Windward Fall Preview

W

WINDWARD S C H O O L

Fall 2013

Windward Fall Preview

From the Head of School Every Fall, we invite parents to follow their child’s schedule during “Back to School Night,” providing an opportunity to hear first-hand from faculty members about plans for the upcoming year. It is a great chance to supplement those little tidbits of information – probably gleaned bit-by-bit during your dinner-table conversations – with more in-depth detail. But there’s even more to share about our many innovative and exciting plans that will have an impact on students both inside and outside of the classroom.

That’s why, in this Fall Preview, we’ll be providing you with updates on programs that are continuing in their development and highlighting new ideas that will help the learning experience at Windward perpetually evolve. The partnership I have with our talented faculty and dedicated administrative team has continuously given rise to even better ways to prepare our students for the future – even to prepare them for careers and challenges that may not even yet exist.

Whether studying Challenge Success to increase student engagement (pg. 9), building a Performing Arts program that will make Windward a home for creative minds (pg. 4), or forging a Networking and Entrepreneurship Initiative to encourage pioneering exploration (pg. 10), we are constantly seeking out the best ways to ensure that a Windward education remains truly dynamic and relevant for all.

As you will see in the pages that follow, there is much to be excited about in the 2013-2014 school year. Advances are made on our many plans every day, so be sure to visit our website – www.windwardschool.org – and social media channels for the latest news and information. And after reading this Fall Preview, I hope you are as proud as I am to be a part of the Windward Community at this time in our School’s history.

Here’s to a fantastic year!

Tom Gilder Head of School

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…there’s even more to share about our many innovative and exciting plans that will have an impact on students…

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What’s new on campus?

By now, you have certainly noticed new and improved features across Windward’s campus. A few highlights include:

Upgraded Athletic Field Complex Between our inaugural 11-man Varsity Football home game and October’s spectacular Homecoming, you hopefully have seen the exciting improvements to the Athletic Field Complex. The expanded football field – without the water well in the middle – the new stands, the upgraded baseball diamond with new professional style dugouts, and a Wall of Champions on the new patio create the perfect ambiance for cheering on our student athletes.

Top-Quality Food Service At the urging of our students, we have welcomed a new food service provider to campus. CulinArt came to campus in August, and reviews so far have been overwhelmingly positive.

Students, faculty, and staff appreciate the increased quality and selection of food; the new, more exciting menus; extended service hours throughout the day; and the option to choose from several different eateries. The improved structure and layout of the dining areas has provided students with many seating options and shorter lines.

Upgraded Security Measures Making sure students, parents, employees, and visitors feel as secure as possible every time they step onto the Windward campus is a top priority. We have added additional security staff, established a formal visitor check-in process, and are installing parking kiosks that will monitor the inflow and outflow of all students, faculty, staff and visitors. We also are installing an upgraded safety camera system that provides continuous visual coverage of Windward's main areas.

A host of other campus improvements – parking lot upgrades, new landscaping – have enhanced the pleasing aesthetic on the Windward campus. From new fields to new food, all of the School’s operational efforts are focused on improving usability of our campus space and the quality of the Windward experience.

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What’s new in the classroom?

New Educational Programs and Expanded Offerings The Middle School Minimester Program and After School Programs have been expanded this year. Last year’s first-ever Minimester trip to Washington D.C. was a huge success. Students will never forget the once-in-a-lifetime behind the scenes tours of the White House and State Department and the opportunity to watch oral arguments in the Supreme Court followed by a private, 30-minute question and answer session with Chief Justice Roberts.

In addition to offering the Washington D.C. trip this year, Minimester will be going global with a trip to Costa Rica focused on studying animal and plant habitats. The trip will take students through the different ecosystems of Poas Volcano and the lush Sarapiqui forest to our final destination of Earth University, where students will participate in hands-on workshops that include organic farming, integrated recycling, urban agriculture, and banana production. The trip will conclude with a rainforest canopy tour from above via ziplines for the more adventurous!

Windward also expanded After School Programs course selections. The WRED Dance and Adventures in Broadcasting Programs were wonderful additions last year. This year, we added the Middle School Visual Arts Workshop, an after-school enrichment program that is designed to inspire and challenge our most talented and passionate young artists in the seventh and eighth grades, primarily in the areas of painting, drawing, printmaking, and 2D design. The program will culminate with a gallery exhibit of student work for parents and friends to see. We have also added the Middle School Theater Workshop, a program for our most passionate seventh and eighth grade thespians. Students will be creating their own original script for a musical in the fall and a sketch show in the spring.

They will then rehearse and perform the shows for an audience.

We are thrilled to announce an exciting new Upper School electives program for the 2013-2014 school year. After much research and discussion, we have decided to redesign the existing Period 8 program to encourage more students to participate in engaging, innovative, and dynamic academic courses that will support their personal growth and fuel their academic and extracurricular interests. It is our goal to retain the spirit of the Period 8 program while meeting the changing needs of our 21st century learners.

The Upper School Electives will be year long, graded courses offered during period 8 two times a week. Students will receive a grade and a ½ course credit on their Windward transcript.

These courses will not have midterms or final exams. They are available to all Upper School students in grades 9-12, but are not required. The Upper School Electives program is a wonderful opportunity for a student who is developing a passion in a certain subject area to delve further into that area of study or for a student who is curious about one of the intriguing topics offered to have a chance within his/her schedule to explore and learn without the pressures of a full-time course. The ten exciting, new electives are: • Intro to Improvisational Theater • Advanced Improvisational Theater • Speech and Debate • Terrorism in the Modern World

• Global Ethics—Why Should We Care?

• Advanced Spanish Grammar and Conversation • 3-D Digital Design

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• Creative Writing • The Imperiled Environments of the World’s Oceans • Game Design for iOS.

What’s new in the classroom?

Performing Arts Initiative The arts have always been an essential component of a Windward education. Whether mastering a musical instrument or performing in a play or dance ensemble, our students are not only creating art, they are preparing for life. The arts serve as a mirror through which our students examine themselves and their culture. The creativity that is sparked in our students enables them to pursue diverse careers that rely on discovery, planning, research, critical thinking, problem solving, invention, and innovation. We are preparing a future generation of citizens who will be culturally literate and who will appreciate and support the arts because they understand the importance of the arts in a civilized society.

Despite the vitality of Windward’s performing arts programs and the accomplishments of our students, faculty, and alumni, the performing arts have yet to reach their full potential as a laboratory for emerging talent. Through our newly created Performing Arts Initiative we plan to bring the same level of innovation to the arts that we did to the sciences. We plan to expand the breadth and the depth of our performing arts programs so that our students can fully explore their artistic passions and hone their skills. This initiative also requires research into what types of facilities will best support the growth of our Performing Arts and best display the talent of our students.

Already, two outside spaces have been secured, so please save the date!

• Monday, December 16, 2013 The Choral Group Performs at the Clive Davis Theater at the Grammy Museum • Friday, January 24, 2014 Windward Dance Company Performs at the Freud Theater at UCLA featuring top guest dancers and a conversation with Producer Jennifer Gibgot ’87 & Director & Choreographer Adam Shankman Through the Initiative, we will provide increased opportunities for students to learn from professional artists, establish partnerships that can lead to internships and mentorships, and use the Windward Network to help students as they become alumni and college graduates to pursue their performing arts careers. In the past few years we have seen an influx of talented, dedicated student artists. The Performing Arts Initiative expands and invigorates our performing arts programming, creating curriculum, performance opportunities, and facilities to best prepare our students for future education and careers in the arts. Windward’s Performing Arts Initiative also provides a creative, challenging, and nurturing environment that offers the highest quality of instruction to every student; for both the bright and talented student coming to experience the pure enjoyment and appreciation of the arts and those seeking unparalleled preparation for higher education and beyond. Now is the time to turn our focus to the performing arts to ensure that Windward student-artists both have the opportunity to benefit from a nationally prominent program and think of Windward as their “home” for the arts.

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What’s new in the classroom?

Student art work by Olivia Edwards

Visual Arts Initiative

In addition to the Performing Arts, the Visual Arts Department is hard at work in developing its program. The department, led by Chair Jeff Miller, has engaged a consultant to review its curriculum and align it with what students who want to pursue the visual arts in college and professionally need in order to be successful. The Visual Arts Department will also be engaging guest artists to come to campus and work with our students. By working with professionals in these fields, students will be able to discover and practice the skills needed to work at the highest level. In addition, the Visual Arts Department is looking at spaces off-campus to showcase student work. By creating opportunities for students to take their art work out to be seen by the public, we will make our students and our program more visible to the public.

Global Programs We are proud that Windward’s Global Program now includes 28 Global Scholars (students who have applied for and been accepted into a program of specialized study on global issues), 24 students in the Global Online Academy, and 35 students in the 10th grade Global Studies Honors course. Throughout the global program, students are challenged to tackle complex global issues through multiple perspectives, innovative solutions, and collaborative problem solving.

Windward’s emphasis on both global content (i.e. world languages, world cultures, global issues) and global skills (i.e. those that are necessary to succeed in an interconnected world such as public speaking, technological fluency, collaboration) is a hallmark of the program that sets it apart from similar global programs at other leading independent schools.

We are also excited to announce two groundbreaking university partnerships that will expand the learning opportunities for our students. Working collaboratively with USC and the University of Queensland, we have taken Windward’s global program beyond the classroom in ways that we never expected when we began to build this program three years ago and offer world-class learning facilities and opportunities for our students.

• First, the 10th grade Global Studies students have already experienced the research and historical expertise of USC’s Shoah Foundation in the study of the Rwandan genocide. This partnership will continue, with Windward invited to be a USC Shoah Foundation Partner School. As a USC Shoah Foundation Partner School, Windward students will utilize the vast USC historical databases, USC’s world-class faculty, and USC’s global network that includes a research base in Kingali, Rwanda and first-hand access to interview and study Rwandan refugees.

• Second, this past spring, a team of faculty that included Peggy Procter, Eryn Hoffman, and Tom Haglund ventured down under to the University of Queensland (UQ), in Brisbane, Australia, to develop a partnership with UQ’s Center for Educational Innovation and the Research Partnerships Office. This exploratory trip was the first step in what will become a long-term collaboration between Windward seniors and UQ faculty and students. We expect to send almost 30 Windward seniors to the University of Queensland in Australia in the spring of 2015 to engage in university-level fieldwork and research at UQ’s Heron Island Research Station, located in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef with first-class, research-grade labs and equipment.

Our students will study the impacts of globalization and climate change on marine life using these incredible resources.

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What’s new in the classroom? iPads 2.0 In 2012-13, we piloted a 1-to-1 iPad program in the eighth grade. This was not done simply to equip students and teachers with new gadgets; considerable planning was undertaken to incorporate new technology in ways that make sense from a pedagogical standpoint. Continuing deep research into best practices and emerging trends allowed our faculty to redesign the learning experiences of students in ways that would enable them to be more active, engaged learners, critical thinkers, and innovative problem solvers.

In 2013-14, we have taken this program to a new level by adding iPads to the seventh and ninth grade experience. In order to center and ground the program, we have created the following goals:

For students: Teaching 21st Century Skills • Technological Fluency: Students will evaluate, effectively use, and adapt to changing technologies.

• Self-Regulated Learning: Students use iPad apps to take control of, and understand their own learning through planning, monitoring, and reflecting on their own progress and learning process.

• Creativity: Students will have the opportunity to experiment with a variety of outcomes due to the nature of iPad technology— the ability to go back and analyze the success of any one option allows for flexibility and revision in project creation.

• Collaboration: Students will use electronic platforms and a variety of roles and responsibilities to complete group assignments and projects. They will use the iPad to improve efficiency and quality of collaboration.

For teachers: • Active Learning: Teachers will promote technological fluency, self-regulated learning, creativity, and collaboration in order contribute to a dynamic learning environment.

• Cognitive Considerations When Teaching with Technology: Teachers will understand the complications and opportunities that technology brings to the learning environment and adapt their teaching as necessary.

Throughout this year, the CTL will continue to lead the training on iPads and will work to create an assessment plan. There will be monthly faculty workshops for the current 1-to-1 faculty, as well as training for the tenth through twelfth grade faculty on iPad basics and explore the possibilities of teaching with the iPad. Students in the Middle School will have several special advisory sessions to help them focus on organization, one of the main issues that arose last year. Finally, the CTL is exploring ways to assess the iPad program that moves beyond surveys.

Teachers are continually finding new ways to incorporate iPads in their classrooms in order to enhance student learning. For example, Eric Mandel, Dirk Binkley, and Jim Bologna collaborated to create a new e-textbook for the Seventh Grade Introduction to American Government class. This text, which replaced the traditional paper textbook, is custom designed for the course, contains multimedia features to supplement the text, is provided to students free of charge, and does not add any additional weight to backpacks.

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What’s new in the classroom?

STEAM Programs: We are thrilled as a growing number of students are benefiting from our efforts in STEAM, with over 70 students involved in the STEAM Scholars Program, as well as developing partnerships and expanding opportunities on campus for all students. Our students were lucky enough to be the first pre-collegiate students to learn about creativity, teamwork, and leadership from the experts at Disney, which was a resounding success.

Last spring, Windward forged a partnership with AECOM, a global leader in architecture, energy, transportation, and civil engineering, to allow our students to learn by working with experts in these disciplines. We're ecstatic to build on the success of June’s internship program by offering this amazing opportunity to even more students again this summer.

Windward has also recently partnered with Purdue University and their EPICS High program to offer human-centered design service learning opportunities for our students. In this first year, the tenth and eleventh grade STEAM advisories and the environmental engineering class will engage students in engineering projects through community service, with plans to integrate similar, authentic learning experiences in more STEAM classes in the future.

In order to realize these goals, our students will learn 21st century engineering skills and gain experience with complex design problems that involve all STEAM elements. We recently began offering a 3D design class taught by a practicing architect, Erin Lani. Students in this course will acquire 3D Computer Aided Design (CAD) skills applicable to a wide range of engineering and design challenges. Now a variety of students - from engineering, technical theater and art - will be able to realize their 3D designs with an assortment of versatile 3D printers made by a Pasadena area manufacturer, Deezmaker. This fall, in a partnership with Deezmaker, we will train several of our faculty to use these machines so that our students can begin producing 3D designs by January.

This year in robotics, we have swelled the ranks of our three programs to over 60 students and added a third coach to the team, Karalyn Ramon. Finally, we will be hosting a Lego Robotics contest this November and we hope to host an additional VEX Robotics contest in the late spring. Through these events, our added programs, tools and partnerships we strive to solidify Windward’s reputation as a premier STEAM school.

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What’s new in the classroom?

The Center for Teaching & Learning (CTL) and The Windward Institute: Pursuing Ongoing Educational Research

The Windward Institute is charged with looking outward for inspiration, while the CTL focuses on the internal needs of the school. The significant partnership between these unique perspectives advances the Mission and Strategic Plan of Windward. The Windward Institute is focused this year on building a database of potential university, business, and government partners, seeking the best emerging practices at the university and business levels. The Institute works to ensure that our students demonstrate the creative problem solving, communication, and technological skills that they will need to succeed in our ever-changing world.

This year, the Institute is looking to universities such as Stanford, Harvard, USC, Bowdoin, Babson, and Northwestern as leaders in innovative approaches to student learning. The CTL will be working with the Windward Institute this year to help further its work on instructional innovation, especially examining the possibilities that ePortfolios, experiential learning, and entrepreneurial partnerships offer our students. In addition, the CTL’s working group on Information Literacy will be beginning to look for university partners and best practices to align with and thus will be looking to have the Windward Institute help facilitate connections for them.

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What's new in our community?

Counseling Office and Challenge Success Last spring, Windward was accepted as a member school in the Challenge Success Program, a project of Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education. The Challenge Success Program is focused on finding research-based solutions to increase student engagement in middle and upper schools without increasing the stress and pressure that students feel.

Participation in this program will help Windward to continue to look at best practices both in and out of the classroom.

In May of 2013, students in grades 7 through 12 participated in a survey designed to help Windward benchmark progress toward our goals related to student engagement, student health and well-being, and the maintenance of a truly nurturing community. In early October, a team of nine faculty, administrators, and students traveled to Palo Alto to participate in a Challenge Success conference.

This is just the beginning of our work, and in the coming school year, participants will attend conferences at Stanford, conduct research, and work closely with a School of Education coach. We will continue to gather data and, ultimately, return to Stanford for a second conference in the spring of 2014.

Studio for Writing and Rhetoric This year the Studio for Writing and Rhetoric begins its second year serving student writers at Windward. We began the year in August with an intensive two-day training session for our 12 new peer tutors. Windward's peer tutor training program, already one of the best and most innovative in the country, was revised extensively based on our experience last year. Students read extensively from scholarly literature on peer tutoring and participated actively in role-playing scenarios where they learned to deal with different situations that arise in the writing studio. Most importantly, students learned to reflect on their own writing process and anticipate how to best help a diverse student body with students who have different ways of approaching the writing process.

The Studio for Writing and Rhetoric aims to serve all student writers at Windward, from 7th graders working on a oneparagraph essay to seniors developing extensive research papers. In 2012-13, the writing studio served over 100 students.

In an end-of-year survey, students gave the studio a 4.1 out of 5 when asked to rank their satisfaction.

This year we hope to build upon that success in three ways.

One, we will be working closely with individual faculty members and department chairs to develop plans to incorporate use of the writing studio into writing assignments.

Two, we will redouble efforts to educate the student body about the role the writing studio can play in helping them develop into better writers. And three, we want to make an effort to encourage more use of the studio by all academic departments, including science, the arts, and athletics.

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What's new in our community?

The Entrepreneurship & Windward Network Initiative Given the ever-changing nature of the world today, students must be flexible problem solvers and creative innovators. Windward is building an entrepreneurship program to help our students construct new knowledge, create pioneering solutions, and to think “outside the box.” Windward is uniquely poised to implement an entrepreneurship program. Creativity, problem-solving, and goaloriented risk-taking, all key components to a successful entrepreneurship education, are part of Windward’s institutional DNA. Already, Windward offers students experiences outside of the classroom that reinforce adaptive skills, including the UCLA-Bain Business Case Competition, the Buy it on the Bridge events, and internship opportunities, such as the one last summer with AECOM, the second largest engineering company in the world.

This year, we plan to build on that success and research best practices and emerging trends in entrepreneurship at universities and in business to launch programs, real-world experiences, and internship and mentoring opportunities that help students develop the skills and cultivate a mindset that prepares them for the next stage of their educational journey and for the world of tomorrow.

Expanded opportunities for experiential learning will be offered this year as well as additional experts and speakers coming to campus to provide their guidance and advice to students.

The Windward Network is a natural partner for the Entrepreneurship Program. The Windward Network strives to build lifelong connections and opportunities among the entire Windward Community – parents, students, parents of alumni, alumni, and grandparents – that: • Provide career support through all professional stages • Support the ongoing pursuit of knowledge • Serve as resources for personal lives A student and his or her family’s connection with the school do not end at graduation. Through the Windward Network, an ongoing relationship that provides value will develop. Resources and opportunities appropriate for each stage of a person’s life will be available. For our most recent alumni, The Network will offer hands-on mentoring and networking guidance as well as invitations to affinity group and general networking events.

Already this year, the Alumni Program reached out to graduates from the Classes of ’08 & ’09 to better understand their current career circumstances and their future goals. Remarkably, 80% of the responders are presently in their desired field. What’s more, we learned that the top industries for the group are business/finance, Entertainment, STEAM, and Education.

This data will be used to create the plans for this year. We will focus on broadening the research of our alumni base; launch three affinity groups – Entertainment, STEAM and Business/Finance; and host events for each group. In addition, we will provide hands-on career support for our seniors through the Senior Experience by helping secure internships, hosting resume-building workshops, and holding mock interviews, all designed to help them be better prepared for their first professional experience.

The top industries of the responders are: 1. Finance/Business: 20% 2. Entertainment: 14% 3. Education: 12% 4. STEAM: 11%

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What's new in our community?

The Windward Network and YOU! The success of the network depends on the entire community’s involvement. There are many ways that you can make a contribution, whether you take an hour of your time to share experiences or help open a door for deserving Windwardians. Whatever your interest and ability to help, we hope we can count on you!

How can I get involved? The possibilities are endless!

Expanding Your Network • Invite an alum interested in your field of expertise for a cup of coffee or a visit to your office, sharing your thoughts about the opportunities and challenges your profession has to offer.

• Attend an upcoming networking or Speaker Series event.

• Join an affinity group to meet and help others in your field: Entertainment, STEAM, Business/Finance.

• Join our LinkedIn Group.

Creating Connections • Speak at an event yourself - or suggest a great guest speaker - for the Speaker Series or in the classroom • Host an networking event at your home or business • Offer an internship or volunteer to mentor a deserving student or alum

Establishing Partnerships • Forge a lasting mentorship with a younger member of the Windward network and help them develop along their career path.

• Sponsor an opportunity for a Windwardian that only you can provide.

Don’t Miss These Upcoming Events!

Tuesday, November 12, 2013 • Windward Institute Speaker Series welcomes Craig Barrett, former CEO of Intel “Innovation and Entrepreneurship in a Global Economy through the Lens of Intel”

January 24, 2014 • Windward Dance Company Performs at the Freud Theater at UCLA featuring top guest dancers and a conversation with Producer Jennifer Gibgot ’87 & Director & Choreographer Adam Shankman

February, 2014 • The Windward Network sponsors a Business & Finance Networking Night Questions? Contact Alumni Coordinator Jeff Gilder ’08 at jgilder@windwardschool.org or 310.391.7127, ext. 278.

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What's new in our community?

Diversity and Inclusivity Geraldine Loveless and Tammy Clem are working this year to build upon the excellent work that Alesia Young has done over the past several years with diversity at Windward. Students, parents, faculty, staff, and administration are joining their efforts to continue this work.

In addition to new leadership, the work, events, and groups previously known as “Diversity” have been renamed to “Inclusivity.” There is much discussion in the realm of diversity about the perception of these two terms, and ultimately “Inclusivity” addresses the responsibility of every person within our community to be respectful, understanding, and nurturing. Windward has made great strides throughout the years toward improving diversity on campus. Every person (those who self-identify as diverse, and those who do not) is a part of the community and has a deep responsibility to ensure that it is inclusive of all of its members.

Community members worked together to bring several exciting events designed to improve diversity to Windward last year. In the spring, a group of faculty working together on the Diversity Task Force began to look at how best to continue the work of making our community ever more inclusive and open minded for students, parents, faculty, and staff. The Inclusivity Task Force is continuing to meet and preparing to facilitate the faculty in-service in March, with a focus on interpersonal interactions, classroom dynamics, and curricular choices.

The spring also brought the creation of an official student group on campus, the Student Diversity Leadership group, which consists of students especially committed to improving the inclusivity of our community through events, awareness, and support. This student group sprang out of the experience of two students who attended the NAIS Student Diversity Leadership (SDL) Conference last winter, and is advised by Ernie Levroney and Geraldine. This year, we are planning to send four students and two faculty members to the conference.

Last year, the Gay-Straight Alliance student group hosted two movie nights on campus, as well as several other events to increase awareness of LGBT issues, while providing support to LGBT students and straight allies. This year, the GSA will continue to organize special events on campus, provide student leadership opportunities and community educational events, and host three movie nights on campus, sponsored by the GSA and the SDL. In addition to the SDL Conference (for student leaders) and the People of Color Conference (for adult leaders), we are looking at other opportunities to best inform our practices and program at Windward, including working with consultant Dr. Corey Olds and conference opportunities for faculty and students related to identity, diversity, gender, and privilege.

As well as participating actively at school celebrations such as Homecoming and Founder’s Day, the Inclusivity Program will provide the community with several opportunities to build inclusivity through special events, such as the Fall Welcome, the Winter Bowl, the International Party Book Party, and guest speakers on diversity and inclusivity. There will be monthly meetings of the Inclusivity program in order to plan and prepare for events, and to provide a consistent space for community members to come together to talk about how to address and improve inclusivity on campus.

Stay Connected!

You can expect to hear much more about these programs and exciting initiatives as the year continues. For the latest stories about Windward’s innovative plans, you can follow along with these online tools: • Windward Website - www.windwardschool.org • Social Media Mashup Page– www.windwardschool.org/social