April 2024
Waverly moved past its 30th year in the 2023-2024 school year poised for growth and connected to its past. Our students are invested in learning while faculty members ‒ old and new ‒ are considering how to best teach all students to nurture their sense of self and purpose. It is our main goal to “cultivate curious, resourceful, confident learners who demonstrate intellectual engagement, critical and creative thinking, respect for individual differences, a strong awareness of personal responsibility, and an active commitment to social justice.” This means we must develop self-awareness in leaders and followers. The outspoken and the quiet. The boisterous and reserved. The chaotic and the orderly. We must remember and teach that not every leader is outspoken and not every follower is quiet. We also want our students to see the value of doing both. We want students to respect the quiet and the outspoken and know that there are lessons to be learned from every classmate.
This period of time we are calling “post-pandemic” continues to be a reset for many institutions and people. Isolation and discord remain an increasingly distant memory, though the rearranging and distillation of priorities is on everyone’s mind. We know that too much homework can stress students and lead to negative outcomes; we know that over-scheduling can lead to an inability to focus on what we love; we know that that following our friends too often can diminish the clarity of our own voice; we know that digging deep into issues is better than covering all the content possible. We know all of this to be true, yet can be pulled in other directions. Waverly continues to be a school that focuses on depth, relationships, justice, hearing your voice, while nurturing others. I also know that this period of learning is undergirded by the need to provide three main outcomes for students and families:
Respect from peers. Every student wants to feel like their peers value their presence, their time and their efforts.
Safety in learning. Learning environments should be physically and emotionally safe for all students.
Seeing new opportunities and horizons. Students want to see and feel that their school can help them see and realize new horizons and can foster their growth as people.
My belief in Waverly and my gratitude for the contributions of all community members grows every day. We can’t learn, we can’t fly without each other. Looking at our programmatic growth, our commitment to justice and progressive education is what makes Waverly unique. What makes Waverly special is the people. Our teachers and our families. Thank you for all you do to foster community and caring for all.
Clarke Weatherspoon
Head of School
REFLECTIONS…
Greg Harrison is parent to alumni Kazuo ’21 and Eiji ’23, and a former teacher and Board member. He started as a long-term substitute in high school math, followed by a year as 5th/6th science and math specialist, then seven years as a science teacher at the High School, teaching Physical Science, Chemistry, AP Environmental Science and Astronomy.
“My favorite memory is of our weekly faculty meetings where we would sit side-by-side and each of us would share and discuss our students ― collectively sharing their successes and challenges. I truly enjoyed these interactions ― I learned so much, and each session filled my cup.
This resonates so strongly with me because this is how I learned true empathy and understanding for each student, and this is how I learned the depth of what it takes to be a teacher. It was the most important and profound aspect of learning to be a teacher, and I am especially grateful to Heidi (Johnson) and Joel (Murillo, former High School director).”
