38 minute read
Photo Gallery Day In the Life
8:19 a.m.
Middle and Upper School students can consult teachers about coursework during morning office hours. During morning drop-off at Peters Circle, Lower School students greet each other and get ready for the day.
A DAY IN THE LIFE
of St. Andrew’s students
8:43 a.m.
Middle School students catch up at their lockers before heading off to Morning Meeting in MacDonald Hall. Morning Meeting in the Lower School is an opportunity for every student to be seen and heard.
9:03 a.m.
10:14 a.m.
Preschool music class is designed for students to learn the fundamentals of making music - as well as time that’s perfect for singing, dancing, and having fun!
11:58 a.m.
11:07 a.m.
In English 7, students comb their books for examples of metaphor and simile as part of a “literary device scavenger hunt.” Language arts in second grade is fun! Read more about what playful learning looks like in second grade on page 28
The Lower School Outdoor Learning Space offers fun for all ages, from the preschool “mud kitchen” to the elementary school basketball court. Lunch is provided by SAGE Dining Services and features a hot entrée each day in addition to salads, sandwiches, fresh fruit, and a dessert.
12:11 p.m.
12:22 p.m.
Upper School visual artists present their work for critique and offer constructive and compassionate feedback to their peers, skills that help them grow in all subject areas at school.
In Upper School Math classes, students aren’t just solving equations; they are working with partners and in groups to practice new concepts, all with support and encouragement from their teachers.
4:56 p.m.
3:51 p.m.
Dismissal time! St. Andrew’s offers nine shuttle bus routes to and from points in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. After the academic day has ended, Upper School students take part in sports practices and competitions. Our athletics program includes 21 sports, with students competing in either the MAC or ISL leagues.
Editor’s Note
When we made the decision last spring to write about the college counseling process at St. Andrew’s for the Fall Magazine and Annual Report, we had two goals in mind. First, show how St. Andrew’s prepares its students for college and guides them through the admission process. Second, demystify the college counseling process for our families. In trying to accomplish these goals, we seek to share what families can expect as they move through the Upper School and prepare their students for the next step in their educational journey.
We acknowledge that this magazine does not address all high-profile issues regarding college admission, attendance, and costs. Earlier this year, the Biden Administration issued an Executive Order authorizing forgiveness of certain student loan debts - an order currently being challenged in court. As we go to press with this edition, the Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments on the use of affirmative action programs in college admissions. And the ranking of colleges and universities, and the various criteria for those rankings, continue to merit questions and criticism.
Amidst so much controversy and uncertainty, we hope that by sharing our internal process transparently, by explaining what our students experience as they apply to college, we can alleviate some of the understandable anxiety that comes with the college admission process.
The Kids Are Alright
St. Andrew’s students continue to find success in college placement despite shifting landscape.
BY RICHARD COCO
Since the Spring of 2020, so much about our world has changed – from how we work to how we order food to the way we attend concerts and sporting events. The COVID-19 pandemic has altered so many facets of our society, including college admission. What colleges are looking for in prospective students and how they evaluate applications have shifted dramatically in the past few years.
Schools are paying less attention to student test scores and more attention to who the student is, what they care about, and what motivates them. In many ways, colleges and universities are beginning to value prospective students in a way that fits perfectly with the mission and culture of St. Andrew’s. This alignment has helped St. Andrew’s most recent graduating classes continue to have successful outcomes as they leave our campus and embark on the next phase of their educational journey.
Take a look at the Class of 2022, and you will see students matriculating to Amherst, Carnegie Mellon, Colorado School of Mines, Cornell, Duke, Emory, Franklin & Marshall, Harvard, Michigan, NYU, Northwestern, Rochester Institute of Technology, St Andrews (Scotland), Tufts, UCLA, Vassar, Virginia, Wesleyan, and dozens of other colleges. Our students’ applications showcase who they are as individuals and what they will bring to their college community.
“Colleges want to know who you are as an individual,” said Danita Salone, Associate Director of College Counseling. “They really do take a holistic approach in reviewing an application. Yes, academics are key but who are you? What personality and character traits do you possess? What experiences will you bring to the campus community and how will you contribute to the campus environment?”
Salone has been working in college counseling and college admission for more than 15 years. She came to St. Andrew’s this summer from Sidwell Friends School where she spent the previous two years as Associate Director of College Counseling. She works closely alongside Director of College Counsel-
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The Class of 2022
The 94 students in the Class of 2022 were accepted to 179 different schools. Scan the QR code to see the list of accepted schools and where our graduates chose to matriculate. Continued from page 9
ing Jonathan Gerelus. Gerelus is in his sixth year at St. Andrew’s and has two decades of experience in the field – first at Johns Hopkins University and then for nearly a decade at St. John’s College High School. Over the past 40 years, the college admission process has become more complex and more anxiety-producing. Applications are at a record high and acceptance rates at many high-profile schools have dropped, exacerbating a process that is already mysterious and stomach-churning for high school students and their families. The concern of getting into a good school has become so overwhelming in the minds of many applicants that questions about the school community and the quality of teaching and learning have become secondary. But amidst this challenging backdrop, something extraordinary is happening at St. Andrew’s – students are continuing to earn acceptance at one of their top choice schools and moving on to a college experience that is the right fit for them.
Whether helping a budding artist find a program where they can stretch their wings, supporting a student-athlete navigating the NCAA eligibility process, advising a prospective engineer deciding between an Ivy or a school with a STEM-focused curriculum, or working with the senior unsure of what they want to pursue after high school, the college counseling process at St. Andrew’s works because of the human-centered approach of the college counselors.
That human-centered approach begins with getting to know the students beyond what a transcript shows. It means learning about their interests and hidden talents and developing a relationship that affords them the opportunity to guide them in making one of the most important decisions of their young lives. It means showcasing that St. Andrew’s students are academically independent and ready to engage socially in an interactive college environment – character-
istics that schools want and an area where St. Andrew’s students tend to shine.
“Throughout the college counseling process, we find out so many things about our students that other members of our community are unaware of,” Gerelus said. “Our community is humble. Our students aren’t the type to brag, even when they have some amazing experiences that will absolutely draw the attention of admission officers. Showing who you are will help schools see the student as an individual.”
Gerelus’s words were echoed by Jack Lesure, Assistant Director of Admissions at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. “We want to know who the student is from the student’s perspective,” Lesure said. “What we want to see on the application apart from the transcripts and the classes and the schedules and the grades is ‘who are you from your own perspective?’, and not ‘what do you think we want to know?.’ Truly, ‘who are you?’. If you have a day where you have no responsibilities, what would you do that day and what are you curious about and how are you different from everyone else?”
This effort to consider the whole person is something that Dana and Malachy Nugent experienced with their daughter Caroline ’22. The Nugents returned to the area after an overseas post with Caroline heading into her junior year.
“During the college application process, Mr. Gerelus took into consideration our daughter’s scholastic interests, abilities and accomplishments, hobbies, and extracurricular activities and gave her a thoughtful list with which she could start her search,” the Nugents said. “He was both realistic and reassuring about application choices while allowing her to have complete agency over her final decisions. Throughout the process it was clear that our daughter was working with someone who has a lot of experience in this field, yet knows the current landscape of college and university admissions.”
For those who have never been through
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Acceptances vs. Applications
The percentages below represent the acceptance rates for each college. The second line represents the total number of applicants.
Amherst
Brown
2022 2021 2020 2019
9% 8% 13.7% 11% 9,722 8,568 8,397 8,566
7.2% 8.3% 6.9% 8.5% 35,438 32,724 32,390 30,397
Case Western
Clemson
Colgate
Cornell
Elon
Grinnell
Harvard
30% 30% 27.4% 27% 38,000 33,232 29,084 28,987
45.8% 51.3% 49% 51.3% 52,820 47,007 29,100 29,070
12% 17% 22.6% 24.9% 21,261 17,537 8,583 9,951
6.9% 10% 14% 15.1% 51,328 47,038 51,500 41,900
78% 77.7% 71.7% 78.4% 17,492 17,834 15,306 10,729
11% 11% 10.5% 23% 10,513 10,587 8,137 8,004
4.6% 5.2% 5.2% 5.3% 61,220 39,506 39,041 37,305
Hobart and William Smith 67% 68% 61.8% 66.1% 4,300 3,771 3,940 3,426
Maryland, College Park 52% 49% 51% 51% 56,000 50,183 32,147 33,000
Michigan
R.I. School of Design
Salisbury
Tufts
U. of So. California
20% 20% 18.2% 26% 84,000 79,743 65,021 64,972
19% 19% 27.1% 25.8% 3,913 4,742 3,830 3,832
86% 78% 74% 74% 7,691 9,722 8,701 8,421
9% 11% 11% 16% 34,880 31,190 23,127 22,725
12.9% 16% 16% 11% 69,062 56,000 59,712 51,800
Virginia
Yale
21% 21% 20.6% 21% 50,962 50,800 47,287 40,971
4.5% 4.6% 6.3% 6.5% 35,306 50,015 31,455 30,237
Continued from page 11What does the College Counseling process look like at St. Andrew's?
Ninth Grade
• Visit students in advisories and discuss transcripts and impact of grades • Spring follow-up to encourage students to be active members of the community through sports, plays and musicals, clubs and other activities
Tenth Grade
• Class meeting with students to discuss challenging themselves. Support them in taking some appropriate academic risk in consultation with the grade dean • Continue encouraging to stay involved in activities and pursue interests • PSAT10 in March
Eleventh Grade
• PSAT in October • Parent coffee in the fall to introduce the college process • Assign counselors to each student • Provide students and families with questionnaires • One-on-one meetings with students and families to discuss questionnaires. Students receive a list of schools to consider • Junior Class College Night with admissions professional speaking to families • Junior Class College Day with admission professionals. Students discuss the interview process, participate in a mock admissions committee, and begin college essay drafts • College Fair - typically held jointly with a partner school • Individual follow-up to discuss testing plans and summer college visits
Twelfth Grade
• Application workshops in late August • Individual meetings with students • Essay writing and decisions on where to apply and how to apply (regular vs. early decision vs. early action where available) • College Rep visits at St. Andrew’s throughout the fall • Senior College Night in early September to walkthrough requesting transcripts and teacher recommendations • Families receive college counseling newsletter with important dates and deadlines. Scholarship information and other pertinent information shared weekly Continued from page 11
the college counseling process, it can seem mysterious and anxiety-inducing. Never more so than now, as applications and firsttime applicants have dramatically increased while acceptance rates have mostly gone down. In the two-year cycle from 2019-2020, the last one before the COVID-19 pandemic began, to 2021-2022, total applications rose by 21.3% according to a report from Common App, which has 853 member colleges and universities. That increase was partially due to a growth in first-time applicants (14.4% more of the same time period to the same 853 member schools) and partially due to an increase in applications per person – from a little more than five per person to close to six.
The question of why the increase in applicants and applications has a number of factors. Test-optional and test-blind policies, put into place in the early days of the pandemic because of lack of access to the tests is one driving force. Another is the increase in international applicants as well as intentional recruitment by universities to broaden their applicant base.
In speaking to U.S. News & World Report, Bari Norman, co-founder and head counselor at Expert Admission, an admissions consulting company, said that schools “want to reach students that they’ve never reached before. They also want to create meaningful connections with students that they previously may have connected with, but there wasn’t the sense on the part of the students that there was space for kids like them on those college campuses.”
While this news might make some nervous, St. Andrew’s students and families should continue to feel confident about college opportunities. If they have any doubt, all they need to do is look at the outcomes for the students in the Class of 2022. St. Andrew’s graduated 94 students in June, and all of them headed to college. Collectively they were admitted to 179 different institutions and they will attend 71 different schools. Nearly one-third of them – 27 students in total – were admitted to every school to which
they applied, and 63% applied early decision or early action. On average, each student submitted 10 applications, which fits with the philosophy of the college counseling office.
In helping provide students with options, the college counselors – along with Peggy Porterfield who is the Registrar and Assistant to College Counseling – help identify merit-based scholarships and financial aid opportunities for students at the different schools to which they are applying. For some, the cost of tuition has historically limited options. Over the past 20 years, tuition and fees at private schools have risen by 134%, out-of-state tuition at public universities have gone up 141%, while in-state tuition and fees have increased by 175%. Some good news though can be inferred from the most recent admission cycle. According to U.S. News & World Report (in reviewing the 440 national universities ranked in their 2022-2023 Best College rankings), rates at private schools went up by just 1% while tuition at public universities, both in-state and out-of-state, decreased, according to U.S. News & World Report.
So how did the Class of 2022 achieve such remarkable results for their college placement despite an overall increase in applications to colleges and a decrease in acceptance rates? While every student is responsible for their own achievements, there is no doubt that the support and guidance of the college counseling office was instrumental in giving students and families the direction, encouragement, and focus they needed to find a school that was the right fit for each and every one of the 94 graduates.
“Audrey is our first child to apply to college, so we were very nervous from the start,” said Rory and Ned Quint, parents of Audrey, a Class of 2022 graduate. “However, from day one, the St. Andrew’s process was deliberative and well-organized. Mr. Gerelus took the time to get to know Audrey as more than just grades and test scores, and was extremely helpful in suggesting schools to consider initially as well as others as Audrey gathered more information and refined her preferences. Audrey (a first-year student at Scripps College in Claremont, California) ended up at a school that is a perfect fit for her.” The suggesting of schools is a core part of the college counseling process at St. Andrew’s. In the first half of their junior year, students are given a questionnaire to help the college counselors understand what the student is looking for in a college. (Parents are given a similar questionnaire as well.) “For us, the questionnaire is the key element of what we do,” Gerelus said. “It allows the parents and students to have a voice in the college process. Sometimes the student has certain ideas, sometimes the parents have certain ideas, but I think the questionnaire we have developed over the past several years really allows us to get a sense of what the student’s interests and wishes are.”
After the questionnaires are returned, one-on-one meetings are scheduled for the counselor to sit with the student and parents and they leave the meeting with a list of 20 schools to consider based on interests shared in the questionnaire. “The list of 20 schools that I received at the start of the college search process from college counseling was incredibly helpful because it helped to discover the schools that fit my interests,” said Iris Zola ’23. “I appreciated that college counseling was able to help me narrow down a list of schools where I could be successful that also matched everything that I was looking for.” Kate Schneider ’23 was looking for a school that would allow her to continue her equestrian experience. After years of riding at St. Andrew’s, she wanted a school where she could continue to ride while also pursuing her academic goals. “Mr. Gerelus gave me a personalized list of 20 schools, all of which have competitive equestrian programs. Almost all of the schools I ended up applying to were from the list that he gave me, and it really helped me to narrow down my list because he had already done so much of the searching for me,” Schneider said. “The list made me feel really comfortable with the process and took away much of the stress of finding the right school because I knew that I would be happy at any of the schools on my list since Mr. Gerelus had picked each school with me in mind.” Another human-centered aspect of the college counseling process is the way the counselor manages students based on what they need. Some students need check-ins a few times a week while others prefer, and work well with, a less hands-on approach. For some students, deadlines are easy to meet. For others, more flexibility is required. Regardless of the circumstance, the counselors approach each student with a care and devotion that comes with the responsibility they shoulder. “One of the things over the years that I’ve said to my families is, they are your kids and you raised them, but they are my kids too,” Salone said. “As a college counselor you are very much invested in your students. And I think that’s why we do this job, because we genuinely care.” While every student is different, Gerelus and Salone agree, the most important thing for St. Andrew’s families is “trusting the process.” “There is so much information out there,” Gerelus said. “Parents, understandably, want the best for their child and we have a huge responsibility in making sure options are there for their child. We take the time to remind them that we are actively advocating for their children and working with them in partnership for the best possible outcome. And if they trust what we are doing, those options and outcomes will be there.” “So many parents and students told us at the outset to take a deep breath, relax, and trust the process,” Rory and Ned Quint said. “We hope other St. Andrew’s parents will follow that advice based on our very positive experience.”
Alumni Reflections
College-aged alumni give us their thoughts on the College Counseling process and how St. Andrew’s prepared them for the next stage of their lives. Scan the QR code to read more on our website >>
Tinuke Alarapon ’22
COLLEGE
Amherst College ‘26
FIELD OF STUDY Neuroscience, Spanish, and Math
“When considering colleges and universities, I was looking for a small to medium-sized school that would challenge me academically, pushing me to improve and achieve my goals. St. Andrew’s really helped me to build my skills of self advocacy, so I am always reaching out to my professors for help via office hours and email. I have already been assigned to write a thesis paper, and my experience with the St. Andrew’s senior research seminar prepared me for this.”
Meredith Amick ’21
COLLEGE University of Southern California ‘26
FIELD OF STUDY Architecture (Five-Year Program)
“St. Andrew’s did a great job preparing me for college. When I am assigned to write a paper, I often think back to the Oral History Project or the senior research paper and think, ‘If I could do that, I can write a four-page paper no problem.’ I’ve also noticed that my classes at St. Andrew’s have prepared me to explore different college classes, and I have a great foundation for all of the general education classes that I take.”
Jonas Blum ’22
COLLEGE Northwestern University ‘26
“St. Andrew’s prepared me for college immensely. My history classes gave me a fantastic context of knowledge and critical thinking that made the transition to college history simple. Mr. Dahlke’s philosophy class helped me to understand why I think the way I do, and apply the concepts we learned senior year to philosophy classes here. Frankly, my college classes are like St. Andrew’s classes. I’m super grateful for St. Andrew’s.”
Ana-Lucia Chalmers ’22
COLLEGE University of St Andrews (Scotland) ‘26
FIELD OF STUDY Sustainable Development and International Relations
“I have felt completely prepared for the workload I have gotten in college so far, especially since St. Andrew’s put such a strong emphasis on English skills and essay writing. Outside of academics, being pushed to do extracurriculars allowed me to feel comfortable joining clubs and societies. The transition to college has been fairly smooth, even for a university across the world, and I would attribute a lot of that to St. Andrew's.”
Valeska Peters ’22
COLLEGE Tufts University ‘26
FIELD OF STUDY
Computer Science and Art
“My strategy for a ‘crazy’ pandemic-era admissions cycle was to apply to 20 colleges. I was admitted to 10 schools and chose Tufts for the strength of its computer science and arts programs and for its cultural diversity. My college counselor helped me choose the classes that would give me my best shot at admissions and also prepare me to do the work. Hard as it was, Mr. Haight’s class meant that I easily wrote my first 15-page paper this fall while everyone else was grumbling and moaning.”
Simon Porritt ’20
COLLEGE Cornell University ‘24
FIELD OF STUDY
Industrial Labor Relations
“St. Andrew’s prepared me by developing critical skills for success such as forming study habits and general work ethic. I never really valued those skills until I saw how many of my peers struggled to constantly get work done until deadlines started piling up. Additionally, the faculty set a great educational foundation that can be built on after high school. (Mr. Corkran’s AP Economics was harder than some of my advanced economics electives.)”
Kirstin Schmidt ’19
COLLEGE Duke University ‘23
FIELD OF STUDY Biomedical Engineering and Finance
“One thing I loved about my time at St. Andrew’s is that my teachers took interest in my growth and helped me to develop my passions in STEM and economics. When I was visiting colleges, I wanted to find a balance between academic rigor and opportunities outside of the classroom, one that would allow me to push myself while building lasting relationships. That’s exactly what I found at Duke.”
Kamari Williams ’19
COLLEGE Miami University (Ohio) ‘23
FIELD OF STUDY Communications
“I was looking for a school that had strong academics that also provided me the opportunity to continue playing basketball. I ultimately decided to attend Boston College to pursue a degree and play on their men’s basketball team. Unfortunately, there was a head coaching change so my family and I made the decision to transfer to Miami University (OH). My St. Andrew’s experience prepared me well for college success. My teachers pushed me to be the best student I could be while supporting me along the way. Therefore, my transition was seamless.”
Q&A with Phyllis Robinson
In June 2022, Phyllis Robinson retired after 37 years of teaching at St. Andrew’s. At the time, she was the longest-tenured teacher on the faculty. Robinson, who transitioned from a math teacher to a science teacher during her time at St. Andrew’s, also evolved as an educator. When the Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning (the CTTL) was founded in 2011, she deeply embraced the research-informed teaching the CTTL helped translate to classroom practice. The inaugural recipient of the Finneran Faculty Scholar Award (the highest recognition for a teacher at St. Andrew’s) Robinson wasn’t just a superb AP Biology teacher – she also helped train other AP Bio teachers and was respected as an exam grader. During her time, she consistently supported colleagues in their growth and was supported by her peers as she grew as a teacher, even until her final days at St. Andrew’s. With that in mind, her parents, John and Betsy, established and endowed the Phyllis McV. Robinson Teachers Fund, which you can read more about on page 19. Known by all for her love of hockey (and the Washington Capitals), she graciously agreed to a Q&A reflecting back on her time at St. Andrew’s and life after teaching.
It’s been four months since you retired from St. Andrew’s. What have you been doing with your free time?
I am a Volunteer Ranger for the Maryland State Parks. I spend several hours on most Saturdays, running the small Nature Center at Patuxent River State Park, providing short drop-in programs for visitors and answering questions about the rich history of the park and about the trail system. I coordinated the other volunteers and developed Wednesday Workdays, which are two-hour sessions where we tackle maintenance projects around Patuxent River State Park, since there is no permanent ranger that can be spared to do that. We volunteers have taken it over!
I’m also a Volunteer Naturalist at Brookside Nature Center in Wheaton Regional Park. I helped with the bluebird monitoring program all summer, plus assisted in washing and refilling bird feeders once a week. But my favorite task there has been the Friday night Flying Squirrel program, where my husband and I teach visitors about flying squirrels. We “bribe” them by putting out sunflower seeds, and they fly in to have a snack while visitors watch and learn. We’ve been doing this for five or six years now - it’s pretty wonderful. While this program is currently
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in hiatus, we hope to restart it sometime in the next year.
I am on call as a substitute at St. Andrew’s, and have subbed often during the first two months. It gives me great joy to see my St. Andrew’s family again – colleagues and former students alike. So you’ll see me around the campus occasionally.
Let’s see - I also spent two weeks grading AP Biology exams, and supporting other teachers in this task as a Table Leader. I visited family in California. And I got to go play in an ice hockey tournament in Iceland at the end of September, which would have been difficult to do if I were still in the classroom!
In August, when you typically would be gearing up to return to campus and preparing to get ready for the new school year, were there moments of cognitive dissonance for you?
Summer was funny - it felt like a normal summer vacation, and it wasn’t until mid-August that things really began to feel different. I looked at the school calendar and noticed that new teachers were starting their orientation, or opening chapel was happening, or other familiar events were occuring. I did get a little wistful. And on the first day of classes, I went for a long hike with my husband, which was exactly the right thing to do on that day. So yes, there were moments of cognitive dissonance. I’ve been in school as a student or as a teacher my entire life, so this is a big change in the rhythm of my year that has felt so familiar and comfortable for so long. But I’ve adjusted, I think!
You were at St. Andrew’s for 37 years across multiple campuses with several Heads of School. What changed the most about St. Andrew’s during those years?
The expansion of the school is the most obvious big change! When I started, St. Andrew’s was a seventh-grade through twelfth-grade school. Adding the sixth
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The Phyllis McV. Robinson Teachers Fund
Phyllis Robinson spent close to four decades teaching at St. Andrew’s. During that time, her parents, John and Betsy Robinson, were also members of the extended community. They watched with joy as Phyllis grew as a teacher, supporting and supported by her fellow faculty members. John died in 2021, during Phyllis’ final year at St. Andrew’s, but Betsy continued to watch Phyllis’ growth right up until the day she retired.
John and Betsy shared a lifelong standing interest in education - first their own, and then their children’s and their grandchildren’s, setting aside money to ensure they could support them all through college. Now that their grandchildren are completing their degrees, John and Betsy asked themselves who they could support next. The answer would be St. Andrew’s.
John and Betsy knew, even before John’s passing, that they wanted to give back to St. Andrew’s in honor of their daughter and what the school and her colleagues had done for her. With that in mind, they have established the Phyllis McV. Robinson Teachers Fund, an endowed fund to benefit faculty professional development at St. Andrew’s.
Named for their daughter, The Phyllis McV. Robinson Teachers Fund will award grants to St. Andrew’s teachers who wish to attend conferences, helping to cover expenses like registration, transportation, lodging, and meals. The gift totals $125,000.
“I have had so many positive, enlightening, and deeply thoughtful experiences at various conferences and workshops through the years. These not only allowed me to improve my craft as an educator, but renewed my passions and forged connections with counterparts around the country,” Phyllis said. “I’m thrilled that this fund will enable my colleagues - current and future - to have similar experiences that will renew their energy and enhance their teaching.”
— BETSY ROBINSON
I have always felt fully supported in my teaching, from maintaining tried and true experiments to seeking out new ways to engage students and new ways to teach the core curriculum more effectively.
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grade in 1990 was a momentous decision. I remember Jane Harwell, the sixth grade teacher, had a single, contained classroom of about a dozen students, where she taught all the core subjects. It was a crazy, experimental year. From those roots grew the fuller sixth grade, followed by the fifth grade and the formation of the Intermediate School. Eventually, we integrated what became the Lower School - creating the preschool through twelfthgrade St. Andrew’s that we have today.
Along that trajectory, the campus itself changed! First, we moved from the old Bethesda Middle School building on Bradmoor Drive to our permanent location here on Postoak Road. That transition was challenging, but our motto during that time was “flexibility and sense of humor” - both were needed in abundance. More growing pains occurred as we built the Student Center, followed by bringing the Lower School to this campus (and building the parking deck). Speaking of the parking deck, parking for employees went from easy to hard (think “parking off campus and being shuttled to campus”) to easy again! I dislike change, as a rule, but all of these changes, spread over 30+ years, have helped make St. Andrew’s a beautiful, vibrant, cohesive school. It made me happy to come to work each day.
Various programmatic changes occurred, such as adding Honors sections to some courses, altering some of the graduation requirements to allow for more rigor and more flexibility, and moving athletics from the PVAC to the MAC and ISL conferences. Each of these (and other) decisions had pros and cons, but overall were implemented keeping in mind the underlying question of “Who are we doing this for?” – and the answer had better be “For the students.” Directly or indirectly, large decisions always affect the students, so making changes with them in the forefront of each choice is critical.
Finally, the work of the CTTL to help teachers become better at their craft, and to help students become the best student they can be, has provided a foundation that permeates so much of what’s happening in and out of the classroom.Teachers are empowered, and encouraged, to create lessons that engage and stretch students, using researchinformed strategies that work. Students have opportunities to learn how to learn, and also to help shape various initiatives such as the Finn Family Student Research Fellows working side by side with teachers to improve student learning.
Similarly, what changed the least about St. Andrew’s during your 37 years?
At the same time, St. Andrew’s is still St. Andrew’s. As a college preparatory school, we have always aimed for students to be successful academically. Yet joy and happiness are integrally linked to academic success. We always “knew” that to be true back in the day, and now we know that educational research fully supports the link between emotional self and intellectual self. I have always felt fully supported in my teaching, from maintaining tried and true experiments
The size of the faculty has changed, of course, which ultimately changes the community feel. When I started at St. Andrew’s, the department heads met weekly (or even daily) before the school day, just to make sure everyone was on board just to get through the day. Over time, communication and other processes became institutionalized. A Google calendar provides information at the touch of a finger to anyone who needs it, emails make messages almost instantaneous, Academic Deans in the Upper School provide a single point of contact for each grade level, for example. It’s harder to know all your colleagues, simply due to size! Yet knowing and inspiring each other (as well as our students, of course) remains at the core of who we are. Faculty and staff share stories and ideas over lunch, or during chance meetings in the halls or the faculty room. Impromptu happy hours still occur. Life-long friendships are made, and remain. Just look at the number of faculty who met their spouse at SAES, and the number who return as substitutes or just to visit!
In addition, the ability to laugh at ourselves remains embedded in school culture. The Class Cup competitions during Morning Meeting in the Upper School is a way to throw a little lighthearted event into the start of a day. You can laugh at (and with) your fellow students who are attempting to do something goofy, in front of the entire Upper School.
And Mr. McMillen’s fashion sense, especially his bow ties. Always dapper, always seasonally appropriate - nothing’s changed in 30+ years.
You had a lot of time to reflect on this over the years – what, in your opinion, makes St. Andrew’s special?
I worked with top-notch colleagues and administrators for almost four decades. While the personnel naturally change from year to year, the overall tenor remains exceptionally collegial and supportive. We help each other out. I’ve always been able to approach a colleague with “How do you suggest I do this?” or “What have you found to help student X to be more successful?” and I always got an answer, or at least a conversation. Wanting to help the students become their best selves has never changed. We’ve been accused of being a “nice” school - yet that is such a true statement. For example, students sometimes let their quirky side show. Their classmates are amazingly accepting, even when someone doesn’t conform to current societal standards - it just doesn’t matter. They truly accept each other and those who may be different.
What is next for you now that you have time to pursue passions outside of teaching?
As I mentioned, I’ve been able to be a Volunteer Ranger with the Maryland State Park system, and I have increased the number of days that I staff a Nature Center, run a nature program, or build and maintain the trails. I also have more time to attend to my own (neglected) garden as well. My husband and I have time to travel, which has long been a passion of ours but curtailed by the requirements of the classroom. I can play in a late-night ice hockey game and not have to get up super early the next day. And, I get to return to St. Andrew’s as a substitute, which means I get to stay connected to the students and colleagues that have been such a huge part of my life for so many years.
The Road
Voice, Choice, and Ownership
The Great Works Project, the signature academic experience for 10th-grade students, celebrates 10 years as part of the Upper School English curriculum.
BY KIRSTEN PETERSEN
What makes something a great work of literature? For the past 10 years, sophomore English students have been invited to wrestle with this query as they take on the Great Works Project, the signature academic experience for 10th-grade students at St. Andrew’s. The Great Works Project is an opportunity for students to read a book of their choice and advocate for why it should be read by all 10th-grade students. The project features three components: a persuasive essay, a visual display, and an oral argument. The students from each class who present the most compelling oral arguments advance to the Great Works speech competition; a panel of teachers, administrators, and winners from the previous year hear the arguments and choose two winners. Those books are ultimately read in the English 10 and Honors English 10 classes during the same school year. “It comes down to voice, choice, and ownership. That’s the magic three combination that make it a project that we return to,” said English teacher Andrew Seidman, who has taught the project for nine years. “It’s become not just a capstone experience for the 10th graders, but also a living part of our school.” The Great Works Project was conceived in summer of 2012 by English teacher Susheela Robinson and former English teacher Evan Brooke. Backed by
an Innovative Teaching Grant – one of the first curriculum development grants awarded to St. Andrew’s teachers by The Center for Transformative Teaching & Learning – Robinson and Brooke sought to answer their own probing question: “What can we do to help literature feel more relevant to students?” “We wondered what would happen if we created a project that they could feel some ownership about, and that there was a true buy-in, something relevant to them,” Robinson said. “We started to think about this idea of, ‘What if they could stand before a panel and argue that something was great?’”
“The project, by its very nature, requires teachers to ensure it ages well, that it remains rigorous and relevant,” said Brooke, who now lives in Pennsylvania where she continues to teach while also working on a novel. “That insistence — on significance, on greatness, on endurability — is what the project asks the students to prove of the books they’ve chosen to defend. We owe it to them to make sure the project remains ‘great.’” “Greatness,” in the context of this project, has been defined by the same seven characteristics since its inception: the book is considered a “classic” or part of the “canon”; it has a massive fan base; it has a cult following; it is continuously in print (it has “stood the test of time”); it has won major awards; it has been positively reviewed by prominent critics; and it has inspired literary criticism. Each student must provide evidence for why their book of choice meets two of these qualifications before they can begin reading; from this point, they have a month to read the book and prepare their argument. “We really shift our role from teacher to coach, and there’s something that really works for the kids in that,” Robinson said. “They see us as someone on their side, helping them to achieve this thing. “There’s also this subtle shift in their introduction to rhetoric, in the sense that ‘I have control over using language in an effective way. I get to decide that.’ Because it feels different to them, and it’s right at the point when they are starting to be able to think critically anyway, it’s a magic moment of understanding, ‘Oh, my language and my ability to use it has some power.’” Today, approximately 563 students have completed the Great Works Project, choosing works ranging from autobiographies to science fiction to read and defend. Eighteen of those students have won the speech competition with effective arguments for books like “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini, “Silver Linings Playbook” by Matthew Quick, and “Hey, Kiddo” by Jarrett J. Krosoczka – the first graphic novel to win. “I see the project as making space for choice and for reading,” said English Teacher Morgan Evans, who has taught the project for seven years. “Some of the students are lovers of reading in sixth, seventh grade, and they just don’t feel like they have space for that in their day anymore. I love that the project makes that space for them to really take the time and read a book.” Samantha Winter ’17 was one of the winners during the second year of the project. She remembers devoting extensive time and energy towards drafting and reciting her speech for “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou – and the thrill of winning. “The Great Works Project was my introduction to the power of rhetoric. When you're arguing any point (or trying to convince others that a specific book is the greatest of all time), it's a must to speak and write effectively, persuasively, and purposefully,” Winter said. “The Great Works Project helped me get comfortable with writing persuasively, speaking in front of crowds, and even competing against my classmates. Now that I'm in law school, I can confidently say that I still use these skills each and every day.” The experience of the Great Works Project has evolved over the years, from a poster presentation and speech recital in MacDonald Hall to pre-recorded speeches that are now archived online. More signature experiences across all divisions have been created that are helping to nurture the Great Works winners of tomorrow, starting as early as a poetry slam in kindergarten, to TED Talks in fifth grade, to student-choice projects as final exams. Ultimately, the project not only helps students cultivate critical reading, writing, and rhetorical skills, but also helps them shape how they perceive their own capacity for greatness. “They begin to understand that they don’t need an outside source to tell them when their own work or their thinking or their writing is great. They begin to feel it, because they have a different language around it,” Robinson said.
The most popular books chosen by students
• The Catcher in the Rye • Unbroken • I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings • Into the Wild • The Road • Flowers For Algernon
By the numbers
563
The total number of students who have participated in the Great Works Project.
60 Weeks
The total time allotted to English 10 students, over 10 years, to read a book of their choice.
