State of the School 2018

We all want PBS to be the best school for your children. We must spark in them lifelong learning and intellectual vitality. We need to equip them for a fast-changing world in which adept problem-solving is sorely needed. Our students are at the center of everything we do: Whether it’s teachers developing the curriculum; admissions decisions; or volunteers ensuring the success of our annual fund. I’ve experienced this child-centered approach at PBS for seven years, and I’m proud of it.

Tonight I will discuss our Vision for PBS. It has students at the center. But first, let’s rewind, back to our beginnings.

Last fall, several PBS-supporters past and present gathered to conduct an historical survey. I was particularly inspired by the PBS origin story, how we came to be. Basically like this: PBS and Trinity were one school. A plucky group of parents and teachers were convinced that the leadership was not putting students first; rather, channeling resources to the church. So this scrappy group walked away, got a rental agreement right here, put together a curriculum, and started school. All that happened in one summer.

That’s an inspiring reason to be: That our founders decided to build their own school centered around students. Compare that with today: I can tell you that this administration, this faculty, and this Board all have PBS students at the heart of every decision, every move, and every dollar spent. Indeed, our whole premise for being is to offer our students the best education.

The Vision I’m outlining tonight deepens our commitment to your children’s education. It dares to conceive what a premier preschool-to-5th-grade education will look like. Some things will change, and some things will advance our excellence and leadership. But some things will remain bedrock: Our students must be academically strong and emotionally intelligent. They must be creative problem-solvers, flexible thinkers, and able to learn from their mistakes. They must know how to think on their feet, reflect, and exercise good judgment. We have the opportunity now to build a very bright future for PBS.

Our Vision encompasses five priorities: Our teachers, STEM, health and wellness, the arts, and tuition support. I hope this Vision will spark interest, build enthusiasm, and provoke your ideas and questions.

The faculty remains the chief factor in your children’s education. Since students are the core of our efforts, PBS must retain, attract, and develop teaching talent. The parent and student surveys clearly demonstrate that our teachers inspire their students well and that we have been hiring excellent teachers. But we face headwinds: The Valley’s high cost of living leading to increasingly insane commute times; difficulty in finding and paying for childcare; and high student loan levels. These are just a few, and we have witnessed the effect in lower PBS faculty tenures. What’s worse, we don’t see these trends abating in the foreseeable future.

So we are taking action. We have ideas to ensure we keep and attract a great faculty:

• Compensation incentives geared towards increased retention.
• In-house training and mentoring program for those interested in leadership positions.
• Expand resources for faculty professional development.
• Endow our new, unique Curriculum Deep Dive Program so this faculty-driven review process becomes a permanent program. The better we build our educational program, the better for hiring talent. The best teachers are attracted to top-tier schools.

Although we have made improvements in our math program, the future makes clear that we need to double down on our efforts. Curricular changes in STEM subjects – science, technology, engineering, and math – are happening at an ever-increasing pace. We must continue building math intuition and number sense while balancing with computational fluency. We must continue inspiring math problem-solving while balancing with high efficiency, accuracy, stamina, and muscle memory. We want to better prepare our students for the math programs and tests they confront in middle school.

This spring, for example, a PBS team will visit the seven middle schools where most of our kids attend. We want to ensure readiness and that our math program is aligned and growing. For building the future, we are looking at several ideas:

• Fully conceived STEM program integrating technology and engineering.
• Advanced math program called “Reach” that allows ready and interested students to reach beyond the core curriculum.
• Organized “Reach Teams” for student participation in national clubs and competitions.
• A PBS-distinctive “Engineering Design Process” that represents the new generation of design-thinking and maker-space models.
• Bolster formal test-taking skills and standardized test-taking skills with a PBS-designed program. We want to assure you that our students are ready for test-taking requirements in middle school and the realities of the competitive middle school process.

Our third priority: Balancing heightened academic rigor in STEM, we also have prioritized health and wellness. We have already added a Director of Emotional Intelligence, in part because we see stress and anxiety in middle and high schools remaining a problem in the future. We know that a strong Emotional Intelligence Program will equip our students with tools to address the pressures they will face. This is really important to us.

• So one of our first endeavors will be to endow our Emotional Intelligence Program so it is a permanent and distinctive part of our curriculum.
• We also seek to build a PBS-led network of schools. This will expand access to cutting-edge research and practices in reducing stress and anxiety.
• In addition, we know that exercise and athletics help students thrive academically. It supports and strengthens their well-being. Unfortunately, our facilities hinder our progress on this priority.
• So I propose we build an Athletic Center: With space to teach healthy competition, encourage team sports, and even, possibly, host games on our campus.
• It is also clear to me that our own Cafeteria will allow us to build a comprehensive nutrition education program. Here, good eating habits can be woven into the curriculum as well as allow us to serve healthy lunches. And, yes, a healthy, free lunch for teachers is a helpful retention tool.

The arts curriculum is our fourth priority. We want our students to think like and be artists. And did you know this: Creative expression through the arts is essential to child development. It is key for building emotional intelligence. So I propose:

• Building our first-ever Performing Arts Pavilion with space to rehearse, perform, and exhibit.
• Having annual productions in each grade, something new in the younger years.
• Funding for new theatre and dance programs. This would allow our students to explore and engage in the full range of the arts on a rotation throughout the year.

Our fifth priority is tuition support through financial aid. We know that children learn best when their thinking-partners and peers represent a diverse range of backgrounds and beliefs. The racial and cultural diversity of our student body has grown. But we have not been as successful in expanding socio-economic diversity. Part of the challenge is geography: The cost of living is so high that it’s unaffordable for a great many to live within 20 miles of PBS.  But we can do better than we have. So I propose:

• Increase funding for tuition support as a percentage of our tuition: As you’ve seen, we’ve added resources over the years. But we're not as good as our best competitors.
• Increase transportation support to school with routes accommodating our families.
• Continue faculty discussions on curriculum to support students with a diverse range of backgrounds and beliefs.
• Make our new Cafeteria a community center to celebrate our family cultures, traditions, and diversity as a full school, not just in individual classrooms.

I hope this Vision sounds ambitious. It should because it’s all about our students. We want our Vision to be worthy of our great school. And we know it can’t all happen at once. But it can happen.

Over my seven years at PBS, I have witnessed unbelievable generosity of spirit, time, engagement, and treasure. You are truly an inspiration to me. This community is capable of great things. With our students as the motivation for all we do, I remain as confident as ever that PBS will continue to offer the best education for your children. I am confident that, together, we will fund and enact our Vision.

For some of the priorities in our Vision, we’re already down the path. Some of what I talked about are dreams. My call to action: Dream Big for our students. Think Big for our students. Thank you!