Druckerman's Cures for Hyper-Parenting

I loved Pamela Druckerman's book Bringing up Bébé even though I came to it after my own kids were no longer bébés.  Her recent article in the New York Times contains echoes from the book and was also enjoyable.
I suspect she's right (unfortunately) when she humorously warns,

Don't bother obsessing about what you think you're doing wrong.  You won't screw up your kids in the ways you expect; you'll do it in ways you hadn't even considered.

You can find her October 12th article here.

Principal's Goals 2014-15

Approved at last month's Board meeting . . . 

Woods Charter School

2014-2015 Goals for the Principal

1.  Support, retain, and develop our faculty.

·         Provide regular and varied forms of constructive feedback for all faculty.

o   Visit all classrooms at least twice by end of September.

o   Conduct full observation of all faculty members by March 15^th.

·         Implement Beginning Teacher Support Plan.

·         Steward processes for reflective practice for all faculty.

(e.g., peer-to-peer observations, school visits, teacher book groups, Grand Rounds, CONNECT  board, etc.)

2.  Build community . . .

            among faculty.

            among students.

            among the whole school, One Woods.

3.  Practice Leadership-by-Walking-Around

·         Be present in classrooms, hallways, and at extracurricular/athletic events.

4.  Communicate regularly with parents using multiple forms and forums.

·         Leverage traditional and digital media for articulating and reiterating our philosophy, mission, and values.

o   Compose monthly blog posts to whole Woods community.

5.  Build a stronger, more cohesive admin/leadership team.

·         Engage outside coach/consultant to help challenge and develop the team.

·         Create and implement a new model for how we conduct meetings.

·         Conduct comprehensive review process for admin team.

6.  Continue to focus, energize, and expand our fundraising capacity.

·         Raise $200,000 through the annual fund and auction.  Increase participation by Woods families beyond 85%.

·         Secure 2-3 significant corporate donations/sponsorships.

7.  Improve the precision of our financial modeling and forecasting to maximize money going to faculty salaries.

·         Complete a facilities maintenance plan by April 2015.

           

8.  Create outdoor spaces on our campus that are friendly and inspiring to teachers, students, and learning.  Add beauty and vibrancy to the front of the school.

·         Build two outdoor classrooms (council houses) this school year.

·         Complete design for huge pollinator garden in front of the school and install phase #1 by Dec. 1^st.