Special Edition | Seth Pozzi -  Head of School

Want kids to be kind, accepting and inclusive?

They may not be getting the message!


 

Last month, the children and staff of WHPS took a stand against bullying as we participated in the celebration of Unity Day. Unity Day, an anti-bullying campaign, promotes kindness, acceptance and inclusion. As parents, of course you want to raise kind, accepting and inclusive children but are your children hearing that message? A recent Harvard study found about 80% of children said their parents were more concerned with their achievement or happiness than whether they cared for others. 

"As parents, of course you want to raise kind, accepting and inclusive
children but are your children hearing that message?"

Childhood is a unique time of development when children are literally learning how to become members of society, picking up on social norms and cultural values. They look to us to understand what those norms and values are. Most parents report that raising a caring child is very important and even rate it as more important than children’s achievements. Still, participants in the study were three times more likely to agree that, “My parents are prouder if I get good grades in my classes than if I’m a caring member in class and school.”

So how can parents send the message that kindness, acceptance and inclusion are valuable? Luckily, there are a few things you can do now, during these formative preschool years, that will have lasting effects on the character of your child. 

1. Embrace that we are not all the same: Don’t be afraid to participate in awkward conversations with your child. Unfortunately many parents avoid talking about differences in the hopes to raise kind and color-blind children. To truly encourage the value of inclusivity you will need to explain differences related to race, religion, culture, ability, family type, etc. to your child. When you have those conversations you can matter of factly point out that, yes, differences exist and that no matter how different people are, everyone has feelings.   
2. Practice: Give children opportunities to practice. Instead of sending the message “we’re friends with everyone” help your child practice making a new friend. Invite someone out for a play date that your child doesn’t already play with. Encourage your child to befriend the new child in class. 
3. Proactive role-modeling: Remember that children learn more from watching what you do than listening to what you say. Take a step back to ensure you’re speaking kindly of others and refraining from bad-mouthing or name-calling (especially in traffic!). Look for opportunities to diversify your circle. 
4. Perspective taking: Encourage your child to take others’ perspectives from time to time. You can read your child’s favorite stories and ask how the characters might be feeling.  

Student Perceptions

So what, now what?

Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to serve on a WASC Accreditation Committee, conducting an in-depth evaluation of another school. I spent three days on campus meeting with the school’s leadership team and parents, observing teachers/students, and learning what their program is all about. I enjoyed serving on the committee and gaining some wonderful insights into their program. But, it also reinforced how special and outstanding our program and community are. This year, our school is also renewing our WASC accreditation, and I can’t wait for the committee to come see what we are all about. 

What is WASC Really Looking at?
We develop a self-study and action plan, outlining our goals for the next six years, addressing the areas below. These goals are based on feedback from: students, parents, teachers, and the leadership team.

• Organization & Support for Growth - How well does the school live out its vision and support the needs and academic achievement of all students? 
• Community Involvement - How is the school involved in the community and how involved is the parent community with the school? 
• Resource Management - Are resources allocated equitably to best support the needs and academic achievement of all students?
• Curriculum Instruction & Assessment - To what extent is the school’s curriculum rooted in educational research and proven to be effective? 

Student Survey
Part of our self-study includes a student survey, which we recently conducted with the entire elementary school. We asked students about their school experience. You can find a list of the questions here. I am sharing some data from the survey (a full analysis will be included in the WASC report available to parents this spring). 

Since the survey, further expansion of the leveled library has already been added to our Resource Management Action Plan. The above questions reflect just one small example of how feedback (in this case from students) is used in shaping our goals. 

I DARE not to smile when you read this last part.
In the survey we asked students the following open ended questions (click the links to find out what they said).

1. I think my family chose WHPS because...
2. The best part about WHPS is...
3. Something I wish we could learn about is...