An exciting May leads into an ambitious summer

This past week has been much quieter and yet equally inspiring.. Our students have departed for summer break, but our faculty remain on campus and our work continues in earnest. The leadership team and Board of Trustees at Ransom Everglades intend to use the summer to continue to elevate our campuses, our security, our programs, our teaching and our approach to student health and wellness.

With this last column in the Dell+Cannon, I’d like to share a bit about what lies ahead. A major priority has been the analysis and application of the data accrued from the Challenge Success - Stanford Surveys of School Experiences administered this past March to our students and parents. This review could not be more timely; led by RE’s trustees, the school has been reviewing and redefining its mission statement and values. In recent weeks, we have been preparing action steps to guide our path forward, and the results of this survey are, in many ways, driving this important work.

It will take time to sift through the data, but we have already identified a few areas that we will address. Our families use “challenging” or “rigorous” more than any category of words to describe a Ransom Everglades education. As important as it is to push our students to be their best selves, we also know that young people require a climate of care and balance. They need adults looking out for them to ensure that they are confident, considerate and connected.  School inevitably brings a certain stress, but it should also feel like home, a place where students find both challenges and happiness. 

It will take time to fully address every issue on our agenda, so we are already rolling up our sleeves. At our end-of-year meetings this week, class deans will begin creating portraits of our students at each grade level. We are trying to understand where they are when they begin the school year, academically, socially and emotionally, and where they should be by the end of a particular grade and – most importantly – how we can help get them there.

We invited Mike Gwaltney, a six-time winner of the “Most Inspirational Teacher” award in Los Angeles and an Independent School Management consultant, to meet and work with our faculty. This week, Mr. Gwaltney has homed in on assessment strategy, optimization and design. The goal is to ensure that our assessments are used in ways that measure the learning outcomes and promote mastery.

We are also devising ways to provide sufficient support for our new faculty so that they, in turn, can better support our students. We will begin a new faculty mentorship program this fall, and will be working this summer to improve our new-employee onboarding. In addition to focusing on our students' mental and academic health, we will be addressing practical priorities, such as enhancing the fencing around the middle school campus and continuing to strengthen security on  both properties.

Thank you for all of your support this year! I am elated to have the opportunity to continue working with our talented and dedicated faculty, staff and leadership team as we strive for excellence and honor at Ransom Everglades