Spring Break Send-Off

Derryfield has a tradition of an all-school meeting immediately before departing for spring break. The request goes out days beforehand asking the faculty and staff to consider performing or saying a few words or generally taking the stage the way our students do every Monday. In this way the adults return some of the favor that our students routinely model during our weekly all-school meetings.

I decided on an illustrated talk combining a few of my photos, as well as ideas that speak to some of what I have learned since being at our extraordinary school. The title of the piece, and the refrain that introduced each picture, is called “I Want to Find a School.” Enjoy.

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I want to find a school filled with fantastic people and an inspiring sense of education. All kinds of people and all kinds of life will recognize that something extraordinary is happening at that school, and they will all want to be there.

I want to find a school where I don’t understand everything that is happening at every moment. People will understand, though, that they are surrounded by a mysterious degree of excellence that ignites their curiosity and makes the atmosphere exciting. The community will be filled with smart people who think differently, respect each other, and learn from each other.

I want to find a school where people are having fun, being playful, not taking themselves too seriously. The school will have an innate sense of joy, both for its own sake, and because it actually makes the learning better. Sometimes the fun will happen when we are alone.

And sometimes the fun will happen when we are together. But either way, people will be putting their energy, their effort, their best out there – they will be trying to be their best all the time.

I want to find a school that has “change the world” on its To Do list. This school will be a place that always thinks about, and acts on, serving others. At the same time, that school will be aware of its own abundance, its own good fortune, and will have a pervasive attitude of gratitude in the hallways, in the classrooms, and on the playing fields.

I want to find a school filled with courage, where bold people embrace big ideas, big goals, and overcome big obstacles - always with respect and always with humility. But nonetheless, that school will always seek to go for it, to try.

I want to find a school filled with exceptional individuals, and exceptional individual effort. That effort will not always look squeaky clean - hard work and determination often leads to some messiness. But those individuals will always keep trying. The people in that school will bring their “A” game every day.

I want to find a school where exceptional individual effort is balanced, valued and complemented by caring, kind, supportive teammates. Everyone in that school will bring out the best in each other – teams will challenge individuals, and individuals will inspire their teams. The entire community will understand that the most important aspect of what they do each day is not for sale, is essentially priceless – I mean, of course, the act of caring. The people at that school will understand they cannot go it alone. They will understand they need help from caring friends and teammates.

I want to find a school filled with enthusiasm for its mission, and for each other. That school will be defined by cool, fun, passionate and committed teachers, and will be filled with great, inspiring young people.

When we find that school, it will be great in ways we won’t even understand in the moment. It will be filled with joy, spirit and a sense that we are all a part of something simply exceptional. It will combine inspiring individuals, pointing to the sky with conviction, and committed friends and teammates - people you can rely on, people with whom you want to share spring break.

When we find that school . . . great, wonderful, surprising things will happen.

Enjoy your spring break. Be safe, and we will see you in two weeks.

Athletics Assembly

Derryfield has a splendid tradition of having an Athletics Assembly at the end of each trimester to honor the high school student athletes who just completed a sports season. While the athletes and coaches are the stars of the gathering, I have the honor of introducing the event. The following are notes from my introduction of the Athletics Assembly on Monday, March 8^th, 2010.

"Every Sunday I get the New Your Times delivered, and reading it is one of the joys of my Sunday evening. I do my best to read it in order, but I save the magazine section for last. I know this all sounds very old-school to you – guilty! And every once in a while a cover story comes along that I particularly enjoy. Yesterday’s was called 'Building a Better Teacher' – here is a brief excerpt:

The testing mandates in governmental policies over the last several years have generated a sea of data, and researchers have been parsing student achievement in ways they never had before.

A new generation of economists devised statistical methods to measure the “value added” by a teacher to a student’s performance by almost every factor imaginable: class size versus per-pupil funding versus curriculum versus on and on and on.

When researchers ran the numbers in dozens of different studies, every factor under a school’s control produced just a tiny impact, except for one: which teacher the student had.

Some teachers could regularly lift their students’ test scores above the average for children of the same race, class and ability level. Others’ students left with below-average results year after year.

Statistician now agree that a student with a weak teacher for three straight years would score, on average, 50 percentile points behind a similar student with a strong teacher for those years. Teachers working in the same building, teaching the same grade, produced very different outcomes. And the gaps were huge.

Similarly, a Stanford economist, found that while the top 5 percent of teachers were able to impart a year and a half’s worth of learning to students in one school year, as judged by standardized tests, the weakest 5 percent advanced their students only half a year of material each year.

I can hear you thinking 'Mr. Sellers has forgotten this is an athletics assembly.'

No – hear me out. This is the point: Great teaching is the same as great coaching, and Derryfield is blessed with adult coaches at the top of their game, helping great student athletes at the top of their game.

Coaches who can help you improve two seasons worth in one season. People who are absolutely committed to helping you Aim High while improving your ability to have lead a balanced life.

So we are here to celebrate great coaching and great athletes, and from here our Athletics Director will take over. Mr. McCaigue, thank you once again for leading us in a fine season. I look forward to your words.

CNS

Thinking Like Google

In February I attended the National Association of Independent School (“NAIS”) conference. The theme this year was “Adapt, Survive, Thrive” and many of the presentations were organized around strategies independent schools must adopt to move through the recession. Doesn’t sound very uplifting? Well, the title of one presentation caught my eye – “How Can Your School Think Like Google?” I came away with the following seven points, as well as renewed appreciation for all that Derryfield does incredibly well.

1. Ideas come from everywhere - Google encourages people to attend meetings outside their field, even meetings outside their comfort zone.

2. Share everything you can - The institution should constantly be creating opportunities for convergence.

Most parents are not likely to have experienced some of my most favorite events at Derryfield. That is, our full faculty meeting on Friday morning that we call “Stand-up” (a remnant from when we did not have a room large enough for everyone to sit), or our All-School Meeting on Monday mornings (which you are invited to, but most parents find inconvenient to attend). Both “Stand-Up” and All School Meeting have a tone of respect for one another, and a sense that we are at our best when sharing the talents in or community. Both of these gatherings have a grand feeling of “convergence” about them, and in different ways they represent our school culture at its best.

3. You’re inspiring? We’re Hiring! Leadership that actively seeks diverse viewpoints, supported by a genuinely welcoming community.

Each year at this time I am inspired by the quality of people who want to teach at Derryfield, and the way the school’s reputation seems to excite them and bring out the best in them. Google’s phrase captures the essence of our mission statement (“The Derryfield School inspires bright, motivated young people . . .”) and helps to explain why both Derryfield and Google made it from young start-ups to mature organizations.

4. Give a License to Pursue Dreams – Explanation: Google has their famous “20% time” (that is, one of every five days employees get to work on whatever interests them – pet projects, passions, etc. G-mail, Google maps, and many others were developed because of the 20% time). But they are also developing a new idea at their phenomenal campus – they are pursuing a work-life that is “blended,” not “balanced.” The cynical view –now employees never have a reason to go home. Google’s view – This is what it takes to be a great company.

We have spent time this year in a variety of ways exploring our core value of “Balance,” defined as “inspiring academic, artistic, and athletic opportunities, promoting the development of healthy habits of mind, body, and spirit, and the skill to balance creative tension.” Best I can tell, Google has simply walked by any pretense of balance, opting instead to offer their employees a “blended” life – one in which their employees never have to leave their extraordinary corporate headquarters. Does this approach hint at what is to come if our children are to work at leading companies five or ten years from now? Is the value of “balance” already an outdated idea for our children and their future?

I cast my lot with Derryfield’s view of balance. Doubtless the world will give more opportunities for our children to blend interests, but schools – and the adults in them – must continue to promote the skills needed to navigate creative tension. I call that balance. Google disagrees.

5. Creativity Loves Constraint - The economy is the new constraint, and you have to surf it, not resent it.

No argument here. In fact, if creativity loves constraint, we may be entering a whole new era of creativity on a global scale.

6. Innovation, not Instant Perfection. In other words - Start, innovate and iterate.

I think this is an exceptionally important value to build into a start-up. It explains so much of Google’s success. So many young organizations have analysis paralysis. The best teachers, like the best organizations, find a way to create an environment of thoughtful risk taking. I was fortunate to inherit Derryfield’s healthy atmosphere in this regard, and yet I continue to see opportunities to move this value forward. We have some of the most innovative faculty, staff, students, parents and Board members anyone could ask for – but the phrase implies constant work, constant review, and a determined humility that always seeks improvement on behalf of students.

7. Data is apolitical - Data has no agenda

This was a raucous way to end a presentation, in part because the day’s newspaper headlines included a story about Google having good reason to believe that China may be tampering with their servers – in essence, with their data. In light of this, the mantra seemed naïve. And, one could argue, exposed a humanizing sense of fallibility in a company that has a Midas touch.

I hope you enjoy your spring break. Take some time to think, perhaps even some time to think like Google. And let me know your reaction to these seven points. Meanwhile, I am developing a presentation called “How Can Google Think Like Derryfield.” I bet it will be standing room only.

CNS