Our school culture remains rooted in relationships and growth

Dear Friends, I went for extra help in math once in high school. I was taking ninth-grade honors Algebra II, for which I wasn’t nearly as prepared – in my study habits or prior content knowledge – as I should have been. I don’t remember what my math teacher said that afternoon, but I remember staring at the homework problems and feeling incredibly stupid (a word my friends and I tossed around far too often 40 years ago). I never went back for extra help in math.

Back then my high school didn’t have a learning specialist, counselor, or other expert to help me understand that raising my hand when I didn’t already know the answer was an act of growth, not a sign of weakness. The faculty were caring and intelligent, but no one had trained them to ask if my math performance was connected to a lack of sleep or my sense of belonging at my new school. And in the early 1980s, no one taught me about the plasticity of my teenage brain, or told me while I wasn’t earning the grade I wanted yet, research-informed study strategies could raise my GPA and my intrinsic enjoyment of school.

That was a long time ago. In this magazine you will hear from the broad and growing team of St. Andrew’s faculty and staff who provide targeted support for students’ learning, wellness, identity, and spiritual growth. Almost all of these roles have been created or expanded within the past 20 years, and I take pride in that institutional growth and its positive effect on our students. Our Lions are growing up in a world of accelerating complexity and challenge. They will be confident and prepared to understand, thrive, and improve their environment.

And yet, the core strength of the St. Andrew’s community and education does not flow from specialization. It flows from a faculty culture rooted in relationships and growth. We hire, develop, and retain hopeful adults who love working with children and their colleagues, and who find joy in deepening their skills and experience each year. We invest in research and teaching methods that deepen success for all students, not just those that need extra help. That faculty culture inspires students to stretch academically, to play hard and act gracefully, to learn and to lead with collaboration and confidence. For 45 years, St. Andrew’s has developed the intrinsic motivation and potential of our students by growing the adults who guide them.

Thank you for making the learning and growth of every Lion possible, and happy reading.

Faithfully, Robert