Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage
PAID Permit No. 643 Oakton, VA
3320 Jermantown Road, Oakton, VA 22124
flinthill.org admission@flinthill.org (703) 584-2310
I Wonder
I wonder if my classroom were packed to the gills with discovery. How would that change my experience? Would my desk be part of a row of desks just like mine, or would my classroom transform into a neolithic shelter? Would it become a 3D playground for a robot I built? Would it be a stage for my next big video presentation? Would it mean a whole new adventure? I wonder if my teacher really took time to know how I learn. How would that change my confidence? Would I get discouraged and just give up, or would I tackle the giants in the story I’m writing? Would I unmask the villains in history to see them from new sides? Would I know just how far and fast that rocket shoots into the air? Would I know I’m ready to explore my true interests? I wonder if my classmates became collaborators. How would that change my perspective of school? Would it make the whole experience more inviting? Would I join the musical and belt out a tune? Would I delve deep into a language and uncover a world of new meaning? Would I find my place in every grade knowing I inspire my classmates and they inspire me? Would my friends push me to excel well beyond where I imagined I’d go?
This kind of school just might translate into a million AHAs a day.
Imagine learning as a compass, not a map. Think about this: In 1965, Gordan Moore put for ward his obser vation that the number of transistors on integrated circuits doubles approximately every two years. He was right, so much so that between 1965 and today, the whole world is upside down because of its digital interface. “In the old days it was about getting to the factory on time, do as you were told, get the widgets out. Today we realize we need innovation, and for innovation we need creativity,” says Joichi Ito. He heads up MIT Media Labs, where they self-declare that learning is valued over education, practice over theory, risk over safety, and compasses over maps. The result: innovation, agility, discovery, possibility. If we’re honest, this type of rapid change is both exhilarating and unsettling. We now have infinite access to knowledge and information through the web, and we’re dependent on the technological devices that help us connect to information and to one another. Flint Hill believes this should make a difference in how we educate. It’s why we find the dots to connect and craft those individualized, breakthrough moments – the AHAs – for our students.
The Year:
2035
Today’s kindergarteners will enter the workforce around 2035. Who knows what the world will look like between now and then. However it looks, Flint Hill understands that education needs to bend toward a world marketplace that’s in constant motion. Education needs to be hands-on, collaborative, innovative, 3D. No longer is a flat, paper version of math or science or humanities enough. The rigor happens when head-knowledge gets into our hands and we’re enabled to invent, create, discover – and students become curious enough to unwrap their interests and skills.
SCHOO R E P L UP DLE SCHOOL D I M LOW
ER SCHOOL
TK12:
A different kind of rocket ship Flint Hill expects students to shoot for the stars. We believe they just might get there. The future is here for the shaping—the rearranging—and the work at Flint Hill will launch students into collegeland and worlds beyond. Students will be ready to strike up a conversation with life and lead the discussion.
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New Ideas Spur on New ideas . . .
21st century education is easily clichéd and often presented without a clear definition. The label can be unnerving for many parents because it suggests the complete reinvention of the wheel. Flint Hill defines 21st century education differently. We're integrating the tried and true traditional markers with the current trends in education— and here's the key—with the focus on what's best for today's student. The number of trends makes it difficult to keep the ground under your feet. We understand. Our task is to build the trust of every family, so when traditional methods shift or current trends are adjusted, you know we're working together. We like to think facets of a Flint Hill education are like spokes off the classic wheel. Here are some of those spokes – or values – that we celebrate.
The Student Individualized learning means students can take hold of their education and have ownership in what they are doing and who they are becoming.
The Classroom The classroom is all over campus. Tucked behind a desk while a teacher asserts wise points isn’t our norm. The teacher is definitely wise, but the classroom experience at Flint Hill is built for discovery—those AHA moments—much more than simply the shuffling of knowledge.
Teachers Our teachers are tirelessly optimistic, and creative. They lead students to those AHA experiences where each student can navigate an understanding of both the information and skills that follow.
The Undesked Imagine Flint Hill as the school of the undesked. Think Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society. Teachers look for everyday opportunities to stand on their desk or push the desk aside completely.
Technology Technology is a TK12 reality, to enhance student learning and teacher teaching. It’s built around that engagement. Early grades have iPads, and, starting in grade 5, MacBook Airs are introduced. One for every student.
Connectivity Technology connects students with a world of learning, to fellow classmates and teachers, to the Flint Hill cloud for presentations and storage, to multimedia projects, math, reading, blogs, and textbooks. The list goes on and on. It’s everywhere on purpose and with a purpose. It’s more than a wave. It’s the way we see education improving at every turn.
Academic and Student Life Teams A student’s day is full of interaction: teachers, coaches, counselors, technologists, artists, librarians, specialists, staff. It makes learning individualized and differentiated. No factory models here.
Language Study Spanish, French, Chinese, and Latin. Spanish is required TK6 with Latin exposure in 6. 7–12 choose a language. Our languages—especially Latin—is known as a powerhouse department. It helps students round out their view of the world, deepen their knowledge of vocabulary, and broaden their opportunity to be curious.
Rigorous Material Rigor means exhaustive and thorough. Far from simply helping students answer A, B, C, or D correctly, our teachers expect students to apply their knowledge, connect the dots across disciplines, and begin to formulate their own opinions, supported by research and experience. That carries throughout the Flint Hill experience, TK12.
Assessment When teachers assess student progress, it’s descriptive and detailed. It happens as each student works through various classes and long before a grade is stamped on the school record. It means parents know more fully how the Flint Hill experience is shaping up, every step of the way.
Experiential Learning At every grade, field study and field trip opportunities are designed for a palpable, engaging experiences that are integrated into a unit, class, or focus area with intentionality.
Community Learning creates responsibility and Flint Hill students continually give back to our community through charitable work, music performances, and art exhibits. Flint Hill helps foster and facilitate opportunities. There’s an expectation, TK12.
Inventive and Traditional A school that has a million AHAs a day is already atypical. We never rely on just that. We’re pushing the tried and true ways of education, not to automatically change them, but to find out if they meet the high bar of teaching students the skills and knowledge necessary for today. It means our teachers never rest on delivering old notes. That’s motivating.
AHAEffect There are three core spheres that overlap throughout the campus: innovative instruction, dynamic learning environments, and a culture where relationships are paramount. The high mark – the individual student. Confident, curious, full of ambition, with ideas that are contagious. The goal – a school that encourages students to try and fail, to find and lead others into discovery.
We call it the AHAEffect.
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Technology forms the glue to connect. We know technology is shaping and will continue to shape learning. Our embrace of new technologies is tangible. It means:
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Discovery takes the stage in the everywhere classroom. It doesn’t just happen. We plan for the AHA moments so students carry the classroom with them wherever they go. With the everywhere classroom, amazing things can happen: STEM Clusters (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) Build a robot, program stairs to become a piano, take apart machines... Cardboard arcades created on Day of Play Rube Goldberg inventions Catapults, Egyptian medicine, and a ton in between with Innovation Across the Ages Rockets and roller coasters Robotics and quadcopters
Art integrated TK12 with class options in grades 9–12 including: ceramics, painting, sculpture, animation, digital photography Music and drama TK12 with options 5-12 like: percussion, choir, jazz band, orchestra, band, guitar ensemble, a cappella Maker spaces, which are gathering places where students can work on projects using new technologies and traditional tools Umpteen athletic choices for grades 7–8 and 9–12 including: baseball, basketball, cross-country, football, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, track and field, volleyball Experiential learning with purposed field studies and field trips dotting our community far and wide including: Lower School – fire department, local bakery, farmer’s market, Department of Treasury, Chesapeake Bay, Kennedy Center, National Zoo, Williamsburg Middle School – rock climbing, kayaking, canoeing, ropes course, Holocaust Museum, community service, World War II Memorial Upper School – high adventure activities, community service, Shakespeare theater, engineering firms, marine science to Fox Island, geology road trip
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dollars awarded to Lauren Eskew ’07 at the 2012 BMEStart design competition for AssureFit, a medical device to better secure chest tubes
MEASURE WHAT IS MEASURABLE Kudos to Galileo who said, “Measure what is measurable, and make measurable what is not so.” In that spirit, we offer some numbers, in no particular order, to help connect a few dots.
Open here
Critical thinking Creativity Music
Reason Engagement Dot Connector
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“We wanted a school where the development of the individual was more important than getting all A’s, where our boys could freely become the best version of themselves, learning how to give to others and to society. We wanted a school where they could explore their strengths and weaknesses and develop into being honest, caring, morally sound, and intelligent members of our community. Now that our boys have graduated, we can testify that Flint Hill is that kind of school! To see our boys approach life as a result of the people they have become at Flint Hill is the best gift any parent can have.” –Parent
Flint Hill is a community of learners, explorers, creators. We see and experience education that way too. Incorporated into comprehensive subject areas are dots that connect to other subjects, experiences, and skills. It’s interdisciplinary with much more oomph. There are also some umbrella constants that help, e.g. technology, an integrated faculty model, instructional coaches and learning specialists, a dynamic counseling team, daily community building moments, and the highest anticipation for students to wildly achieve. It’s a curriculum that is tailored and layered on purpose.
INTUITION
You have a gut feeling. It’s an intuitive sense that this is the right place for your child. We wanted to answer a few questions about value and tuition before you register for an open house and explore our website. How do you assess value? There are many ways. College acceptance is a prominent one. Families work with our college counseling office, and we have an astounding list of facts and stories of graduates going to colleges that fit their passions. It’s a fantastic record. Our goal is college and beyond. That’s where there’s even more substantial value. A preparation for life – how to think, learn, do, find, discover, lead, adapt. Students who have skills fused with active learning. What’s included? Tuition covers a range of items that many neighboring schools add on as additional costs. These include: technology (iPad/MacBook Air, individual support, Flint Hill cloud), lunch (Upper School), athletics (uniforms, coaching, game transportation, etc.), field trips, field studies, K-6 school supplies, our annual yearbook. What about tuition? The 2013-14 numbers: $29,485 for grades TK-4; $32,465 for grades 5-8; $33,735 for grades 9-12. There are three plans: (1) full payment in June; (2) two payments – 60% in June and 40% in December; (3) 10 equal payments beginning in June, ending in March. And your $1,000 deposit goes toward your balance. We work with you on need-based financial aid. Annually, we provide $3.6 million in aid. We also point to educational loan providers. As with the entire admission process, we’re here to help.
Expert Teachers
Helpful Technologists
Passionate Specialists
Teaching Artists
Supportive Per Group
Relational Coaches
Engaged Support Staff
Experience the AHAEffect yourself. Experience Flint Hill. Here are some basic steps. 1. You have to come visit us. It’ll give you the best insight. We have a few major open houses, but we’ll also customize your personal visit throughout the school year. 2. Apply online. It’s easy and we’ll help you through the recommendations, testing, transcripts, interview, and anything in between.
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