ACADEMIC POWERHOUSE

MADEIRA’S ACADEMIC POWERHOUSE

MS. MAHONEY AND HER ACADEMIC TEAM HAVE BEEN MOVING MADEIRA FORWARD FOR NEARLY 30 YEARS

There is no place to teach like The Madeira School.

M.A. Mahoney remembers feeling that the first time she stepped foot on Madeira’s campus to interview for an English teacher role in 1993. After nearly three decades at the School, that moment remains an indelible memory that reminds her of why she still considers herself so lucky to serve Madeira and its mission. Ms. Mahoney is inspired by the deep desire to learn and the intellectual curiosity that permeates the campus. “Everyone at Madeira wants to learn. That is an absolute gift to a teacher,” Ms. Mahoney remarked. “The young women here really believe that they have the capacity to go out and change the world. They want to contribute to something larger than themselves.”

MS. MAHONEY WAS DIRECTOR OF ACADEMIC COUNSELING FROM 1996–2003

MS. MAHONEY’S FAVORITES

Favorite Madeira Tradition: Students saying “thank you” at the conclusion of classes

Favorite Dining Hall Food: Turkey Reuben

Favorite Vacation Spot: Cape Breton Island, Canada

Favorite Hobbies: Talking, walking, and reading

Favorite Spot on Campus: Fiction Room

Memorable Speakers at Madeira: Hillary Clinton, Jane Goodall, John Lewis, Elie Wiesel

STEWARDING MISS MADEIRA’S VISION

From her first day as an English teacher to her current role as Dean of Faculty and Academics, Ms. Mahoney has taken seriously her role of stewarding Miss Madeira’s vision, retaining the essence of the School while also being flexible enough to adapt to changing environments and continue Madeira’s tradition of innovative education.

“I think we’re enormously lucky that our founder recognized that personal best was so healthy for adolescent females. The DNA of this community— our job as educators—is to know each individual well enough to help them achieve their own personal best.”

This focus on “personal best” along with curiosity and the deep desire to learn has been a hallmark of a Madeira education since 1906. Ms. Mahoney has helped lead Madeira forward, staying on the cutting edge of education trends, while also ensuring that the School retains these important qualities.

EVOLUTION OF EDUCATION

Ms. Mahoney has worked with three different heads of school during her time at Madeira, each of whom brought innovative ideas to the academic environment.

“All three heads I have worked for have been incredibly smart and believe deeply that young women have great intellectual capacity. We want to help foster great human beings. Madeira has never nurtured intellect at the expense of heart and I’m incredibly proud of that,” Mahoney shared.

Ms. Mahoney was instrumental in the re-imagining of teaching and learning and re-thinking the academic day to be more student-centered in 2012—a bold new initiative that was rolled out along with the Mod schedule in 2014. Madeira’s academic program is thriving today and receiving national attention as other schools look to meet the demands of educating for a fast-changing world.

A shift Ms. Mahoney noted since her early years is a more student-oriented classroom as the relationship among the student, the content, her peers, and the teacher has changed. Rather than the teacher as a “sage on the stage” lecturing to a group of students, today’s classroom is much more collaborative (with teacher as a “guide on the side”). The discussions are lively, more voices are heard, and more information and ideas are exchanged.

DEVELOPING MADEIRA’S FACULTY

As the Dean of Faculty and Academics, Ms. Mahoney is responsible for hiring the teachers who will ultimately carry out the mission of educating the students—a duty she does not take lightly. “Aside from the standard qualifications, we look for flexibility, collaboration, diversity, and a true joy for learning,” Ms. Mahoney shares. “With the Mod schedule, teachers must be flexible and create something new every five weeks. They must be adept at collaborating with other teachers and other departments in an interdisciplinary fashion.”

Madeira’s teaching philosophy is rooted in the belief that learning is a joyful enterprise. Adolescent females withdraw if they feel like they are being judged, and that shuts down the learning process. “Teachers must exude a joy for learning. Students will know right away if a teacher doesn’t love what they teach,” notes Ms. Mahoney. “Our best teachers are the ones who can form relationships with students that are built on trust.”

There is an added benefit to hiring such capable teachers notes Ms. Mahoney. “When you sit down at lunch among such erudite individuals, you will be treated to intellectually rich and rewarding conversations.”

“I think we’re enormously lucky that our founder recognized that personal best was so healthy for adolescent females. The DNA of this community—our job as educators— is to know each individual well enough to help them achieve their own personal best.”

MADEIRA’S HISTORY OF INNOVATION

• Student government before women had the right to vote

• STEM education before it was the norm

• Outdoor education and wellness prior to wide awareness of mental health concerns

• Financial literacy and security for girls (Miss Madeira founded the school before women were permitted to own property)

• Immersive work experiences for over 50 years through Co-Curriculum internships

A TEAM EFFORT FOR STUDENT GROWTH

Madeira’s academic leaders, who work to foster the intellectual growth of every student, helping them to become deep thinkers, confident in their ideas, facile at weaving together seeming incongruities, and deft at identifying patterns. Through Madeira’s academic programs and the people that contribute to them, students are exposed to ideas and to worlds larger than themselves.

CO-CURRICULUM Helps each Madeira student make the leap from classroom to real-world learning with robust internship and mentorship experiences. The related curriculum, which is grade-level specific, focuses on key skills and their application both in and out of the Schoolhouse.

ANDREW SHARP Director of Co-Curriculum

ELLIE PEAKS Assistant Director of Co-Curriculum

SHANICE WEST Assistant Director of Co-Curriculum

COLLEGE COUNSELING A developmentally appropriate, curriculum-based program, College Counseling at Madeira takes a holistic view and builds on the skills the students are developing at each grade level.

LINDA MATHEWS Director of College Counseling

LENAE FRANKLIN

Assistant to College Counseling and School Records Coordinator

MEGAN HOOVER

Associate Director of College Counseling

ACADEMIC OFFICE Helps students select their best fit course load and builds master schedule. Supports students through building academic skills throughout the year.

ACADEMIC LEADERSHIP* Curriculum leaders, working with their faculty team and each other to create a holistic and ambitious academic experience. Drill deeply within a discipline, create opportunities for cross-discipline learning, and inspire authentic global relationships with people and places. (*As of the 2020–21 school year)

INFORMATION & INNOVATION (I-2) Helps faculty integrate technology and resources with learning. Huffington Library and its digital resources expand the work of individual faculty and classes. The Maker Space and Fab Lab are used by every department.

KEITH WARD English Department Chair

MATTHEW SUDNIK History Department Chair

XIAOFU DING World Languages Department Chair

GLEN RUSSELL Math Department Chair

SASHA NEWMAN Arts Department Chair

SARA CHUANG

Science Department Chair

SHIELDS SUNDBERG

Coordinator of Global Citizenship

JEFF DAYTON

Director of Information and Innovation

EMILY DOWD

Librarian

STACY TIPPENS Director of Instructional Design and Innovation

LAUREN ROY Educational Technology Specialist

KATE SCOTT STEAM Specialist

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

Madeira strives to remain at the forefront of education. Throughout her tenure, Ms. Mahoney has been a champion of student-centered education and continues to drive innovation. To that end, she is excited about current trends and where they may be leading Madeira’s educational philosophy in the future.

“Two years ago, I would not have predicted we would now have completed a year of hybrid learning. We have learned so much about synchronous, asynchronous, and remote learning,” reflects Ms. Mahoney. “We are going to study how we can capitalize on these combinations. For example, we could consider a Mod 8 summer option. Once the world opens up and students go on academic trips again, we can use the elasticity we have found with our technology tools to enhance the learning.”

FUTURE DEFINED BY PROBLEM SOLVING

Head of School Ms. Warner views the pandemic as the great disruptor that educators have been waiting for. “We will no longer be in the industrial model of education—we need to look beyond ‘school’ to how we are launching future problem identifiers and problem solvers,” Ms. Warner states. “The question we need to ask today is not, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ but rather, ‘What problems do you want to solve?’ Innovative schools like Madeira have an edge in this regard.”

One of the most important takeaways from the beginning of Ms. Warner’s tenure is that decisions will be increasingly data driven. According to McKinsey Global Institute’s February 2021 report on “The Future of Work after COVID-19,” the pandemic has accelerated three trends that are likely to persist: • Remote work and virtual interaction • E-commerce and digital transactions • Automation and Artificial

Intelligence (AI) As these trends reshape work, the study predicts occupation transitions may increase by as much as 25% by 2030. “This means the future is not defined by what degree you have, but what SKILLS you have,” notes Ms. Warner. “We want Madeira students to have critical skills so they can thrive and lead an ever-changing workforce.”

SKILLS-BASED FUTURE LEADS TO RE-THINKING THE TRANSCRIPT

With future jobs demanding new skills, Ms. Mahoney envisions the opportunity to radically re-think the traditional transcript. “I’m intrigued by the Mastery Transcript, which places an emphasis on the mastery of skills rather than a focus on grades. I can see an interdisciplinary schedule where students are in three classes with the same students, working on a common problem from three different angles,” Ms. Mahoney explains. The science behind the most effective learning techniques gives the Mastery Transcript idea solid footing because it encourages students to tackle several aspects of the same problem from different disciplines, which improves learning and retention.

UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING SUPPORTS EQUITY-BASED OUTCOMES

As the future demands more skills and competency-based learning, Madeira is looking at Universal Design for Learning (UDL), a framework to proactively design learning experiences so that all students can increase their outcomes and amplify their learning. In UDL, students exercise agency and choice to demonstrate their learning and knowledge. Setting a low floor and a high ceiling along with ensuring equity and cultural responsiveness in the classroom through UDL reinforces and modernizes Miss Madeira’s emphasis on personal best. It also mirrors Madeira’s philosophical belief that all students can achieve at high levels through effective effort (the growth mindset). With UDL, according to a March 2021 “Cult of Pedagogy” article: • Variability is the rule, not the exception. Students learn in different ways, using different materials, and share what they have learned in different ways to reach the same goals. • All students can work toward the same goals and grade-level standards when provided with adequate challenge and support. • Students will become expert learners if barriers are removed and they are given opportunities to self-differentiate.

SKILLS NEEDED FOR WORK SUCCESS:

• Creativity

• Collaboration across time and space

• Critical thinking

• Compassionate listening

• Cultural responsiveness and global citizenship

• Communication across multiple platforms

• Resiliency and adaptability

• Knowledge and skill transference with technology integration

SOURCE: MCKINSEY GLOBAL INSTITUTE THE FUTURE OF WORK AFTER COVID-19, FEBRUARY 2021

RELATIONSHIPS REMAIN AT THE CORE

While innovation has been a hallmark throughout Madeira’s history, one constant in a Madeira education from its founding to the present is the importance of relationships. A strong student/teacher relationship is crucial to academic success, and deep community relationships are so important in creating and sustaining a supportive culture. Even in future worlds with automation and AI, human relationships will still be critical.

For nearly three decades, Ms. Mahoney has been a steadfast leader and cultivator of strong Madeira student and adult relationships. With Miss Madeira’s vision as a foundation, she and her team have built upon it with innovations, iterations, and new tools.

Much is on the horizon as we look to the future. Madeira’s history of innovation with amazing student outcomes will continue. In this time of evolution in education, the School is well positioned to thrive.