The Webb Schools - Learning By Design

LEARNING

BY DESIGN SELECT COURSES SELECT COURSES Evolutionary Biology Evolutionary Biology American Idea The American Idea Advanced Advanced Studies in Biotechnology Biotechnology

Literature && Leadership Leadershipininthe theWilderness Wilderness

HABITS & SKILLS KEY LEARNINGS Intellectual Rigor Intellectual Rigor Analytical Mindset Analytical Mindset Field Study Field Study

Experiment Design Design

Honors ConstitutionalDebates Debates HonorsModern Modern Constitutional

Historical Case Historical Case Studies Studies

Integrated IntegratedMathematics Mathematics II & II II

Advanced Lab Lab Methods Methods

Honors Affairs HonorsEthics Ethics&&Modern Modern Global Global Affairs

Global Fluency Global Fluency

Advanced Courses in ComputerScience Science Advanced Courses in Computer

Academic Partnerships

Advanced Studies Studies in in Paleontology Paleontology Advanced AdvancedStudies Studies Existentialism Existentialism && Advanced the Human the Human Condition Condition Honors Orchestra Honors Sinfonia Sinfonia Orchestra New NewMedia MediaCulture Culture & & Communications Communications Advanced Studies in Anatomy & Advanced Studies in Anatomy & Physiology Physiology Statistics

Statistics

Integrated Physics & Chemistry

Integrated Physics & Chemistry

Advanced Studies Faith Narratives Advanced Studies Faith Narratives of of Holy Cities Holy Cities Advanced Studies The Long Novel

Advanced Studies The Long Novel Performance Workshop

Performance Workshop Honors Technology, Technology, Society Honors Society &&Self Self AdvancedStudies StudiesCreative CreativeNon-Fiction Non-Fiction Advanced Advanced Studies Studies in in Organic Organic Chemistry Advanced Chemistry Advanced Studies Studies in in Linear Linear Algebra Advanced Algebra World WorldLanguages Languages

Creation Artistic Creation Collaborative Research Collaborative Research

Presentation Skills Interdisciplinary Interdisciplinary Expository Writing Writing Literary Analysis Literary Analysis Leadership && Community Community Media Literacy Media Literacy Ethical Reasoning Cultural Exploration Cultural Exploration Political Analysis Independent Research Research Blended Learning Learning Close Reading Close Reading International Relations International Relations

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BY DESIGN: THE INNOVATIVE EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE AT WEBB

BY DEBBIE C ARINI

INNOVATIVE THINKING. SELF-ASSURED LEADERSHIP. BOLD CREATIVITY. THE ABILITY TO TRUST AND BE TRUSTED. WHAT ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE COULD INSPIRE SUCH TRAITS? ONE THAT IS INTENTIONAL. BY DESIGN. AND PERHAPS ONE THAT INCLUDES THESE COURSES: HONORS ECONOMIC THOUGHT IN THE MODERN AGE; ADVANCED STUDIES AFRICAN IDEOLOGIES AND REVOLUTIONS; ADVANCED STUDIES EXISTENTIALISM & THE HUMAN CONDITION; Webb Students at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

BIOTECHNOLOGY; ADVANCED STUDIES IN PALEONTOLOGY; NEW MEDIA CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION; AND MORE.

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he philosophical underpinnings of the academic experience can be found in The Webb Schools’ Course Selection Guide. Webb’s program promises to foster “thinkers who learn and understand traditional and emerging disciplines, master skills essential to achievement in college and beyond, and embody vital attitudes and qualities of mind including curiosity, love of learning and a commitment to what is right and true.”

Webb’s methods focus less on traditional pedagogies of memorizing information, “one-size-fits-all” lessons, or teacher-centric (also known as chalk-and-talk) classrooms, and more on providing students with a broad-based liberal arts and sciences education where learning transpires through authentic discovery and rigorous scholarship.

“Our curriculum emphasizes student agency,” says Tracy Miller, PhD, director of studies. “It empowers students to make decisions about the path they’re going to take, especially in the 11th and 12th grades. This is something they will need to do when they get to college.”

Innovation has been at the core of a Webb education since its founding days. Ray Alf, whose eponymous museum would establish a ground-breaking precedent at a high school, once said of school founder Thompson Webb’s attitude towards educational ingenuity: “teachers were encouraged to develop their own ways of instructing their students, and the result was a lively diversity from class to class.”

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Core Curriculum – 9th & 10th Grades Harvard Innovation Education Fellow Tony Wagner, the author of The Global Achievement Gap and Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change The World, seems to agree with this approach.

“Today knowledge is ubiquitous, constantly changing, growing exponentially. ... Today knowledge is free.

It’s like air, it’s like water. It’s become a commodity. ...

There’s no competitive advantage today in knowing more than the person next to you. The world doesn’t care what you know. What the world cares about is what you can do with what you know,” writes Tony Wagner.

“We wanted to make sure that students in 9th and 10th grades develop the tools they need to succeed in the 11th and 12th grades,” explains Theresa Smith, PhD, assistant head of schools. “We also wanted our students to learn how to be ‘master learners,’ [a learner who can develop and maintain lifelong learning skills] and nimble thinkers.”

One of the five pillars of The Centennial Strategic Plan is “to re-imagine the schools’ liberal arts curriculum with the goal of fostering bold, unbounded thinkers ready to lead and serve a global community.”

Rather than an outcome-oriented curriculum, Webb’s new curriculum is based on the notion of developing the intellect for substantial expression and is meant to fuel “unbounded thinking”—the food of innovation.

In 9th and 10th grades, students experience a core humanities program that emphasizes foundational skills to serve as a launching pad for rigorous academic work centered on real-world applications in 11th and 12th grades.

EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY This laboratory and field study course introduces students to the world of the life sciences. It is a fullyear course that builds foundational science practice skills, teaching students how to properly frame and test scientific questions—how to think like scientists.

They also gain fundamental knowledge in the areas of evolution, paleontology, cell structure and function, DNA and RNA structure and function, genetics, classification, biodiversity, and bioethics. The first semester emphasizes content from Earth’s history, the history of life and evolution in geological time, and modern genetics practices and theory. The second semester includes fundamental and advanced laboratory skills and techniques used for genetic research, a curriculum created in partnership with the Neil A. Campbell Science Learning Laboratory at the University of California, Riverside. These skills and techniques are explored and applied in real-world settings. All students in this course participate in a paleontology field trip in conjunction with the Alf Museum and other field study along the coast of Southern California. The first year of a two-year

How did the redesign happen? Again, by design and over a number of years. Webb’s 50-plus faculty members worked in curricular teams, often across academic disciplines, to develop the new program. Inspired by Unbounded Days, which has grown from a one-day symposium to a three-to-five day immersive experience, the faculty sought to match the mission of that extraordinary event while staying true to the goals of providing a strong academic foundation.

In fact, all students in their first two years at Webb experience single-sex core classes such as Integrated Math I, Evolutionary Biology, Spanish or French, as well as Foundations of Civilization and Fundamentals of Composition. In addition to giving students an insightful overview of those subjects, the classes serve as a bulwark from which students advance to co-educational learning in an intentionally interdisciplinary curriculum that focuses on critical thinking, applied knowledge and hands-on experiences.

program, this course forms part of the preparation, tools, skills and knowledge to move into upper-level science courses at Webb.

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Director of Experiential Learning Webb also established a new administrative position to oversee experiential learning in the curriculum. Today, the director leads all summer programming coordinates Unbounded Days, oversees the trips program and helps to build partnerships with local institutions such as the Claremont Colleges. The director of experiential learning also helps to ensure that as new classes and programs are developed, they bear the hallmarks of what experiential learning is—immersive and engaging.

Additionally, a “block schedule” was introduced, which delivers three longer periods of daily engagement and discovery.

“New research in education suggests that extended class time provides for sustained study. And students aren’t running from class to class,” Smith says.

Further enhancements to the academic program include increased office hours, providing boarding and day students with opportunities to engage one-on-one with their teachers, and evening labs, which occur four to five times a week from Sunday through Thursday. The evening labs, which

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are staffed by a faculty member and encourage peer-to-peer collaboration are also “a nice way to bridge day and boarding students,” says Smith.

Henry Kapteyn ’80, PhD, a research physicist, is recognized as a world leader in the development of a new generation of lasers. He has also been a professor in the Department of Physics, and a Fellow of JILA (Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics), at the University of Colorado at Boulder since 1999. His niece, Jessica Yoder ’18 is now a senior at Webb.

“My experience as a professor has focused primarily on graduate education, which is virtually 100 percent about an ‘active learning environment’,” he says. “Our physics department at Boulder is very prominent in activities to reform the undergraduate physics curriculum to replace as much passive lecturing as possible with various active learning activities including more use of laboratories, activities such as concept questions during lectures and small group problem-solving—along with activities to monitor the efficacy of these activities,” says Kapteyn.

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THE AMERICAN IDEA This course, required for all 10th grade students, is one half of the interdisciplinary American Studies program, which encourages a rich, holistic, and humanities-style investigation of American culture, society and ideology. While both courses consider the many narratives, identities, values and cultural phenomena that are the driving forces and products of American experiences, The American Idea focuses particularly on the ongoing relationship between literary and artistic expression, and American culture and history. While engaging in critical analysis of a variety of texts and primary sources, students consider questions such as: What makes an American text or work of art so “American”? How can we read a social or historical moment through an artist or writer’s reaction to it? What are Americans afraid of, and what are they reacting against? How do artists and writers make social and historical change with their work? Students practice many skills vital to the humanities, especially literary analysis and writing. Students who display exceptional achievement in this course may be eligible for Advanced Studies electives in 11th grade.

“...small group discussions...”

Students gather with faculty during Wednesday Flex-Time to discuss questions surrounding the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca.

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Interdisciplinary Coursework O N LY AT W E B B:

ADVANCED STUDIES IN BIOTECHNOLOGY Understanding life at the molecular level is the key to answering some of nature’s greatest mysteries. This course provides students the opportunity to learn and apply lab methodologies usually only available to science students in an advanced undergraduate or graduate school experience.

Using cutting-edge equipment in the biology lab at Webb, as well as the facilities available at the Neil A. Campbell Science Learning Laboratory at the University of California, Riverside, students investigate various research topics in biotechnology, explore the ethical implications of these fields of study and apply learned lab methods to student research projects, in collaboration with UCR scientists.

Topics and lab skills include DNA isolation, gene cloning, DNA analysis by electrophoresis, DNA barcoding, bacterial and plant transformation, DNA forensic analysis, genetic modification and DNA ancestry analysis. Students who are interested in biological research, molecular biology and genetics are encouraged to take this course. This full-year course includes occasional field trips to the University of California, Riverside. Independent research projects are an integral part of the learning process in this class.

Completion of this course prepares students for college level laboratory courses including biology, biochemistry and molecular biology.

Jessica Fisher and Greg Gerken are teachers in the humanities at Webb—an interdisciplinary study of human history, cultures, and creativity. As they worked on the new curriculum, they identified foundational skills—writing, thinking, creating and collaborating—that they wanted to impart to students.

“We wanted to ‘scaffold’ them into the curriculum,” says Fisher of the faculty’s efforts. And so, freshmen and sophomores are introduced to the subjects through classes like Foundations of Civilization and Fundamentals of Composition. By the end of their sophomore year, students have a shared “toolbox” of skills in humanities and are prepared to study in advanced classes that cover everything from classics to contemporary topic studies—classes that call for curiosity, close reading, clear and creative thinking, speaking and writing, while exposing students to many cultures and monuments of human endeavors.

Erin Smith ’03, PhD, has been an assistant professor in the Finance Department at the University of Rochester, Simon School of Business and is currently a financial economist in the Office of Litigation Economics at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Salt Lake City, Utah.

“The main thing for success in graduate school and in your profession is to be able to figure out how to solve your own problems. A lot of kids come out of high school and they’ve only been taught to the test. You need to be able to have an independent perspective in the world,” she says.

Academic Advising– Advanced Studies

Andrew Farke, PhD, Augustyn Family Curator and director of research and collections, works in the Alf Museum and is also a student advisor. He explains the process has different components, starting with the first point of contact, one teacher with six to seven students.

“I help students navigate the system and resources at Webb,” he says of his advisees. “First of all, I want them to know that there are so many opportunities to engage with faculty on campus. I want to help students realize the resources that are here and say to themselves, ‘Hey, I can go to my teacher!’

The second point is helping students navigate the course selection. I talk to the students, their families, the director of studies, and the college guidance office. I don’t want them to become over-extended. I want to make sure they have balance and stay healthy.”

Critical Thinking– Student Engagment Gerken stressed that the curriculum encourages critical thinking.

“We want students to look across disciplines, to see things from multiple viewpoints and perspectives, to understand subjects and be able to speak about them in an educated and informed manner,” he says.

“We want them to see themselves as intellectuals, not just students in a certain class—to trust themselves as thinkers,” adds Fisher.

And, also, to build good habits: “Students have a planner that they fill out,” says Gerken. “They learn that if they stay focused and stay on track with their work, they’ll get to do all the other things they want to do. It helps them navigate their freedom, an important quality as they move towards college.”

“Students pick their classes in 11th and 12th grades, just like they will in college,” says Fisher. “And just like college, our electives offer depth rather than breadth.”

In mathematics, computer science and the sciences, teachers are also innovating courses to require a high level of student engagement.

Advisors also play a big role in helping students pick classes.

“You want them to create a schedule that balances their interests. You want them to challenge themselves, but not tank. Advisors look at the schedule and help students realize if it’s a good mental health balance, too,” explains Fisher.

“We want our students asking questions, designing experiments, trouble-shooting,” says Lisa Blomberg, incoming science department chair. And Webb’s science labs are equipped to handle the boldest inquires.

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ADVANCED COURSES IN COMPUTER SCIENCE Advanced courses in computer science are offered in partnership with faculty from Harvey Mudd College.

Students may move on from our computer science course to take CS5, HMC’s introductory course. From there, they have access to other advanced offerings. Harvey Mudd faculty and students support Webb students in their studies, both on our campus and at HMC’s facilities. Specific course offerings are dependent on interest, and the schedule with HMC is worked out each spring. Students who have not taken Webb’s computer science course, but who have advanced knowledge, may apply for consideration to enroll in our HMC partnership program in writing through the chair of the Department of Mathematics & Computer Science. Webb’s goal is to enroll an equal number of Vivian Webb School and Webb School of California students in this program, in keeping with HMC’s commitment to gender diversity in the sciences.

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e have three fume hoods [protective lab equipment that exhausts vapor away the from the work area] for organic chemistry. I’ve never seen that in a high school chemistry class,” offers Blomberg.

“...advanced research and field study...”

The science labs also feature multiple 3-D printers and an ultra-cold freezer that can reach temperatures of 80 degrees below zero to keep cells alive for a project in genetic engineering that Blomberg is conducting with students.

“It’s amazing that I have access to that kind of equipment in my lab,” she adds.

Extraordinary Academic Partnerships In classes like Advanced Studies in Biotechnology, Advanced Studies in Experimental Physics, and Advanced Studies in Paleontology, students are provided the opportunity to not only learn, but also to apply lab methodologies usually only available to science students in an advanced undergraduate/ graduate school experience. Blomberg also takes her students to the Neil A. Campbell Science Learning Laboratory at the University of California, Riverside, where they investigate research topics in biotechnology, explore the ethical implications and apply lab methods to student research projects in collaboration with UCR scientists. Topics and lab skills include DNA isolation, gene cloning, DNA analysis by electrophoresis, DNA barcoding and more.

And in the hands-on experience most readily identified with The Webb Schools—working at the Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology right on campus—students are practicing the skills they will need throughout their college educations.

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ADVANCED STUDIES IN PALEONTOLOGY This course engages students in advanced, original research on fossils in the Alf Museum collection, under the direction of the museum director or curator of paleontology.

All projects involve exploration of topics and questions that have not been addressed in the scientific literature, and many students formally publish their results in peer-reviewed academic journals and/or present at a professional paleontology conference. Students review relevant paleontological literature; collect, analyze, and interpret original scientific data; write their results in a formal scientific manuscript; and present their work to a variety of audiences. Students are expected to work both independently and in teams, and have the opportunity to learn advanced research and documentation for two years when possible, and most participate in a professional conference (depending upon scheduling). To enroll in the course, students must have successfully completed Honors Museum Research at a high level of performance, with recommendation of the instructor.

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“We’re preparing students to be deep, critical thinkers through their work in paleontology,” says Farke.

“I expect my students to look at all sides of an issue; to determine where we get our information from and how it was created. We’re also asking students to gather evidence in the field, to collect fossils and measurements, to study their findings and then articulate their thoughts in writing and orally. They present on scientific topics at regional and national conferences such as the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology annual meeting, and many publish co-authored papers in peer-reviewed journals,” he adds.

Smith ’03 says her time working at the museum involved her in something most students don’t experience until college: research.

“The research process can be very tedious,” she explains.

“The satisfaction is from the certainty of the work you produce. The research I did at the Alf Museum while I was a Webb student set me up to do careful work in my graduate studies and as an economist now. Computing a derivative can be done with automation today, but having a creative perspective and embracing unbounded thinking will decide the leaders of tomorrow.”

Of course, the resources available to student researchers go beyond the laboratories at Webb. According to Fisher, “Mark Duzla, PhD, in the library, has incredible resources. For example, there is access to the New York Times for everyone on campus,” she says. “And Mark can pull up numerous digital resources and books.”

Farke points to JSTOR, a digital library containing digitized back issues of academic journals, books and primary sources, plus current issues of journals. It provides full-text searches of almost 2,000 journals.

Dzula, director of teaching and learning resources in the library, has to continually define, and redefine, what an academic resource is. The changes that have occurred in just the past 10 years—especially technologically in research, teaching and learning—have created a very different context for the missions of academic libraries. The plus side is that technology has opened learning to venues previously unavailable to high school students.

“We have a partnership with the Honnold Mudd Library of the Claremont Colleges,” Dzula says, where students can access vast collections in the arts, humanities, sciences, and social sciences.

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A LUMNI PER SPEC T IVE

n my areas of specialty (cancer research

and regenerative medicine), collaboration and communication are critical — indeed, the most seminal advances in these fields are emanating from interdisciplinary partnerships that tackle key questions using multi-pronged

Dzula also helps secure sites for field study including recent excursions to the Robert J. Bernard Field Station, an academic resource of the Claremont Colleges, and to the wealth of resources in the Southern California area such as the ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives at the University of Southern California Libraries, and the Watts Towers Arts Center.

approaches. Without significant independence

“We’re close to a lot of powerful resources and I am continuing to develop those relationships,” he says.

was funded by the American Society for Cell

In his role as a teacher of journalism, Dzula continues in the realm of information—more precisely, he helps students to recognize the problem of disinformation and their relationships to media.

operations at Cal State Northridge while forging

As the faculty advisor to the Webb Canyon Chronicle (the student newspaper, which is available in print and online at www.webbcanyonchronicle.com) and to numerous student podcasts and videos, Dzula helps his young journalists navigate the ever-changing definition of what constitutes news.

“How does a newspaper become a place for discourse? That’s the capacity we’re building,” he says. “I help my students to do that in a fair and balanced way. And I tell the staff: ‘If you want to be the voice of the students, you need to get them talking.’”

And that, in turn, helps them master the self-directional skills that will get them through college and help them flourish in an ever-changing workforce.

and exceptional communication skills, productive collaborations do not occur. During the summer of 2017, I spent three months as a visiting professor in the Department of Cell Biology and the Ludwig Center at Harvard Medical School. This position Biology, so that I could maintain our research new collaborative partnerships with faculty and junior trainees on the other side of the country.

The Ludwig Center (directed by Drs. Joan Brugge and George Gemetri) epitomizes collaborative science, tackling some of the most challenging issues in oncology using disciplines including physics, mathematics, computer science, engineering, molecular biology and medicine.

However, each participating investigator must have and train their own research mentees in independence and communication. To say that these skills are essential for success in college and beyond is an understatement.”

—Jonathan Kelber ’93

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Colleges Embrace Curriculum’s Engagement & Rigor Hector Martinez, director of college guidance at Webb, says that colleges like tradition as much as Webb does, but they also like it when schools do something out of the box.

“Our teachers design their classes like they’re professors,” says Martinez. “This isn’t a curriculum that was purchased from the College Board. The traditional AP curriculum is good, but we wanted to be better.”

As Martinez describes it, an AP curriculum is standardized, with little room for teachers to personalize it. Webb wants its curriculum to be relevant to this generation of students—a curriculum that is meaningful and rigorous and one that teaches young adults to think, analyze and critique with intelligence and curiosity.

He also says that colleges are impressed with the changes: “No one is saying, ‘Oh, you got rid of APs’? We would never institute a program that would hurt our students.”

Martinez stresses that colleges “love our new classes— there’s lots of reading, writing and critical thinking. And hands-on experience. In science, our students and teachers are partnering with professors and students from Western University of Health Sciences [in nearby Pomona]. They’re watching real science unfold in real time, not just pictures in a book.”

Martinez also notes the example of the Alf Museum.

“There is no school that has what we have on campus in the Alf Museum. You’d have to go to Yale,” he says, citing that institution’s Peabody Museum of Natural History.

“There is a select group of secondary schools in America that have a curriculum that’s interesting and meaningful to students,” says Martinez. “You can get an ‘A’ at a lot of different high schools and not have the confidence it takes to be successful in college. Every student at Webb is going to be prepared. They know how to study and what to look for.”

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Martinez says the Webb student body is smart enough to know if they are in a class that isn’t interesting or challenging. “They challenge us,” he says.

He has even had a college admissions officer tell him, “We love the classes you offer at Webb. Your students can put those skills into place as soon as they get to college.”

Jonathan Kelber ’93, PhD, a biology researcher and professor at California State University, Northridge, says of Webb’s academic program, “I would suggest that the principles of discovery learning that enable students to inquire and investigate were a cornerstone of my own education at Webb (as both a student and teacher). As to whether these skills/ tools are valuable to students beyond Webb, absolutely! It is these skills/tools that drive innovation and progress in any field. Entering college with a fi rm grasp of them and an ability to think critically only helps students navigate the rigors of their undergraduate training.”

Ultimately, for students to be successful in a fast-changing world, the instructional practices of their high school must engage them in learning and offer opportunities to learn and demonstrate mastery in different ways. And, the curriculum must support those instructional approaches, meeting students at their level and providing adequate scaffolding to get them to the next level.

Albert Yen ’76, JD, the associate dean of faculty and a professor of law at Boston College Law School, says unbounded thinking and honorable behavior help to answer the big questions in life.

“We live in a time of fascinating technology with big data and AI (artificial intelligence, including self-driving cars), but ultimately, anything that happens with these are human problems and we have to ask ourselves, ‘how do we want to live our lives?’” he says.

The answer, he believes, cannot be given by someone who only has competence in one field, such as a lawyer, or doctor, or scientist. A solid grounding in regular old-fashioned thinking, writing, and quantitative reasoning is very valuable but, he fi nishes: “People who can think at the intersection of many ideas will be extremely valuable.”

“...every kid at Webb is going to be prepared...”

Webb students canyoneering durring Unbounded Days 2018 in Zion National Park.

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BY DESIGN: LEARNING BEYOND THE CLASSROOM

BY JOHN FERR ARI

OVER THE PAST DECADE, WEBB HAS INVESTED A LOT: A NEW AQUATICS CENTER, RETOOLED MUSEUM RESEARCH AND FOSSIL PREP LABS, A NEW PERFORMING ARTS CENTER, NEW SCIENCE LABS, AND NEW HIGH-TECH CLASSROOMS (TO SUPPORT NEW SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES CURRICULA).

THIS ARTICLE IS NOT ABOUT THOSE INVESTMENTS. THOSE INVESTMENTS HAVE PREPARED WEBB TO EDUCATE FOR THE 21ST CENTURY, BUT THEY ARE, IN THE END, A MEANS TO AN END. WEBB’S FACILITIES AND ACADEMIC STRUCTURE ARE VITALLY IMPORTANT, BUT THEY ALONE ARE NOT WHAT DEFINES WEBB. THE CORE OF THE WEBB EXPERIENCE HAS REMAINED THE SAME SINCE THOMPSON WEBB FOUNDED THE SCHOOL IN 1922.

THE CORE OF THE WEBB SCHOOLS IS THE STUDENTS. THE CORE OF THE WEBB EXPERIENCE IS LEARNING.

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Learning Beyond the Classroom Classroom education is a big part of the learning experience at Webb, but as a boarding school that experience has always extended outside the classroom and beyond class hours. Webb’s faculty is mindful of the fact that they’re not only teaching today’s students; they’re also preparing tomorrow’s leaders. “A good school prepares you for success,” says Head of Schools Taylor Stockdale. “A great education prepares you for adversity.” Preparing teenagers to meet success and overcome adversity, as students in college and as leaders after graduation, means focusing on the whole person, developing character as well as building knowledge—independence,

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determination, perseverance… ultimately, self-confidence and grit.

ow do you learn?” muses humanities teacher and head basketball coach Rick Duque.

“You fail.” Duque doesn’t like the term failure: failure, he says, is giving up. Failing a test, or losing a basketball game, doesn’t mean giving up, he explains. It means figuring out what didn’t work, fixing it, and moving forward.

Failing—and learning—is part of Webb’s learning experience, on the athletic field and in the classroom. “It’s really hard not to fail sometimes in our curriculum,” says Director of Studies Tracy Miller, PhD, “and I think that’s deliberate.”

The intent is not to give students the experience of failure, though; the intent is to give students an authentic, realworld learning experience, something that has always characterized learning at Webb. Webb’s model of experiential education traces its roots back to Ray Alf, a towering figure in

on creative, hands-on assignments that require students to think, rather than simply turn to the internet for answers.

“Our students are really challenged to think critically to arrive at an answer,” says Vivian Webb School Dean Sarah Lantz. “We’re looking for ‘How did you get to the answer?’ more than the answer itself.”

“Problem-solving is an exercise in tenacity,” adds Assistant Head of Schools Theresa Smith, PhD. “It’s really easy to memorize information… It’s a lot harder to, for example, design a lab for a question you’ve asked.”

the history of The Webb Schools. Arriving at Webb School of California in 1929, Alf taught biology, geometry and English, coached track and football, and established the tradition of taking Webb students into the world to learn, leading peccary trips into remote areas to hunt for fossils, giving students the opportunity to learn by doing.

Today, Webb’s cross-disciplinary curriculum is characterized by student-centered, problem-based learning. Students aren’t simply led to answers; they are engaged with the problemsolving process to discover answers. This requires more than memorization: students must think critically about problems and issues, collaborate, and understand the process of discovery. In science courses, there are no ‘canned labs,’ Miller says. “Kids and teachers don’t always know what the solution is going to be.” In humanities courses, students are challenged to consider and evaluate different points of view. Throughout Webb’s curriculum, there’s an emphasis

On the Field of Play For some students, notes Director of Athletics Steve Wishek, designing a lab may be the easiest part of their time at Webb. Their challenges may lie on the athletic field. At Webb, “athletics is part of the totality of education,” he says. It’s one way the schools encourage students to explore the edges of their comfort zones.

It’s also something alumni remember best, Wishek says, and the experience of Carly Paris ’10 isn’t unusual. “I played softball at Webb,” she explains. “I wasn’t very good, but Webb taught me to be better. Team sports taught me a lot about discipline and working with teammates… School I was really good at, but softball I wasn’t good at. It taught me to enjoy myself even when I’m not the best and how to stretch myself.

That was a skill I needed to learn.”

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LITERATURE & LEADERSHIP IN THE WILDERNESS At the core of this course is a hands on, experiential approach to exploring ideas of leadership, decision-making, community building, and character. Students read both fiction and nonfiction texts and examine historical case studies of events and individuals that involve the course’s major themes. Writing includes journal entries, expository essays and persuasive essays, and culminates in a research-focused project that examines a major theme of the course. An integral part of the course is student expeditions into the California outdoors, where students practice and refine skills and concepts discussed in class, in addition to learning basic navigational and camp craft skills.

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Everyone likes to win, but winning is not the only goal of Webb’s athletics program, Wishek explains.

He wants students to experience what he calls the crucible of competition; to build their strengths in teamwork, the ability to face challenges with grace, and to recover from failure.

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HONORS ETHICS & MODERN GLOBAL AFFAIRS This course explores the complex relationship between ethics and the actions of state and nonstate actors in the modern world. Students who take this elective will grapple with contemporary topics such as immigration and refugee crises, environmental degradation and global warming, genocide, terrorism and nuclear proliferation. Students will practice critical 21st century skills to formulate policy recommendations, for the U.S. and other nations, supported by ethical principles. They also research and review both current and historical literature and other forms of media as a basis for class discussions and debates and to provide the inspiration for shorter written assignments as well as a summative and substantial written piece. This course is perfect for students interested in international relations. This course includes at least one field trip to relevant sites in the greater Los Angeles area.

Many of today’s high school students have been raised in curated environments designed for success, Wishek says.

For many students used to academic success, athletics may be where they learn what it is like to struggle, and to develop empathy for others who are struggling. Athletics gives students the opportunity to succeed— not a guarantee. “One of the most important things we teach in the athletic arena is how to fail,” Wishek says, “and failure is a powerful learning tool for future leaders.” Webb focuses on the whole student, he adds, and challenges—inside the classroom and out—are where education and character intersect.

Sometimes students fail, Smith says, but “there’s nothing about failure that’s about defeat—it’s about learning and recovery. Kids are OK with failure when they’re with a teacher they know wants them to succeed.”

That’s the ethos of the Webb faculty. “There’s a tremendous amount of care” for students, says Miller. “We consistently believe kids can do hard things.”

Supportive Community The challenge of doing hard things, in and out of the classroom, is backed up by a supportive community. “I need these students to be able to fail in some way, and to pick themselves up from it,” says Webb School of California Dean Ben Farrell. “But there are a lot of people here to help students pick themselves up.” When students fail, “the whole community is here to support them” so they’re not constrained or defined by failure. “I want them to make mistakes here and learn how to fail here.”

“We build different layers of teams” to support students, from peer mentors and tutors to dorm heads and faculty advisors.

“Our kids are not alone.”

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hat, says The Webb Schools’ Director of Counseling and Health Education Melanie Bauman, is at the heart of the school: caring for each other, and it follows from Webb’s enduring sense of community.

The school chooses faculty to enhance Webb’s sense of community and community values, notes Farrell, and that sense of community is passed from teachers and students to every new class that matriculates at Webb. “Community creates the foundation for dealing with challenges,” adds Bauman, and it’s something all alumni remember.

“I knew that I wanted to go to a high school that would challenge me and set me up to go to a really good college,” recalls Paris.

“That’s what made me look to Webb… But what made me choose Webb is that it seemed like such a tight-knit community.”

“Community to me was the most important aspect” of Webb, agrees Lisa Miller ’89, vice president, national director of marketing, foundation & institutional advisors at Northern Trust Corporation. There is, she says, a value system on campus: treat others as you want to be treated, do the right thing, and learn from your mistakes. “That guided kids in how to behave, and I found that most students took it really seriously.”

The Honor Code Besides the value system and community, Webb’s Honor Code also had a lasting impact on Miller. “Working with the Honor Code, you learn it’s better to admit to mistakes and solve them, rather than try to hide them,” Miller says. “I don’t think I could work for a company that doesn’t share these values. It influences where I’m comfortable and also who I’m friends with.”

The underlying principle of Webb’s Honor Code is simply to be considerate of other people, she says—an idea that’s “absolutely a benefit in my career.”

The importance of community, and Webb’s shared value of giving back to the community, led Joe Adler ’96 to join the Honor Committee, an experience he found rewarding then and in the years since. “Webb is a very tight-knit community,

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so you know everyone… on the Honor Committee, you’re not only upholding the rules of the community, you’re not only looking out for the community, you’re also looking out for the people who come before the Honor Committee.” Just as important, he adds, it was an opportunity to build empathy.

“You were involved in a decision that affects a person’s life.”

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HONOR CABINET & HONOR COMMITTEE

Instilling ethics and a sense of values “is in everything we do,” says Farrell. “It’s imbued in the community.”

Academics, athletics and extracurricular activities, the sense of community; these are the scaffolding

The Chapel Talk Those conversations are formalized in Webb’s chapel talks, which give seniors the opportunity to reflect on their own time and growth at the school, and to pass along what they’ve learned from the Webb community to other students. “They’re emblematic of what makes Webb special,” says Head of Schools Taylor Stockdale.

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ADVANCED STUDIES EXISTENTIALISM & THE HUMAN CONDITION

As a long-standing tradition essential to Webb, members of

around the core of the Webb experience: fostering

“When Thompson Webb built the chapel, he built

the VWS Honor Cabinet and WSC Honor Committee work to

students as they become adults as leaders,

it by hand. He made the adobe bricks himself and

educate and inform the school community and its individual

and encouraging learning across an array of

everyone in the community helped lay the bricks

experiences. That takes reflection and intentionality,

and watched the chapel rise. The chapel talks are

basic principles of existentialism, especially as espoused

Farrell says, and a lot of thought goes into school

just like that – every student can add another piece

by the French philosopher Jean Paul-Sartre, students read

decisions, on everything from student leadership

of learning and experience that gets passed on.”

representational authors such as Samuel Beckett, Albert

members about the nature and function of the Honor Code on campus. Both work to encourage in all students the highest standards of personal integrity and responsibility. On the occasion that violations of the Honor Code occur, members of the Honor Cabinet and Honor Committee and their faculty advisors convene to hear such cases and to recommend appropriate responses and follow-up actions.

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positions to class curricula.

y continually creating an active, supporting learning environment, Webb promotes nuanced messages and thinking. “Students have conversations here that most students don’t have until college.”

Many of those conversations center on the students themselves: their character and their role in the world.

“My main purpose is to have them think,” says Duque of his humanities courses. “I want them to have a better understanding of who they are… they have to do a lot of deep thinking and reflecting.” For themselves, Duque encourages students to challenge their own limitations. For the world in which they will become leaders, Duque reflects that the opportunity to attend an elite school comes with responsibility. “We are here to help other people.”

Webb’s focus on the student and on providing a holistic learning experience has remained the same since Thompson Webb founded the school on a philosophy of ‘plain living and high thinking.’ At Webb, there’s no distinction between classwork and the greater world, says Lantz. And it has never been an easy place to get through, notes Smith. “Even building the school was a challenging adventure for Thompson Webb and his family.”

“Webb taught me perseverance,” recalls Lisa Miller. “You’re learning all the time at Webb. Things might not always go your way, but you learn from your experiences. That makes you a lot more apt to take on challenges.”

“Webb gives you enough room to explore,” agrees Paris. “It inspired me to be more curious about the world, and to seek out new experiences and expand my mindset and become a more well-rounded person… Webb gave me the confidence to put myself out there and try new experiences and keep up with them. Webb definitely laid an excellent foundation—to be hardworking and resilient and also to give back to the community. Those values are so important to have to overall be a good person.”

As Stockdale notes, “the best way you can lead is to lead yourself. That’s what Webb has always been about.”

This course examines the rise and influence of existentialism, the literary and philosophical movement that came of age following the Second World War. After a study of the

Camus, Simone de Beauvoir, Tom Stoppard, Kurt Vonnegut, Margaret Atwood, Jerzy Kosinski and Banana Yoshimoto.

Students study the formation of Feminist Existentialism, and trace the influence of existentialism in some very contemporary works such as Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag.

Students should have a foundation in literary analysis, close reading, Harkness-style discussion and expository writing including the thesis-driven essay. Utilizing these skills students should be prepared to engage in comprehensive and detailed research with an eye toward preparing papers of significant length and weight; these MLA-documented papers will further facilitate students’ ability to synthesize materials and to make university-level arguments. More broadly speaking this course asks students to read and consider deliberately philosophical literary works, to formulate their thoughts on those texts both in written and oral form, and to push the boundaries of their own world views, particularly when it comes to questions of meaning and existence.

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THE CHAPEL PROGRAM The Vivian Webb Chapel was constructed by the founding headmaster, Thompson Webb, in honor of his wife. There one can find plaques and stained glass windows which honor outstanding personalities and events in the schools’ history, including memorials to Webb School of California’s war dead. The chapel is a solemn place of reflection.

Weekday Chapel: Vivian Webb School and Webb School of California meet for chapel twice each week to sing together, to hear music, and to listen to speakers. One of Webb’s cherished traditions is that of the Senior Chapel Talk, and most members of the senior class accept the privilege of delivering a meaningful address to the members of their school.

Sunday Chapel: The combined boarding schools often gather for Sunday Chapel in the evening before dinner.

All boarding students attend Sunday Chapel. Student dress for Sunday Chapel is the school uniform. The chapel programs and services, which are non-denominational and which feature speakers from both within and outside of the Webb community, are organized and led by a coordinate student group: the Chapel Council.