letter from the head of school Celebrating What We Do Well;


Seeking What We Can Do Better Mo Copeland, Head of School


I


“OES is an exciting place to be for an educator, and I feel incredibly grateful to have landed in this place at this time.”


n the packed six months I have been at OES, I have had the wonderful opportunity to connect with people and ideas. OES is a vibrant, forward- looking, generative community. My simple goal last summer as I looked at


our ambitious strategic plan was to develop direction and guidance on what our priorities would be for the coming year—and I am astounded by what has unfolded.


The Essential Competencies—over two years of focused work, grounded in 150


years of understanding, working with, and educating young people—grew out of our vision and strategic plan. They are a comprehensive framework that will shape our curriculum, our professional growth, and the fundamental experience of students at OES. The Essential Competencies both capture what we are achieving in our classrooms currently and chart our direction: where we can now go in our work with the new tools such as the Platt Global Classroom, the Ninth Grade laptop program, and the inquiry method driving our reading and writing programs in Lower School. It was thrilling to hear the reaction of parents when this framework was presented to them—they were leaning in, inspired by the concepts, and could immediately see how this both celebrates what we are doing and at the same time leads us to transform our practice.


I am thrilled to be part of this highly engaged learning community. Students,


parents, faculty, staff, board members, volunteers, alumnae/i, and friends are all committed to education and lifelong learning—for themselves as well as their children. I have never seen professional development funds so ferociously sought after. Parents, teachers, and staff are constantly reading magazines, books and journals, watching educational videos and movies, and participating in the national and international conversation about where education is going. OES is an exciting place to be for an educator, and I feel incredibly grateful to have landed in this place at this time.


We have a lot to accomplish with our typically ambitious OES Strategic Plan—


but we are aligned in our vision and passion and will see true transformation rooted in our longevity and tradition over the next decade.


Thank you for your warm and embracing welcome into this wonderful community.


2 OES MAGAZINE WINTER 2012 2


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32