are fully accredited by the Texas Associa­tion of Accredited Private Schools.

THE VILLAGE SCHOOL MISSION STATEMENT The Village School is an international community committed to developing inquisitive lifelong learners prepared to think critically, to collaborate genuinely, and to give of themselves generously, as they prepare to lead the next generation into an ever-changing world.

THE VILLAGE SCHOOL ADMINISTRATIVE TEAM Gabriella Rowe, Head of School David Randolph, Managing Director Kim Healy, Senior Director of Campus Coordination Paige Harris, Senior Director of Communications and Marketing Dustin Embrey, Assistant Vice President- Athletics & Partnerships, The Americas Region Jen McMahon, Director of Admissions

Carl Newman, High School Director Cindy Proske, Middle School Director Kelly Broaddus, Elementary School Director Cynthia Bohrer, Early Childhood Director Judi Klausmeyer, Athletic Director Michael Barber, Fine Arts Director Merry Davis, Executive Assistant

STAY CONNECTED

@TheVillageSchoolTX @VillageVikings @VillageVikings EDITOR / LAYOUT Nick Petito, Communications Manager CONTRIBUTORS Paige Harris, Senior Director of Communications and Marketing Samantha Desmarais, Assistant Director of Communications and Marketing Alicia Merrifield, Viking Media Advisor Caresse VanPelt, IB Visual Art Instructor Rachel Sloan, Marketing and Social Media Coordinator Viking Media

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IN THIS ISSUE 04 From the Head of School 08 Innovating Education 16 What Diploma is Right For Me? 18 Faculty Spotlight 24 Service Learning in the Community 30 Past Perspective The Voyager | 3

MESSAGE FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL Dear Village School Family Members: It is fair to say that the 2017-18 school year has been unlike any other. Shortly after we started, the devastation of Hurricane Harvey impacted our community and the city of Houston. Our families and staff members were all affected in some way, but we stuck together and rallied around the strength of our families, faculty and staff. Many of you opened your homes to friends and strangers, donated goods and volunteered your time. The donations we received were able to help our families and families across the entire city as we brought truckloads of items to different drop-off locations. While we are still dealing with the aftermath of Harvey, our spirit and resolve as a community continue to shine as we move forward.

At The Village School, we spend a lot of time thinking about what moving forward actually means and what it looks like. We ask ourselves the questionwhat will tomorrow bring for our students? What will jobs of the future look like? How do we teach our students the skills they need to be successful in jobs that have not been created yet? The Village School is at the forefront for this type of forward thinking. We continue to rethink education in order to prepare our students for their future. Not only will Village students be prepared to think critically and solve real-world problems, but they will also understand the value of collaboration, creativity and innovation. They are active in the community and explore different ways to serve those around them through their volunteer and humanitarian efforts. Village students embrace that challenge and go beyond what is required, aspiring to make a difference in the world around them.

The Village School has adopted and implemented teaching methods that develop these skills through STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) education. From our partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), The Juilliard School and the on-campus makerspaces that are being developed, our students will experience a hands-on approach to project-based learning through STEAM education. This learning philosophy goes beyond content mastery and teaches the skills our young people need in order to be prepared for higher education and their professional life.

At the very heart of The Village School is our diverse community. With students from more than 60 countries, we are truly an international community that celebrates our cultural differences. Our students gain a greater worldly understanding and sensitivity because they go to Village. Even though we are an international community, we still have American values and traditions to combine the best of both worlds so we can provide our students with a rich experience. These characteristics define who we are, how we learn and the holistic approach to developing inquisitive lifelong learners.

Gabrielle Rowe Head of School

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We are Determined.

We are Growing.

With each passing year, The Village School has seen major improvements to our physical campus. These improvements are part of a strategic plan that will provide state-of-the-art facilities that enhance student learning, house our residential program, develop our athletes and improve campus life for our Village community.

Since the start of the 2015-16 school year, we opened Viking Field, which is our turfed outdoor stadium that is fully equipped with stadium bleachers, a press box and a state of the art scoreboard.

That same year, we opened our Village Tennis Center, a six-court facility that is not only home to our Village tennis teams, but a space our entire community and PE programs have been able to enjoy. The following year we opened our new track, which circles Viking Field. The track has eight lanes, and our teams utilize it fully by practicing on campus. We also look forward to hosting track and field meets in the future.

In December of 2016, we broke ground on our dormitory for our residential life program and our new athletic center which will include a competition gym, indoor swimming pool, locker rooms, classrooms. The indoor swimming pool will be a great addition to campus, allowing for our middle school and high school teams to practice on site. Our partnership with Energy Core Swimming has already helped show tremendous growth in our swim program, and we are confident that the new swimming facility will spark even

greater excitement throughout the school.

The competition gym will allow for more seating, locker room space and a larger weight room. The facility will allow us to host volleyball and basketball events that will attract people from all over the city to our wonderful campus. It will also have the capability of splitting the court with a drop-down, allowing multiple teams to practice together. With a larger space available to us, the new gym will be a substantial improvement that will better serve our talented student-athletes and teams.

“These improvements are part of a strategic plan that will provide state-ofthe-art facilities that enhance student learning, house our residential program, develop our athletes and improve campus life for our Village community.�

We are Not Done.

The Village School is still making strategic decisions that will improve the quality of life, learning and efficiency on our campus.

In the near future, our community will see added parking on campus. We have plans to build a centralized visitor welcome center that will house our admissions and administrative team along with many more additions.

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Innovating

Education

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From Project-Based to Place-Based Learning A successful and relevant curriculum which prepares our students for the 21st century should involve an evolution of learning where students can progress from project-based learning through collaborative exploration, to problembased learning which focuses on real-world problems, and ultimately to place-based learning where students learn by doing.

Through project-based learning, students work beyond the traditional approach of teacher-assigned projects and learn through a student-centered model where collaboration, communication and creativity are emphasized. With this multi-disciplinary approach, students acquire a deeper knowledge through active exploration.

After mastering project-based learning students are able to transition to problem-based learning where real world problems are the focus. Students are challenged to construct solutions to complex problems by asking questions such as “Why does this problem exist?” “What can I do differently that creates a meaningful solution?” Problem-based learning prepares students to be life-long learners with an emphasis on goal-setting, personal accountability and knowledge of appropriate resources for research.

Place-based learning means going beyond the walls of the schoolhouse, allowing students to connect with real world environments and experiences. Students are exposed to place-based learning in a variety of ways: field trips, Global Campus challenges, our collaborations with MIT and Juilliard. In addition, we offer opportunities for our students to learn from outside professionals through our internship program. Students have the option to work as interns in area hospitals, research labs, law firms, real estate agencies, engineering firms etc. to gain knowledge and establish connections in the field.

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The Village School Internship Program

By Ken Cohen, Director of Student Internship Programs

During the summer of 2017, in its second year, The Village School Student Internship Program placed 35+ students in amazing opportunities at local hospitals, companies and professional service firms in their fields of choice. This represents more than twice the number of students placed in the schools’ first year pilot of the Student Internship Program.

Village again facilitated internship opportunities for students at The Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation, Adam Henderson Law Firm, Texas Children’s Hospital, Bursys Group, and a significant number of others, including Methodist Hospital, Enventure, E&J Energy Services, Parkway Insurance, Energy Corridor District, Apex Resources and many more.

A vital part of education happens when students apply what they have learned in the classroom in a work setting. Education leaders are encouraging students to engage in real-world work environments and employers are offering these experiences in the form of internships and are engaging students in experiential learning opportunities. While many internship opportunities are directly connected to our Entrepreneurship Diploma Program, positions are open to all students. By participating in these opportunities, students are able to experience different professional situations that allow them to discover what they want to do and, equally importantly what they want to know more about.

According to research from an Accenture Employment Study, 72 percent of students participate in an internship during college.

The opportunities Village creates for its students provides a material advantage for their future careers and increasing number of students are taking on internship opportunities during the academic year in social media, journalism and as assistants to the school’s Certified Athletic Trainer.

“My internship with the Foundation was both enlightening and fun. I got to have a first-hand perspective of what it’s like to work in an office and see how employees collaborate as they work together towards a common goal. It was especially interesting to learn about how a foundation operates and how every person has an important role to play. What was eye opening for me was the ease with which I was able to talk with and get to know the people at the office. There is no way to work in an office and not interact with a member of the group because it’s entirely a team effort when completing an assignment. What I’ll take with me from this experience, and use as much as possible in the future, are my new social and teamwork skills, as well as a self confidence that I have benefited from already, thanks to the amazing crew of the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation,” Barbara Bush Literacy Foundation Intern Ida Bruun said.

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Place Based

Education

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MY VILLAGE STORY

BY BEN ABUEG, CLASS OF 2018

The Village School has offered me every opportunity I could ask for, and there can be no success without opportunity. Every accomplishment of my high school career began as a challenge, a tribulation, an opportunity.

I am a varsity athlete in three sports, a musician, a National Merit Scholar, and an International Baccalaureate Diploma candidate. To have academics, athletics, and fine arts in my schedule is challenging, but it’s always been my choice. Not many schools would encourage students to do what I do, and I admit it’s never easy.

However, no one forced me into anything. Playing three seasons of varsity sports, organizing a drumline, rehearsing for performances, and taking the full IB program are completely optional. I have every chance to say, “No, it’s okay. I already have enough on my schedule.” There were countless times when I wanted to.

I would feel the urge to quit; the urge to give into stress; the urge to give into fatigue; the urge to give in. Yet these were also times when I had help.

Teachers, coaches, and mentors alway remind me of my passions. They were my motivation to keep going, to keep the fire burning. Running, basketball, percussion, literature, and science: they tear me apart week after week -- but I love them. Why can’t I do all of them?

The commitment is immensely stressful, but does that mean it’s not worth trying? My coaches, my teachers, my mentors, they reminded me to keep trying. They remind me that I love what I do, and that I should never forget it.

At the end of 8th grade, I didn’t know where I was going to high school. I was zoned to another school because of where I lived, and to my parents it was a no-brainer; two-minute walk to school, good academics, and the traditional American experience. But in May of 2014, the final days of school, and I had to make a decision.

My coach from middle school, Coach Harvey, sat me down in his office and talked to me about what I wanted.

I didn’t know much at the time, but I did know that I

wanted to play college basketball. He sat there as I told him my childhood dream, and then my coach said some things I would never forget.

He told me nothing was guaranteed. He said if I worked hard enough, then I could probably play college basketball. But he said that he couldn’t guarantee it.

I replied that I understood, with a sullen attitude, and reassured him that I would work as hard as I could. He looked at me, and smiled. He said, “but I can guarantee you one thing. If you come to high school here, I promise you’ll have every opportunity to change your path. I’ll help you do anything you want.” A year later, my dream changed. Two years later, I started on the varsity basketball team. Three years later, I played in a marching band for the National Memorial Day Parade in Washington D. C. Four years later, I received an academic and athletic scholarship to run track for The Colorado School of Mines.

“There were so many things I loved to do in middle school that I thought would fade away. By continuing high school at Village, they never did.”

Going into high school, I didn’t really know what I wanted. There were so many things I loved to do in middle school that I thought would fade away. By continuing high school at Village, they never did. My journey began with that talk I had with my coach. He promised me that I could be whatever I wanted. He gave me the opportunity to be a musician, an athlete, a full IB student, and, most importantly, a Viking.

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WHICH DIPLOMA International Baccalaureate Diploma The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) is an academically challenging programme of education, with final examinations, that prepares students aged 16 to 19 for success at university and in life beyond.

The programme has gained recognition and respect from the world’s leading universities.

IBDP students must choose one subject from each of the five groups, ensuring breadth of knowledge and understanding in their best language, additional language(s), the social sciences, the experimental sciences, and mathematics. Students must also choose either an arts subject from group 6, or a second subject from groups 1 to 5. IBDP courses can be taken at higher level, or standard level.

At least three, and not more than four, are taken at higher level, while the remaining courses are taken at standard level.

The IBDP also features three core elements that broaden students’ educational experience. IBDP students write an extended essay (EE), a 4,000 word paper that requires them to engage in independent research through an indepth study of a question relating to one of the IBDP subjects they are studying. They take Theory of knowledge (TOK), a course which develops a coherent approach to learning that unifies the academic disciplines.

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activities, which help them develop their own identities in accordance with the ethical principles embodied in the IB mission statement and the IB learner profile.

Students take written examinations at the end of the programme, which are marked by external IB examiners.

Students also complete assessment tasks in the school. The grades awarded for each course range from 1 (lowest) to 7 (highest). Students can also be awarded up to three additional points for their combined results on TOK and the EE. The diploma is awarded to students who gain at least 24 points, subject to certain minimum levels of performance across the whole programme and to satisfactory participation in the CAS requirement.

The IBDP is well-known throughout the world for the high quality of the coursework it offers. The strength of the IB curriculum, as well as the extensive training that IB teachers and school administrators are required to undergo, help the program to maintain this high standard.

Village Diploma The Village track is a diploma option for all high school students. This option is flexible in terms of allowing our students to specialize in areas of his or her strength. For example, a student has the option to enroll in multiple IB subjects of the same department. So if a student is particularly strong in science and wants to be challenged and de-

IS RIGHT FOR ME? velop in that area, he or she can take IB classes in biology, chemistry, physics and ESS. Conversely, if a student finds certain subject matter too difficult, our non-IB courses will provide a more appropriate challenge. Giving our students this flexibility allows them to balance their schedule in a way that allows them to be successful. It also allows more time that they can dedicate to extracurricular activities.

Entrepeneurship Diploma In the context of our 21st-century, globalized world – a world in which machines and artificial intelligence seem to be a part of our everyday lives – what knowledge and skills are the most crucial for our students to develop as they embark on their own career paths and create their own futures? Thinking for yourself, and having the curiosity – and courage – to think outside the box, is foundational to developing the entrepreneur’s mindset.

As an entrepreneur, I personally understand the value of thinking like an entrepreneur. As an educational leader, I am passionate about teaching students the skills needed to be entrepreneurs. For me, these skills are self-actualization, adaptive leadership, systems thinking, creativity, and innovation. The purpose of Village’s Entrepreneurship Diploma (ED), is to promote these skills in students, preparing them today, with the skill-sets needed to navigate, and create the jobs of tomorrow.

Recognizing the need for a cutting edge, innovative, and

rigorous education that prepares students with the critical thinking, professional, and leadership skills to create and perform in the jobs of tomorrow and navigate the business trends of an ever-changing, global economy. The Village School launched the Entrepreneurship Diploma with Founding Partner Bridges to Wealth at The Wharton School. The ED enables students to maximize their fullest potential, develop the self-awareness skills to navigate changing situations and events, and connect the dots across disciplines to enhance innovation. These skills are crucial in our globalized economy, where students must bridge the gaps across sectors to create and lead needsbased processes or products that change our world.

This year, the ED is in full force. With Entrepreneurship, Financial Literacy, Decision Making, Negotiations, and Leadership Development offered this year – and Financial Literacy and Money Management offered at Village over the summer – students are delving into how to lead and launch businesses, to construct and evaluate asset allocations and investment instruments, to make complex decisions given incomplete information and competing priorities, to negotiate different roles and practice integrative bargaining strategies, and to grow their skillset as creative leaders of sustainable change. As ED Candidate Aanya Bhandari says, “entrepreneurship is more than just a career, it’s a mindset and lifestyle. This diploma inspires every aspect of integrating entrepreneurship into your life, so you’re always thinking like an innovator.”

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c l a s s

9

National Merit Commended Students

3

14 7 Scholarships

4 91 Acceptances

WORTH

$ 7, 8 7 6 ,16 0

National Merit Finalists

o f 2 0 1 7

The Village School’s Class of 2017 are members of a growing Alumni Association after the sixth commencement on May 25, 2017. We are extremely proud of their accomplishments. Not only did they distinguish themselves in the classroom, but they made a positive impact in the world around them through their service work at 16 | The Voyager

the local, regional and global level. Their cumulative effort made a positive and lasting impact to support people and organizations throughout the world. In total, the Class of 2017 logged over 8,000 community service hours.

The Class of 2017 was able to achieve many academic

M AT R I C U L AT I O N In State

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69

Acceptances to Top 12 of 15 Engineering Schools (US News and World Report)

Out Of State

51 13

4

College Athletes

32.0 World Average IB Score

29.9 Average IB Score

18 0 0 Combined Service Hours

Non-US

and athletic achievements that included National Merit students, college athletes and scholarship students. They leave a legacy behind that exemplifies what it means to be a Viking, and is the standard of excellence that our current students should aspire to achieve.

The Village School would like to thank the entire Class of 2017 for their commitment to our school, the legacy they left behind. We wish them well in their future endeavors. We look forward to having them back on campus for Homecoming and future alumni events.

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FACULTY SPOTLIGHT

INTERVIEW WITH MILA TAYLOR, NAE-MIT REGIONAL LEAD How did The Village School begin its partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology?

Mila: MIT is one of the world’s leading science and technology universities. Nord Anglia Education (NAE) is the world’s premium schools organization. These two great organizations teamed up to demonstrate NAE’s philosophy of “Be Ambitious.” In January of 2016, I was invited by NAE per recommendation of our very own Head of School, Gabriella Rowe, to be one of the NAE-MIT regional leads representing our North American schools. I accepted the challenge and honor.

Hence, The Village School is now one of the 13 NAE schools pioneering this partnership with MIT. I planned with MIT in developing activities to enhance teaching, student learning outcomes in STEAM subjects, as well as develop a practical, hands-on approach to problem solving, and fundamentally shift our schools away from isolated subject teaching towards a more interdisciplinary approach to learning.

What benefits do Village students gain from our partnership with MIT? Mila: Village students visit MIT during the spring semester and take part in a range of STEAM related activities and challenges. They also participate in MIT devised in-school practical challenges to develop their creativity, curiosity and innovation through practical application of problem-solving skills and connecting them with leading experts in STEAM. Does The Village School get MIT visitors on campus?

If so, what is the positive impact that comes from those visits?

Mila: Yes. The Village School had MIT visitors during the beginning of implementation of the MIT challenges.

They had the opportunity to meet with parents during a morning coffee meeting in September of 2016 to explain the goals of the NAE-MIT collaboration. They also interacted with students during classroom visits to get a feel of what our students are doing in response to the MIT challenges.

In addition, MIT visitors come as keynote speakers and guest presenters during the Annual Texas STEAM Summit hosted by The Village School. These MIT visitors hope to STEAM-inspire not only our students and teachers, but also our parents and Houston community as a whole.

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What were the first challenges launched by MIT and what did our students come up with to solve those realworld issues?

Mila: The 2016-17 MIT Challenges focused on curiosity and solving a problem in our own city. Student representatives from each division visited the City of Houston flood czar and Chief Resillience Office, Stephen Costello. Our students obtained robust data in terms of causes and effects from flooding in Houston. Village students responded in several ways to mitigate flooding in Houston. Groups of students from all divisions planted trees in late May of 2017. Teams of high and middle school students developed a flood sensor for roadway underpasses and an iMap flood phone app. These projects are currently being improved and tested.

The 2017-18 MIT Challenges focused on the future of transportation, dubbed as “Navigating Tomorrow.”

Activities are underway for students to research and explore autonomous vehicles, new designs of planes and utilizing biofuels as an energy source.

How do our teachers benefit from this partnership?

Are there professional development opportunities?

Mila: An annual summer professional development training is offered to teachers to take part in a range of STEAM related professional learning activities and challenges in MIT. Teachers get to see cutting edge research and advancements while interacting with STEAM experts in MIT. Teachers collaborate, discuss and share ideas and good practices through the Nord Anglia University website as they implement the challenges in their respective schools.

What are the next steps in developing our STEAM curriculum?

Mila: We have big hopes and dreams. The Village School will soon build facilities to provide state-of-the-art interdisciplinary maker spaces for our students. We will continue to collaborate with MIT, CERN, NASA, Houston Methodist Hospital and ExxonMobil to provide learning experiences for our students. We also hope to collaborate soon with other STEAM companies in Houston as we accelerate our students’ learning in our fast paced changing world!

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Developing the Whole Child At The Village School, the idea of “Culture of Champions� goes beyond winning championships and focuses on the process of teaching our students the value of service to our community, teamwork, sportsmanship and commitment. Our physical education and athletic departments instill these core values into their programs to develop character in each of our students.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION

ATHLETICS

Our physical education (PE) program is offered to all students, starting in early childhood and continuing through high school.

In early childhood, our students start learning about their body, spatial awareness, movement and manipulatives. Our two, three and four-year-olds have physical education (PE) class once per week in addition to recess. In class, the students focus on the development of gross motor skills that include, but are not limited to: running, jumping, changing direction at a controlled pace, kicking/striking a ball, throwing underhand, throwing overhand, catching and rhythmic movement (i.e. moving to music). They spend many hours each year developing these fundamentals in order to allow each student to build a strong gross motor skill foundation.

Our athletic teams are offered once a student reaches the sixth grade. At this point, each student has the opportunity to tryout for any of the 12 sports we offer at Village. The sport offerings are broken into three different seasons: fall, winter and spring. Our middle school student-athletes compete in the Houston Junior Preparatory Conference (HJPC) against other like private schools in the area. Our high school student-athletes compete in the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS) at the 6A level against other private schools, both in our district and across the state of Texas. For any middle school student who does not compete on a sports team, they will have PE class four times per week. High school students who do not play sports will need to satisfy their degree requirement, which is two semesters of PE class.

Our elementary school students have PE class four times per week.

Our unit-based curriculum teaches our students the necessary locomotor and manipulative skills they need to develop and learn their physical body and spatial awareness. We also incorporate a wellness program by engaging our students with monthly topics that include: nutrition, hygiene, five components of fitness, stranger danger and the importance of sleep. Our standards are vertically aligned which allow each student to progress from year to year in our PE program.

The Village School is proud to say that we have a passionate and highly accomplished athletic staff that work tirelessly to develop and support our student-athletes. Not only are we successful in sports, but each coach goes to great lengths to develop character in each of our athletes. While we are highly competitive, the uniting philosophy of our teams is to teach our athletes commitment, sportsmanship and teamwork, which will serve them throughout their lives.

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MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Service Learning at The Village School The Village School is always exploring new ways to serve our community. As a school, we want to expose our students to service learning opportunities so they appreciate the importance of giving back to our local community. Service learning is a great way for our students to gain hands-on experience and a greater cultural awareness while giving back to the community.

Our hope is that our school’s collective commitment to serve our community will support men, women and children who need additional help and resources that we can provide. In doing so, we hope that our experiences with the people we help and agencies we support are longlasting relationships that develop character in each of our students.

In elementary school, each grade level has a monthly visit with our friends at Tarrytowne Estates, which is a local retirement community. All of our students are excited 22 | The Voyager

to visit and learn from the residents. We enjoy bringing special holiday cheer when we sing Christmas carols every December. Our elementary also visits the Houston Food Bank on an annual basis. We are tasked with sorting food and products, bagging rice and creating “backpack” meals for children who are hungry.

Our middle school students also visit the Houston Food Bank in addition to a number of charitable causes. Last year, we partnered with Emerson Elementary School to provide them with school supplies, holiday gifts and create a connection between our students and theirs. After the devastation from Hurricane Harvey, we have been working closely with a group called Hurricane Moms.

These are families located in the Memorial area who have been flooded from their homes and need support during their recovery. In addition to these relationships, we have made 100 bracelets for Operation Gratitude and made

IN THE COMMUNITY birdhouses that we have placed around the school. Our National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) made 50 comfort bags that are distributed to homeless men, women and children around Houston.

Our high school students also volunteer and support the Houston Food Bank. We have a long-term partnership with Barbara Bush Elementary. Each week, we send students to work with their Special Needs Program.

We engage with them, work on tactile learning skills and development and play fun games. Over the last three years, we have developed a strong bond with their students and staff members. We look forward to continuing this relationship in the years to come. We also send groups to a non-profit organization called Open Door Mission, which is a drug and alcohol recovery program.

We send over 100 students here each school year. When we visit, we are tasked with working in the kitchen area,

preparing and serving food to over 150 residents. The face-to-face interaction with our students and the residents at Open Door certainly provides a meaningful experience when we see the people we are helping. In addition, we have a number of students who work with Habitat for Humanity to help restore homes.

The Village School also sends a group of high school students to Tanzania each January as part of a larger Nord Anglia Education Global Campus service initiative in that region. Our students and chaperones have helped restore local homes and schools, worked with children who have suffered from abuse or lost their parents and built sustainable communities. This is a great experience for our students and a chance for them to make a difference by coming together with other Nord Anglia Education students from across the world.

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The Village Wellness Program Be well, do Good

By Christine Galib, Director of Entrepreneurship and Wellness Programs

When Gabriella Rowe asked me to design and direct Village’s Wellness Department, I couldn’t wait to jump right in. As an entrepreneur with my own health and wellness consulting company, I was absolutely thrilled to support Village by bringing mindfulness and meditation to the community. We created a culture of wellness, as a “state of being,” rather than a “state of body,” to support our students’ needs.

Whether building the Yoginos program in our elementary School classrooms, working with small groups of fifth graders on meditation or yoga, leading eighth grade yoga groups on the Middle School roof and patio area, or teaching Mindfulness to juniors or seniors, the Wellness Department is a permanent fixture of Village’s culture.

“When I take time to fully embrace reflective practices, I find myself more self-aware and much less judgmental,” fifth grade teacher Dr. P. Tim Martindell said.

Mindfulness class is a much-needed chance to explore meditation as a tool for gaining self-awareness. For Ritika Saligram, Mindfulness provides tools that give “me a chance to be more aware of the things that I’m feeling and deal with them in constructive manner.” Village alumnus Yudi Tan, who is currently attending UC Berkeley, and was

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recently featured in the book Creativity, Innovation, and Wellbeing, shares his reflections on Mindfulness: “Mindfulness is effective as a stress management and self- improvement tool; practicing mindfulness techniques helps us be more aware of our surroundings. I have grown to realize that mindfulness is not just about meditation and practices that heighten awareness. Rather, it is more about gaining strength and grit through conscious recognition of self.”

Mindfulness has also helped Yudi become a better leader of his start-up: “When we were accepted by a startupaccelerator program, I needed to be comfortable letting my co-founders handle the process while I focused on other aspects. At first I was hesitant, but, through my mindfulness and meditation practice, I realized I needed to reflect on my approach in the context of the larger goal. I realized I had to be comfortable not only letting go, but also knowing how to. As a founder, I’ve realized leadership isn’t about hoarding resources: it is about complementing one’s weakness with another’s strength. Integrating mindfulness into my entrepreneurial endeavors led to more mindful leadership, which increased my ability to be comfortable with and trust with my team and myself, which led to better decisions.”

“When I take time to fully embrace reflective practices, I find myself more self-aware and much less judgmental.�

-Dr. P. Tim Martindell

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Inside The Arts

Q&A with Fine Arts Director, Michael Barber

At what age do Village students start taking a fine arts class?

Michael: Students at Village start taking fine arts classes in Finna as preschoolers where they are exposed to music, movement and dance, as well as imaginative play. They start to really delve into music in elementary, beginning to play the violin (2x weekly), along with vocal music and percussion starting in first grade. They have dance through PE until middle school.

What are the course offerings?

Michael: In fine arts education we offer: violin, choral music, and band, as well as percussion in the early years.

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instruments, acting and voice, as well as a variety of after school rehearsal based ensembles (brass, VRT, Choirs and Orchestras). We are currently expanding all of the music offerings to better serve the entirety of the scope of musical education. We offer PE/dance in middle school, drama in middle school, as well as theatre arts, drama, dance (2 levels), and the IB in music, dance and theatre at the high school level.

How many times per week do they take one of those fine arts classes?

Michael: Depending on the level, and the class - they average around 3 hours per week per fine arts class. So an IB Student in music, taking band and theatre tech, would spend about 8-9 hours in fine arts classes.

“Since 2016 I have had the pleasure of coming to The Village School as your Juilliard curriculum specialist. In this role, I coach teachers and students on the Juilliard approach to music instruction. The Juilliard approach may not be what you assume, since this program has been created to serve every single student regardless of their musical ability. We believe music can play a transformational role in your child’s education, promoting cultural literacy and key skills like creativity, critical thinking and collaboration.”

-Misty Tolle, Juilliard Curriculum Specialist

How does our collaboration with Juilliard benefit our students?

Michael: The Juilliard collaboration is a very large toolbox of information, core knowledges and pedagogically sound lessons and lesson plans that the fine arts team can pull from to enhance the learning in the fine arts programs. As of right now, we have total access to, and ability to teach from, the Juilliard collaboration (Creative Classroom) for music. Beginning fall of 2018, we will begin the initial roll-out of the Creative Classroom in dance, and again in 2019, the initial roll out of the Creative Classroom in theatre/drama.

How does our collaboration with Juilliard drive our curriculum?

Michael: It doesn’t “drive” our curriculum per se, as the Creative Classroom was never intended to be an end all, be all curriculum. The difference is that a curriculum is a horizontally and vertically aligned scope and sequence of educational events (core knowledge and educational standards with benchmarks) that drive the education of the students forward. The Juilliard curriculum (Collaboration) has adopted the moniker “The Creative Classroom” to give credence to the idea that the Juilliard collaboration is a free flow of educational

ideas and thoughts that ebb and flow through and between the existing curriculum of any school in the Creative Classroom.

This allows the Juilliard Creative Classroom to become an efficient and effective tool in the Music Educator’s toolbox (right now) and eventually a toolbox of lessons, core knowledge and activities for teachers in all performing arts (fine arts including theatre, music and dance).

Do our fine arts teachers have professional development opportunities with Juilliard staff members?

Michael: Yes, both virtually and physically. Last year there were three on-campus visits from Juilliard to Village and Nord Anglia Education. This summer we sent two teachers (Craig Edgar and Sarah Perkins) to a one-week professional development conference at The Juilliard School of Music in New York City. They came back with more tools and information for us to use in the classes. Additionally, we have had one online interaction with our rep, and a three-day on campus visit and professional development event in December.

We will also be having a series of Juilliard visiting artists coming through the school to train our teachers so they are comfortable utilizing Creative Classroom.

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Viking Pride Inside look from Homecoming 2017

Homecoming is a tradition in every high school in the United States. As a community who adopts many American traditions, we look forward to and celebrate this event each fall semester. The spirit of Homecoming is to welcome back all of our past alumni to campus. With a growing alumni network and association, we are seeing more and more of our graduates come home to reconnect with friends, teachers, and enjoy the game.

Starting on Monday, the Village campus comes to life and the excitement and build up intensifies with each passing day. The entire week is filled with fun events and themed spirit day attire for our students. On Friday, our football team and drumline walk the halls for our traditional parade, greeting students and teachers all around campus. Later that day is the Homecoming pep rally, which is always fun and exciting. It is the perfect way to end the school day which sets the tone for the after school tailgate and football game. Once school lets out, the campus is buzzing. Our entire community enjoys the games, inflatables, live music, face painting and food trucks on campus. This year we started a new tradition by having a faculty vs alumni soccer game as one of the pre-game festivities. The faculty were victorious and have bragging rights over our alumni, winning 2-1!

The football game kicked off at 6:00pm and our alumni honorary captain, Danya Murad, flipped the coin toss at midfield. The Vikings didn’t waste any time and jumped out to an early 14-0 1st quarter lead over the Northside Lions. Coach Bagot had his team ready to go and our players were flying all over the field on both sides of the ball. Each player stepped up and made tackles, threw crucial blocks, and our playmakers found the end zone early and often. The final score was: Vikings 40, Northside 7.

This win moved the Vikings to 3-0 on the year and the team would eventually go on and finish runner up in the TAPPS Independent State Championship game in November.

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Past Perspective LUKE VARSAMIS, CLASS OF 2012

My name is Luke Varsamis, and I’m a Village alumnus and graduate of Duke University in 2016, who works as a software engineer today. The path to where I am now was unconventional. I have degrees in physics and electrical engineering from Duke, but only took a small handful of computer science courses. While I was at Village, I had no interest whatsoever in programming. I wanted to be lots of things--a physicist, a biomedical engineer, a mathematician--but never a software engineer.

It took a shift in perspective to consider software engineering as a career.

This shift came when, I found myself writing lots of code for my coursework.

Although my classes weren’t in computer science, I was simulating card games, programming robot arm paths, and modeling complex electromagnetic fields.

At some point, I realized that I didn’t actually love any of the problem-specific domains in which I was working. I loved solving problems, but I didn’t care which ones. Shortly after, I realized that the common thread was the creation and use of computer programs. That realization motivated me to apply for jobs in software engineering.

Today, my attitude towards programming is roughly the same: it is a means of solving problems. Although lots of domain-specific knowledge is necessary to write good software, it can be picked up quickly and is less important than a general appreciation for system design and problem-solving. Hence, although I didn’t take any computer science classes at Village, I believe Village prepared me for software engineering. In physics, I learned how to model a large and immeasurably complex universe, one isolated microcosm at a time. In math, I learned how to formulate arguments with airtight rigor. In my non-quantitative courses, I learned how to design and structure essays within challenging constraints.

My Village education was holistic. It required me to solve the same class of problems looking through many lenses and perspectives. It taught me the importance of balancing trade-offs between solutions. While I noticed these types of similarities across my studies at Duke, my focus was far narrower.

There’s nothing quite as eye-opening as noticing the same basic techniques in your approaches to seemingly unrelated subjects, and for that I have only The Village School to thank.

I expect to continue working in software engineering for the foreseeable future.

I don’t love software for its own sake, but I love the platform it provides for solving problems. Today, tech giants like Google and Amazon provide hobbyists and tinkerers with everything they need--cloud computing, hosting, databases, even machine learning--for free. I expect to always be a tinkerer, so I’ll likely always be drawn to fields in which I can tinker easily. I am lucky enough to get to work on many different types of projects in my job, and have yet to encounter one that bores me. I still have a lifetimes worth of domainspecific knowledge to learn about, so I’ll be busy for a while.

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Ca lendar of Events Middle School Math & Science Meet

FEB 3-4

V S P A’ S V i k i n g P a l o o z a

FEB 24

C h e s s To u r n a m e n t

MARCH 24

Disco Nights Gala

MARCH 26

Village Golf To u r n a m e n t

APRIL 7

Prom

APRIL 20

Spring Art Wa l k & Fa s h i o n S h o w

APRIL 27-28

The King and I

FEB 17

MAY 12

Senior Banquet

MAY 12

VESPY Sports Banquet

MAY 25

Graduation

JUNE 4- 29

Full STEAM Ahead for Camp Village

AUG 14

First Day of School

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VOYAGER VOLUME II , ISSUE I