The purpose of Nathan Hale High School is to ensure that ALL
students will become honorable,
thinking, skillful citizens.
Greetings to the Nathan Hale
community!
Greater, not less, intimacy between generations is at the heart of all the best school reform efforts around today and is the surest path to restoring public trust in public education . . . the key building block of this relationship between student and teacher is trust. Deborah Meier, In Schools We Trust
Deborah Meier, one of the founders of the Coalition of Essential Schools, writes in her book In Schools We Trust about the creative power of trusting relationships within our school communities. As I join you at Nathan Hale as your principal, I want to be sure that you know that you can trust me to always keep your students at the heart of every conversation, every decision, every policy and practice. When we put students at the center of our work, our decisions become clear, and our work becomes purposeful and powerful.
I will include Hale’s mission statement at the top of every message because there is tremendous power and depth in the words “honorable, thinking, skillful citizens.” Our learning communities are successful only when we hold our students to the highest expectations as citizens with both rights and responsibilities, when we model for them honorable work and relationships, and when we invite them to do deep, rigorous thinking. We humans are natural learners, and we thrive when we are given opportunities to do learning that is rigorous and relevant. You can trust me to model honorable, thinking, and skillful citizenship for your students.
As an affiliate of the Coalition of Essential Schools, the Nathan Hale community is committed to upholding the ten “common principles” of the coalition. This year we will highlight one of these principles each month so that all members of our community know the principles that guide our work. You can trust me to uphold these principles, and put them into action at Nathan Hale.
Finally, I thank you for entrusting your students to us at Nathan Hale, and for your continued contributions of time and resources to our school through the Nathan Hale Foundation. Without your participation and support our school communities would not exist. You can trust me to listen to your concerns, to celebrate your successes, and to care for your students.
Best wishes for a happy summer and a great 07-08 school year!
The Ten Common
Principles:
1. Learning to use one’s mind well
2. Less is more—depth over coverage
3. goals apply to all students
4. personalization
5. student-as-worker, teacher-as-coach
6. demonstration of mastery
7. a tone of decency and trust
8. commitment to entire school
9. resources dedicated to teaching and learning
10. democracy and equity