to fully live out the Reggio Emilia style of teaching used in our younger classrooms.” Exploring the immediate world around students and providing easy access to the outdoors are key ways OES Lower School teachers engage with their students. A team of students, teachers, administrators, and architects designed the new school that opened in September, 2016, so it would be effortless to look out the windows, observe the bugs, study the leaves, and truly make nature an extension of the classroom.


Copeland sees OES as a small school that grew quickly, especially in the last 10 years. “We have maintained all the plus sides of the ‘old’ OES, like our collaborative community and the independent spirit of our teachers. To that, little by little, we have become more sophisticated, more high-profile, and stronger organizationally.”


“It’s so thrilling to be part of a community where you get to think creatively about the future every day. If you have a big idea, you can probably make it happen. We get to make big changes to our program and curriculum and see them realized much more quickly than they could be in the public schools.” Over the next five years, Copeland looks forward to making progress on the master plan for improving campus facilities. “I don’t think we will complete the whole thing, but we can tackle a good bit of it.” She would also like to take a fresh look at OES’s Essential Competencies and consider what the “2.0” version will look like.


“When the Essential Competencies were written in 2011, they were a fantastic descriptor of what we were already doing. I would now like to look at them as an engine for what they compel us to do differently moving forward.”


Referencing back to the strategic plan, Copeland says there are many exciting ideas to explore and consider, including looking at how we assess student accomplishments, improving our research teaching in all disciplines, re-imagining our grading system, or some next, big idea that addresses the way we “do” school.


together in different ways throughout the year. We celebrate successes, achievements, contributions, and ideas. Tese practices help us get to know one another.”


“Education is not just a life of the mind, it’s a way to connect with the world and to see your power for good within it.”


“Tis is the beauty of being an independent school. We get to set our own mission. We still have to be accredited and set a high bar for ourselves, of course, but we don’t have to follow a prescribed curriculum or be under the authority of another entity telling us how things should be.”


When Copeland thinks about what makes OES special, she talks about the community being the true heart of the school. “In my experience, I think OES is unique in how we build community. We don’t take it for granted and we are very intentional with how we carve out time to spend together —from our classrooms, to our divisions, to our school as a whole. We make time to be


In addition to her work at OES, Copeland serves on boards and committees of several professional associations, including the National Association of Independent Schools’ Commission on Accreditation, Northwest Association of Independent Schools, Country Day School Heads Association, and Headmistresses of the East Association. She speaks regularly at conferences and recently published an article on data-driven leadership in Independent School Magazine. She also joined the Reed College Board of Directors last summer as an alumna trustee.


In her spare time, Copeland jogs daily—often running into OES parents on her route. She spends as much time as she can outdoors, hiking and climbing with her family. “It’s how we spend time together. I am most happy when I am active.”


Copeland hopes students who attend OES find success during their time here and realize they have so much to offer once they leave the campus. “I hope they understand how important their education was and how well it has prepared them to be engaged in the world, and that they truly enjoy what they do. Education is not just a life of the mind, it’s a way to connect with the world and to see your power for good within it. It’s truly an honor and privilege to work with OES faculty and staff, students, parents, and alumni who are so passionate about what we do. It makes a difference in the world, and that feels good.”


Mo shares archival photos of the school with third graders as part of their unit delving into the history of OES and its surrounding neighborhoods.


Winter 2017 23


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