August 21, 2017 WELCOME BACK LETTER TO THE HB COMMUNITY FROM HEAD OF SCHOOL FRAN BISSELLE:
Dear Hathaway Brown Community,
We are very excited to welcome you to the 2017-2018 school year, our 90th in Shaker Heights and our 142nd in the history of our school! Our faculty and staff already have been hard at work preparing for the year ahead, and we look forward to welcoming all of our students back to campus beginning later this week.
#1 AGAIN!
We're thrilled to announce that for the second year in a row, Hathaway Brown has received top billing from Niche, an online platform that tracks educational institutions and provides research findings for public and private schools across the country. In its 2018 ratings, Niche lists HB as #1 in the category of Best Private K-12 Schools in Ohio and #1 in Best All-Girls High Schools in Ohio. We also earned statewide designations as the #2 Best Private High School overall and #3 Best Private High School for STEM. Visit Niche to check out all the rankings and add your review of HB today!
INSTITUTE FOR 21ST CENTURY EDUCATION
This year marks a significant anniversary of our Science Research & Engineering Program under the leadership of Patty Hunt and Crystal Miller, as this program will celebrate its 20th year. We will use this anniversary occasion to celebrate the many accomplishments of HB alumnae in the fields of research, science, medicine, and engineering. In addition, our Center for Business & Finance will now have a full-time director, and Molly Krist looks forward to creating strong networks with businesses throughout Cleveland for our girls. And this year, under the guidance of Camille Lipford Seals '02, the Center for Multicultural Affairs will have a graduation designation for its scholars. Our centers continue to expand, providing our students with invaluable experiential opportunities that complement our rigorous curriculum.
CLASSROOM OF THE FUTURE
After in-depth research and visits to our local independent schools as well as Case Western Reserve University and Eaton Corp., we have transformed one of our classrooms to be a flexible collaborative modern learning space of the future. We look forward to teachers and students using the space and giving us feedback as to how it works best. We hope to use this feedback loop to refresh other areas around school, as the classrooms are critical tools for teachers to use in setting up an inspiring learning environment.
THEME FOR 2017-2018
As I mentioned in my July letter, this year’s theme is Courage, Character, and Kindness. These virtues are critical as our girls and young boys in ITC and EC develop, and we want to be both academically rigorous while also caring and compassionate. Our teachers are excited to operationalize the Social and Emotional Learning curriculum we have developed, and having two full-time counselors, Lisa Lurie and Rebecca Biggar, on campus to support this effort will be wonderful. I am thrilled that Amy Speidel will also continue her work as a parent and teacher coach in the Early Childhood program.
BLAZER COVENANT
One of the trustee initiatives this summer, and consistent with our theme of Courage, Character, and Kindness, was to design a sportsmanship covenant that reflects HB’s core values. This includes character, sportsmanship, excellence, teamwork, and perseverance, which when practiced in union, are Blazer Pride.
Character
Character matters most, both on and off the field. We are committed to the development of ethical behavior, integrity, and kindness.
Sportsmanship
We are committed to an atmosphere of honorable competition and respectful communication. We learn to handle success with grace and acknowledge failure with dignity, appreciating the challenge the opponent provides.
Excellence
We are committed to achieving our utmost potential in our pursuit of learning not for school but for life.
Teamwork
We are committed to strengthening individual skills through dedication and diligent preparation to contribute to the success of the team and whole sisterhood.
Perseverance
We are committed to having a positive attitude, knowing our best efforts for continuous improvement will build competence and confidence as we pursue personal and team goals.
I look forward to our many fall athletic teams as well as our robotic and debate teams, practicing these important HB values.
PARENT ASSOCIATION
I am excited to partner with the HB Parent Association to enhance communication, to promote better understanding and greater unity within the HB community, and to provide a means whereby the parents/guardians may participate authentically in the life of our school. Toward that end, our HBPA presidents, Vicki Pietrick and Beth Anne Nettis, have been working with the communications department to update the HBPA portion of the website to make it easier to see the various volunteer opportunities and events. I hope you can join us for parent coffees throughout the fall and for Light the Night on Friday, October 6.
CURRICULAR INNOVATIONS, CURRICULUM NIGHTS
The faculty and staff read How Google Works this summer, and we have begun to provide support for every person on our team to become Level I and Level II Google certified educators. We will continue to be innovative in how we use technology as a tool, and how we teach technology and coding. We have an outstanding robotics team we are excited to continue to create and engineer in our IDEA lab maker space as well as expand our coding offerings. HB's CIO Barry Kallmeyer and his team will be expanding our computer science curriculum offerings at all levels, and we are excited for our girls to learn these skills.
I look forward to seeing you at each respective division’s curriculum night:
Wednesday, September 6, 7 p.m.: Primary School Curriculum Night
Wednesday, September 13, 6 p.m.: Middle School Curriculum Night
Tuesday, September 26, 6 p.m.: Upper School Curriculum Night
Wednesday, September 27, 7 p.m.: Early Childhood School Curriculum Night
SURVEY
The faculty, staff, and I will spend the fall making goals and addressing some of the perceived areas in need of attention that emerged from the summer survey results. This survey process was helpful in letting us know what you value as well as areas we can improve on as we work to fulfill our mission and give our students the very best educational experience we can.
The following are some of the highlights from the survey:
- Parents overwhelming believe that Hathaway Brown is delivering on its mission
- Parents gave the school high marks for satisfaction around their students' overall development, academic experience and leadership development
- Of particular note, the school’s academic programs are considered outstanding, rigorously preparing students to enter the next grade level ready to succeed
- The school’s 21st century curriculum is considered both innovative and progressive, offering students a rich mix of experiential and academic programming
- Eighty-six percent of parents feel engaged with school, believe they are treated fairly and with respect, are “extremely likely” to recommend the school to others, and feel proud to be part of the HB Community
- Overall exceptionally strong “top box” scores in many areas, affirming the school’s reputation for providing an exceptional education
- There is a perception that while most of the HB’s facilities are very good, some areas need attention
- Many parents stressed the desire to further tend to the emotional well-being of all girls by making sure the school has outstanding support services in place and by continuing efforts to optimally balance an achievement-oriented academic environment with a sense of community and “sisterhood.”
- Parents also want more consistency, fairness and transparency with disciplinary actions
- Parents rave about the variety of opportunities available at HB but want more opportunities in athletics
- Finally, many parents commented on the need to reduce the demanding and time-intensive homework load. However, in somewhat of a contradiction, it is very clear that the school’s rigor, expectations for achievement and ability to prepare the girls for the next grade level (including college) are highly valued.
NEW FACULTY AND STAFF
Please give a warm welcome to our new staff and faculty members, listed below. Click here to download their biographies and learn more about each of these outstanding educators.
Rebecca Biggar, Upper School Counselor
Caitlin Cahill, Upper School Mathematics
Andrew Clifford, Upper School Science
Kayleigh Dalton, Early Childhood Teacher
Eric Dimitrov, Upper School Science
Cristina Echeverria, Upper School Spanish
Anass El Bekkari, Technical Support/Computer Systems
Julie Haffke, Annual Giving Coordinator
Khaki Hermann '07, Drama Teacher
Elissa Hopson, Upper School History
Deante Jones, Technical Support/Computer Systems
Kayla Kelly, Assistant Aquatics Director
Johnny Kimani, Physical Education
Melissa Nilsen, Middle School Art
Jennifer Oakley, Middle School Math
Elizabeth Pinkerton, Director of Enrollment Management
Jasmine Rocco, Upper School Chinese
Meghan Slanina, Upper School History
Kristen Zajac, Librarian
Libia Zapata, Primary School Spanish
I look forward to welcoming everyone to HB’s 142nd year, to meeting new friends, and to seeing familiar faces.
Fondly,
Fran Bisselle
Head of School