Array ( [0] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 363 [post_author] => 6 [post_date] => 2017-11-14 18:59:01 [post_date_gmt] => 2017-11-14 18:59:01 [post_content] => Connecting the Dots:  How Teachers as Innovators Envisions Pike’s Future Investment in Our Shared Tomorrow’s Teachers as Innovators priority directs important resources toward strengthening the work of our faculty. To ensure that they are flexible and responsive, Pike prefers professional growth initiatives that are teacher-driven and student-centered.  Lower School Head Marybeth Heyd explains, “We want teachers to seek out through their teams, divisions, and coaches, the strategies that will best impact learning for the students we have right here, right now.” “I sometimes think that outsiders believe it’s a matter of taking a specific curriculum and teaching from it.  The classroom, however, is a really dynamic, always fluid place.  Pike teachers need to respond in the moment -- from moment to moment -- from a full and flexible toolbox.”  Of course, tomorrow’s students will soon be today’s students, so what’s the long-term picture? Head of School, Muddy Waters notes, “We know where we want to go, that is, what the parameters of excellent teaching are and will continue to be.  Those calculations have shaped our thinking about what’s next.” Here are four examples of the types of professional growth Pike wants to support through Teachers as Innovators: Micro-sabbaticals.  Projects that allow teachers to pursue specific strategies and approaches that immediately increase the learning outcomes of their students.  Faculty recipients could take from one day to one week to deeply explore specific, well-defined and classroom-based problems through research, visiting nearby schools, and identifying outside coaches, all while a high-quality, skilled substitute keeps class moving. Building the Pike Brand.  Encouraging faculty to present their expertise and experience at regional and national conferences.  Outcomes include building teacher acumen, positioning Pike as a school known for leading-edge teaching, and asserting ourselves as a school of choice for highly-skilled and motivated teachers and administrators as we seek to draw the strongest faculty and staff that we can. Leadership Stipends.  Dedicated funds to ensure that our most experienced teachers have opportunities to bring their expertise to their peers and to the school as a whole.  While schools remain largely horizontal with regard to leadership opportunities, Pike endeavors to create opportunities for strong skillsets to impact how we do what we do and become guides for an even better Pike experience. Bringing the Outside In.  Developing a program of outside in-residence professionals across curricula, guest speakers/teachers, and educational thought leaders from beyond the walls of Pike in order to augment our knowledgeable, committed, and curious faculty.  From the latest research and brain science to social-emotional wellbeing insights and beyond, these external resources provide new ideas and approaches that augment and expand our acumen in teaching children for the contemporary world. Clearly, the professional growth model at Pike is vibrant and focused squarely on strengthening student learning.  Waters summarizes succinctly: “Our investment in Teachers as Innovators will reap exponential benefits.” Learn about Pike's Teachers as Innovators Fund  

[post_title] => Our Teachers Envision the Future [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => our-teachers-envision-the-future [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2017-11-14 19:56:59 [post_modified_gmt] => 2017-11-14 19:56:59 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://oursharedtomorrow.pikeschool.org/?p=363 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [1] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 416 [post_author] => 3 [post_date] => 2018-01-11 17:35:24 [post_date_gmt] => 2018-01-11 17:35:24 [post_content] => In a flurry of end-of-year activity, Pike’s Our Shared Tomorrow campaign, pushed into new territory: over $6.2 million—or 76%—of the $7.55 million goal raised to date. “It’s a tremendous testament to the community’s strength and commitment,” explains Head of School John “Muddy” Waters.  “I continue to be gratified and grateful for the conversations I am having with community members, their enthusiasm for how this campaign will make Pike even stronger.” The initial gift challenge, offered by an anonymous past-parent family, kicked off on December 1 with a commitment of $100,000 to be match dollar-for-dollar incoming gifts—if the school could raise an additional $100,000.  “The generosity and flexibility of this family was phenomenal,” notes Annual Fund Director Pati Fernández.  “They really wanted to supercharge the rest of the community, get them excited and engaged by the possibilities.” The family’s desires were soon realized.  As gifts approached the $100,000 goal and it became clear that the community would even exceed it, two additional families stepped up to offer another combined $50,000 challenge grant. “It was incredible,” says Director of Advancement Rod Boyer.  “This was just a stellar example of the enthusiasm and the concern for the school by these lead donors.  And their desire to engage others in the community in this shared effort is so appreciated.” By the time the dust settled on December 31, Pike had met both challenges, raising a total, with the matching grants included, of well over $300,000 for the campaign, which includes the Annual Fund as a key priority. “We’re really pleased and grateful,” add Waters.  “This kind of support—from those who offered the challenges and those who made the time and commitment to help us meet it— shows what is possible when we focus on our students and our teachers. [post_title] => Successful Campaign Challenge Propels Progress [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => successful-campaign-challenge-propels-progress [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2018-04-19 17:59:50 [post_modified_gmt] => 2018-04-19 17:59:50 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://oursharedtomorrow.pikeschool.org/?p=416 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [2] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 472 [post_author] => 3 [post_date] => 2018-04-19 17:56:10 [post_date_gmt] => 2018-04-19 17:56:10 [post_content] => In the next milestone of achievement, Pike is pleased to announce that the community has raised over $4 million toward its $5 million goal for building endowment through the Our Shared Tomorrow campaign. “The outpouring of interest and investment has been tremendous,” notes Head of School, John “Muddy” Waters.  “We see the ways in which previous generations have created the Pike we enjoy today, and I’m heartened to know that this current generation is doing its part to make Pike stronger, not just in the future, but today too.” The funds, 90 percent of which have come largely unrestricted, will form the backbone of efforts to expand professional growth for faculty and broaden the school’s ability to enroll the strongest students in the admissions process. “These are key needs of the school moving forward,” said Board Chair Firdaus Bhathena.  “And they are not going to go away.”  Indeed, attracting the strongest teachers and students is only going to get more difficult for independent schools, as the U.S. faces a nationwide teacher shortage and a drop in birthrates in the wake of the economic downturn of 2007-2008.  “We wanted to invest in endowment so that we could have the resources to address these challenges well into the future,” adds Bhathena. The latest milestone means the campaign could conceivably reach its goal by the end of the 2017-18 school year.  “To achieve an ambitious goal for endowment in a three-year timeframe would be a considerable achievement for an elementary school like Pike,” said Rod T. Boyer, Director of Advancement.  “I know of so many of our peer schools that have really struggled to do so, especially with endowment, which tends to be more abstract and unfamiliar to families.” To date, nearly 100 donors have made specific contributions to the endowment as part of the comprehensive effort, which also includes a goal of raising $2.55 million for the operating budget over a three-year window. The next opportunity to push the community toward achieving the goal will be Pike’s Giving Day on April 30^.  Alumni, parents, alumni families and friends are encouraged to make a gift that day and to encourage others to do the same as we build participation in the Annual Fund and Our Shared Tomorrow. [post_title] => Pike surpasses another campaign milestone [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => pike-surpasses-another-campaign-milestone [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2018-04-23 15:59:02 [post_modified_gmt] => 2018-04-23 15:59:02 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://oursharedtomorrow.pikeschool.org/?p=472 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) )