I appreciate being included in these discussions on Quaker education and Iowa Yearly Meeting. I find the discussions interesting and thoughtful and would like to share with you a bit about some upcoming initiatives here at Scattergood. In keeping with our Long Range Plan, we are trying to find ways to promote life long, self-directed learning in settings throughout Scattergood.

For some time now we have been discussing these ideas, but how do we create the reality from the discussion? As Reck has mentioned, we need to make it more intentional. Scattergood has a long and rich history of accidentally promoting the Quaker Learning Process, but now we are taking steps of making that process more intentional.

Attached you will find an announcement letter that recently was sent to Scattergood students and their parents. This letter outlines some specifics on next year's changes. There is a lot of excitement not only among the staff, but also the students in our end of the year talks. I look forward to further conversations on this topic at IYM in a few weeks, and as always, welcome any comments or suggestions you might have.

Ken

Four exciting announcements for the 2000-2001 school year:

Secondly, we will be starting a portfolio program this year, with all students building a collection of their work at Scattergood. The portfolio will include academic work, of course, but it will also include things from other realms of life at Scattergood - trips, crews, community life and leadership, and personal reflection on successes and struggles. The portfolios will be a personal chronicle of each student's time at Scattergood, and as more colleges accept and expect portfolios, Scattergood students will be well prepared. The portfolio program will receive significant attention during the first block, and it will be exciting to see them grow as the year (and years) go by.

Thirdly, we are making very deliberate efforts to expand what we think of as Scattergood's "curriculum" to include not only the more traditional academic subjects, but other components of Scattergood as well. Specifically, we are working to elevate the work crew program, community service, living in community, and personal goal setting as curriculum components with their own goals and objectives. Crew should be more than helping out with the daily task of maintaining the school - we would like students to learn specific skills associated with different crews, and to gain increasing levels of responsibility relating to crew work and supervision. We want to be more deliberate in nurturing student leadership by developing skills in dealing with conflict, decision making, helping others, and knowing themselves better. We are adding freshman and sophomore seminar classes to the curriculum to deal expressly with these parts of the Scattergood curriculum.

Finally, we are excited to announce that Scattergood has committed to the idea that all students at the school should have a laptop computer as an essential learning tool. With our mission of life-long, self-directed learning, the governing body of the school and its faculty believe that this tool will enable students to develop a greater sense of personal responsibility and ownership of their education, and offer many opportunities for innovations in teaching. There will be more details about this significant augmentation to Scattergood's program later this summer, but essentially all students will receive a laptop computer as a component of tuition. Some of you may wonder if this decision represents a shift in educational philosophy at the school. The answer is that it does not. As the earlier paragraphs of this letter should make plain, we are as committed as ever to the concept of learning taking place in all settings at Scattergood, including many that do not involve computer technology. At the same time, as a college-prep school in this new millennium, we feel that students need to be very proficient in using computers and the Internet intelligently, appropriately, and powerfully.