“Flexible, adaptive, and productive organizations will excel in a rapidly changing world.”

—Peter Senge, author of The Fifth Discipline and senior lecturer at MIT

Building a shared vision for change is an important aspect of Catlin Gabel’s organizational growth and continuing relevance. How do we make decisions about change? How do we inform our practice?

Curriculum

We constantly rethink what it means to be educated because we never believe we have achieved the apex of perfection. It is imperative for us to continue to grow and change and make sure Catlin Gabel provides a 21st century education for every student, every year. Each class, with its different character, depends on our careful scrutiny of what we teach, how we teach, and how we allocate our resources.

As a progressive school, we look for ways to enhance learning for our students. We continually assess how we’re doing based on student and faculty evaluations, and parent feedback. We look to current research, educational innovators, other schools, national standards, and professional councils to guide decisions about changing and improving our curriculum. The independent school accreditation process calls for reflection and requires that we ask ourselves if we are truly serving our students the way we intend. Through these multiple evaluative processes, decisions to change curriculum or add programs are born out of sound philosophical and pedagogical principles.

The National Council for Teachers of Mathematics, for example, has standards of good practice. We made sure we considered those standards when adjusting our math curriculum not long ago. When we examined our program, we recognized that math teaching could be improved to reach a wider span of student interests and abilities. We asked a consultant to work with us on what is termed extensions. The consultant worked specifically with third and fifth grade teachers to help us better reach the wide range of mathematical abilities in a given classroom. The teachers learned techniques for going deeper with students who are grasping mathematical concepts quickly, while serving students who require a slower pace to fully understand complex concepts.

Our global education initiative, born out of the Imagine 2020 conference in 2006, is another area where we are improving on what we do. We determined that to best serve students in the 21st century, Catlin Gabel should expand global experiences for our students through travel, exchange programs, and curriculum. We formed a leadership committee composed of teachers from across divisions, staff members, and trustees, evaluated our current program, researched what other schools do, and invited Peter Tacy to campus to work with us. Peter is an educator and author of Ideals at Work: Education for Stewardship in the Round Square Schools. (Round Square is an international network of high schools that shares values of leadership, environmental stewardship, service and global education.) Currently, we are in the early stages of evolving into a more comprehensive program. The Upper School trip to Turkey last summer is an example of our moving beyond our language-based trips, to a more multidisciplinary exploration of culture, politics, archaeology, and history.

“Organizations learn only through individuals who learn. Individual learning does not guarantee organizational learning. But without it no organizational learning occurs.” —Peter Senge

Conferences and workshops provide a steady source of information about current pedagogy and innovations. Teacher growth depends on constant learning and exposure to ideas from breakthroughs in brain research and learning styles to integrating technology. We also gain a great deal from sharing what we do with others. Throughout the year we host visitors from other schools who are interested in seeing Catlin Gabel in action. In mid-October, two school heads visited to explore how we teach math and writing. When we explain how we do what we do, and why, we further our own understanding of teaching and learning. I am delighted that 21 Catlin Gabel teachers and staff members presented at the October All Schools Conference. Sharing ideas sprouts new and better ideas. (Five audio presentations from the All Schools Conference are available on the website's Campus Life section.)

Operating Practices

Decisions about our operating practices such as tuition rates, class sizes, fundraising goals, salaries, and numbers of staff members are made by comparing Catlin Gabel to similar schools.

Catlin Gabel is a member of the Mid-Sized School Benchmark Project along with 26 schools nationwide that enroll approximately 700 students in preschool through high school day programs. Among the member schools are Bush School in Seattle, Wilmington Friends School in Delaware, Friends Academy in New York, and the Wheeler School in Providence.

We look at our peer schools to gain as much information as we can to see how we fit into the big picture. The information is adjusted to the cost of living in each school’s community, and the numbers are calibrated for an accurate comparison. The comparative analyses examine everything from SAT scores, to student grades, admission inquiries, development expenses, faculty workload, and endowment. We look at the results of the Mid-Sized School Benchmark Project as data points that inform our decisions about operations. Beyond our benchmark schools, we look to local public schools for salary benchmarking and to other NAIS and PNAIS schools with national reputations for excellence for additional information.

Our core decisions about managing resources, adjusting curriculum, and introducing change are carefully considered. We hold ourselves accountable through the accreditation process, continually educating ourselves, benchmarking, surveying parents, students, and alumni, and looking to other exceptional educators.

I hope our founder, Ruth Catlin, would have been pleased to know that we maintain her progressive vision 80 years after she described her philosophy: “To maintain a school with the most enlightened ideals of education . . . To contribute to the community and its schools an educational laboratory, free to utilize the knowledge and wisdom of leading educators.” Catlin Gabel will continue to be a leader in progressive education as we change for the better and for the future.

Every September I have the same thought – I am privileged to be the head of this school. This is the beginning of my 13th year as head of Catlin Gabel, and I know I will be here for at least five more years, thanks to a vote of confidence from the board of trustees. As I buy my school supplies and outfit for the first day of school (a tradition since I was in first grade) I think, too, of the next five years and what I hope to accomplish. Here are six areas of focus.

Global education

Our students deserve programs that are consistent with our mission as a progressive laboratory school, and speak to their needs as 21st-century global citizens. I traveled to Turkey this summer with 25 inquisitive and bold students and three enthusiastic teachers. The trip confirmed for me the vital importance of international experiences for our older students, as well as a continually broadened curriculum that links younger students with the wide world. As I watched our students in Turkey dance, draw, and converse with their host students at school and in Turkish homes, I saw perceptions change and views of Islamic culture recalibrated. Indelible images of an elderly rag-clad woman foraging in a dumpster strengthened our resolve to work toward ending poverty and disparity at home and abroad. We grew to understand that Turkey is much like the United States — a melting pot democracy composed of people from many ethnic groups who are fiercely proud to be Turks.

We will strive for providing all Upper School students and some Middle School students with global education experiences like the Turkey trip, which moved beyond language immersion. Paul Andrichuk, Middle School head, leads our global education work. Paul and others will work to define what makes Catlin Gabel’s global education program distinct. I am certain if you asked any one of the students who met with members of the Turkish parliament, had tea in Muslim homes, played with local children in the park, and enjoyed homestays in Istanbul, they would tell you the trip was life-changing and powerful.

All Kinds of Minds

All Kinds of Minds refers to the work of renowned pediatrician Dr. Mel Levine, who translates current brain research on how children learn into practical teaching methods. Roughly half of our teachers have completed the weeklong All Kinds of Minds workshop and many are engaged in the yearlong follow-up practicum. Our goal is for all Catlin Gabel teachers to take the All Kinds of Minds course. The training elevates our teaching by strengthening our understanding of diverse learning styles. We want our students to evaluate their own balance sheet of strengths and weaknesses so they advocate for their individual learning styles and needs. Pam McComas, Beginning School head, leads the effort. Each division will form a committee of teachers to customize and guide the work in their division. Our plan is to incorporate the exciting research results into our own brand of progressive education.

Urban leadership

We are continuing to explore the concept of an urban leadership program for Upper School students, which is an idea that emerged during the Imagine 2020 conference in spring 2006. A small group of faculty and staff members met throughout last year to consider options for this new idea. This year, the entire Upper School faculty will advance the conversation about how our program can be enriched by using Portland as a learning laboratory. We want students to benefit from Portland’s traditions of environmental awareness, participatory government, social responsibility, enlightened public transportation, and civic and arts activism. Michael Heath, Upper School head, will pick up where former Upper School head Emily Jones left off in leading this discussion of how to involve our students in Portland’s civic life. The urban leadership concept is an exciting and creative approach to renewing the Upper School’s experiential and progressive traditions.

Sustainability

Our sustainability efforts relate to the schoolwide culture, curriculum, and campus operations. Vicki Swartz Roscoe, Lower School head, leads the curriculum component, which is designed to teach students, preschool through grade 12, to be leaders in sustainability and stewards of the environment. Eric Shawn, facilities director, leads the operations side of our sustainability program. Our short-term goal is to integrate environmental considerations into Catlin Gabel’s decisions and daily operations. Our ultimate goal is zero waste by the year 2012. Community commitment to reducing our use of paper and plastics is already paying off. By shifting to reusable and away from disposable products, we have already seen a 7 percent reduction in waste between last year and the previous year. Education efforts are under way to help all of us distinguish recyclables and compost from waste. We appreciate everyone’s willingness to read newsletters like this online, forgo bottled drinking water, wrap lunches and snacks in reusable tubs, carpool, and ride the TriMet or Catlin Gabel buses. Forty-five community members, including staff members, faculty, students, parents, and alumni have been trained in the Natural Step process, which guides and inspires organizations to work together to build a sustainable society.

Financial sustainability

With increased emphasis on deepening our program, we must manage costs and plan prudently. Several board and staff members have sharpened their pencils and adopted a financial planning process created by the National Association of Independent Schools. The financial sustainability group will analyze data, raise questions, and develop principles of good practice for making financially sustainable decisions. We are benchmarking Catlin Gabel’s income and expenses, fundraising levels, costs per student, and employee workload against those of comparable schools. Assessing trends and making policy choices to improve the school’s financial position assures that we can reasonably fund our important initiatives well into the future.

Learning spaces

Our extraordinary curriculum benefits from attractive classroom facilities. Students learn best with proper ventilation, lighting, room to collaborate, and appealing classrooms. Construction crews and facilities staff members worked steadily to make certain the Upper School renovations were completed for the start of the school year. I am delighted and grateful that students and teachers can start the year in the gorgeously refurbished Dant House and Jean Vollum Humanities Center. You are most welcome to walk around the Upper School and visit the remodeled buildings. Students and teachers can tell you all about the before-and-after contrasts. Additionally, the Barn kitchen was remodeled to ease congestion during lunchtime and to better accommodate the daily meal, beverage, and snack service. The board’s buildings and grounds committee and key staff members are focusing their attention on the deteriorating and limited space for the Middle and Upper School visual and performing arts. We are making plans to improve the conditions for programs that are central to our mission.

I will further expand on each of our initiatives as the school year progresses. As I begin my 13th year as head of school, I remain inspired by our dedicated and creative teachers and staff members, delighted by our intelligent and imaginative students, and appreciative of our involved and generous parents. I hope you have a terrific 2007-08 year at Catlin Gabel.

I take this opportunity to share with you my enormous respect and appreciation for Emily Jones, departing Upper School head, who came to Catlin Gabel in fall 1999.

Emily’s leadership has had a profound effect on the entire school. She is utterly honest, highly ethical, deeply intel-ligent, truly caring, and incredibly engaged in her work as an educator.

Each year Emily tells students to take risks within the safety of their Upper School experience. She has encouraged teachers, staff members, and trustees to do the same.

She has been a vital voice in articulating the need for enhancing the Upper School area of the campus. The benefits for students and learning were always at the forefront of her conversations, which led to constructing the new library and modern languages building, and renovating the Dant House, humanities, and science buildings. Emily imagined a distinct Upper School campus where adolescents and their teachers would study and hang out together. Isn’t it ironic that Emily finishes her tenure at Catlin Gabel in an unattractive office in a double-wide trailer while her vision for the Upper School reaches completion?

Emily promoted the Upper School laptop program in spring 2002. Skeptics questioned the wisdom of this plan, but Emily had done exhaustive research and defended the notion with great care and sensitivity. Just five years later, our high school students and teachers cannot imagine academic life without laptops.

We have made great strides in globalizing Catlin Gabel through student exchanges, trips abroad, and curriculum im-provements. Emily, who is a world traveler, has championed the cause. She has encouraged an increasing number of juniors to spend a year abroad (four this year and last). Likewise, she has welcomed students from across the globe to come study at Catlin Gabel. Her experience teaching in Botswana and Thailand has benefited us all. She was an early voice in support of adding Chinese to our modern languages program.

Emily is a font of knowledge about teenagers and how to help them mature into responsible adults. Her sensible views on child-rearing have benefited countless teachers, parents, and children. So often after parent meetings with Emily, I hear from families who credit Emily with giving them advice that changed their family dynamics for the better.

Emily’s focus is on students. At the same time she supports the faculty and recognizes the strengths of each teacher. She is masterful at identifying people’s talents and positioning them for everyone’s benefit. She has developed a “kid team,” a group of adults charged with thinking about the whole child. Emily has hired excellent new teachers, while honoring and learning from the teachers who have long histories with Catlin Gabel.

A strong advocate for keeping pace with new research, Emily has supported the faculty in attending brain research conferences and passing along their new understanding to colleagues school wide. Teaching in classrooms across the divisions now reflects the latest information about how people learn.

The Upper School is in great shape. Emily has made sure of that. Her successor, Michael Heath, has an excellent foundation upon which to build. Thank you, Emily. The Catlin Gabel community will miss you.

Susan Sowles

After 39 years in the Upper School, it is hard to imagine Susan Sowles not teaching art at Catlin Gabel. Generations of students have benefited from her quiet grace, constant support, and wealth of knowledge. Alumni in the arts point to Susan and her influence when they remember their journeys to becoming artists. Susan has led the art department as longtime department chair, taught art history, weaving, ceramics, painting, watercolor, and calligraphy, and served as yearbook advisor. Her elegant calligraphy has bejeweled diplomas for as long as anyone can remember. Susan’s contributions to Catlin Gabel go far beyond the arts department. She chaired the faculty professional development committee, giving voice to the concept of furthering everyone’s educations at Catlin Gabel. She has worked tire-lessly on behalf of independent schools by planning two major PNAIS conferences on our campus. And she has made certain Catlin Gabel is evaluated in the best light, leading us through two self-studies for accreditation. Thank you, Susan, for your lifetime of dedication to Catlin Gabel. I wish you all the best in your well-deserved retirement.

Seniors

Congratulations to the Class of 2007. You will be missed! Read a summary of the senior panel discussion with the PFA in the Campus Life section of the website.

The board of trustees and administrative leadership are participating in a two-day planning retreat on April 13 and 14. The retreat provides an opportunity to clarify Catlin Gabel’s priorities and re-commit to innovation, diversity, and progressive education. The retreat is not a replication of the Imagine 2020 work. Rather, coming together for two days provides a way to make sure we are all on the same page with respect to how we move forward. Initiatives, strategic directions, and a five-year plan have already been laid out. The next steps involve prioritizing.

The board and administrative leadership must engage in philosophical discussion so that each person has a big-picture perspective and an informed appreciation for the nuances and interdependence of each part of the school. This perspective is essential for informed decision-making and effective governance as we evolve to meet the needs of 21st-century learners.

The trick is to balance our ambition with economic realities. We will wrestle with competing demands and trade-offs. Catlin Gabel must be intentional about our use of resources. We must ask what we should do that will make the most difference to the most students while staying true to important traditions. We must be nimble in meeting the future without forfeiting our legendary strengths. How school looks today is different from how school will look in the future. We must continually assess what we are doing to provide current and future students with the best possible education.

We are asking each trustee and staff member to come to the retreat prepared to explore the areas of the school that are essential to who we are as a community. For example, our baseline assumptions might include small student-teacher ratio, varied and rich educational programs, experiential learning, faculty professional development, and health benefits for employees. Each given carries a price tag. The question we hope to answer is which ideas are so central to Catlin Gabel that they are non-negotiable. In a similar exercise several years ago, the community approached the campus master plan by defining “sacred spaces.” The overwhelming consensus was the paddock and Fir Grove were off limits to building projects.

I am excited to report that Michael Heath, who becomes Upper School head on July 1, has agreed to join us on the retreat. The two-day meeting is a terrific opportunity for Michael to learn about Catlin Gabel in detail and to get to know the trustees and staff members with whom he will work closely.

In order to help retreat participants fully engage, Skip Kotkins, PNAIS and NAIS board member, and CEO of Skyway Luggage, will facilitate our two days together.

To inspire and inform us about recent trends in education we have invited two guest speakers. Peter Cookson, dean of the graduate school of education and counseling at Lewis & Clark College, will talk about education in the future. Meade Thayer, executive director of PNAIS and a former admission director, will address access and affordability in independent schools.

When this group of bright, dedicated people sets the stage for the next few years at Catlin Gabel, rejuvenation is an inevitable outcome. I look forward to continuing this conversation and refining our priorities with faculty-staff, alumni, and parents.

In late March we will resume campus construction and continue work on the Upper School facilities. The campus will be enhanced in many ways by the planned remodel of the Dant House, the humanities building, and the science building. The need for renovating these three buildings was identified when the concept of an Upper School village with a central quad was articulated.

The number of Upper School students has increased from approximately 240 in 1994 to 285 today. The increase provides an infusion of new students, allows for greater diversity, and expands our course offerings. We have boosted the number of teaching positions so that class sizes and student-to-teacher ratios have remained constant. Now it is time to complete the building expansions to better serve the curriculum and learners.

The Dant House is Catlin Gabel’s original defining building. Renovating this beloved and historic building will restore the house to its earlier beauty and make the spaces more accessible, useful, and environmentally responsible. Plans include retaining the original woodwork, fireplaces, and other historic features. The office area will be opened up to make it visible from the entrance, and new faculty offices will be created. Some of the walls, fire doors, and open sprinkler pipes that were required by old fire codes will be removed. The original plumbing, which is 60 years old and no longer functions properly, will be replaced. The oil-fired boiler will be retired and the building will be connected to the library’s efficient and environmentally friendly heating system. In fact, underground pipes were laid between the library and the Dant House, as well as the humanities building, in 2002 in preparation for this project. New weatherproof windows will further decrease energy usage.

Legendary Portland architect John Storrs designed the humanities building, which served as the Upper School library for over 30 years. John Storrs’ work, which includes the Oregon College of Art and Craft campus and Salishan resort, is historically significant. The architects and builders involved in previous remodeling projects all agree that the humanities building is a Portland treasure. The remodel will retain the architectural character of the building, while completing the structural transformation it needs to go from a library building to a classroom building. The classrooms will have improved sound insulation, and the learning center will be expanded. The addition of an outdoor deck provides a new outdoor space for the community. Like the Dant House project, the humanities building project includes new windows and a heating system linked by underground pipes to the library’s heating system. This project benefits the Middle School as well as the Upper School because the humanities building houses two Middle School classrooms and the Middle and Upper School learning center.

We are adding a new teaching lab to the west side of the science building. The addition of a new faculty office will create a courtyard linking the math and science buildings. Planned upgrades to the science building include removal of the unattractive and unsuccessful grey accordion partitions. Glass walls that allow for natural light from the central clerestory windows to shine in all the classrooms will replace the partitions. A new exit from the center of the science building will lead to the new math and science courtyard.

Funding for the Dant House, humanities, and science-math remodels comes from the school’s working capital funds and contributions made to the projects.

Making the move

Students and teachers need not move from the math and science buildings this spring. However, the Dant House and humanities building must be vacated before renovations begin. Students, teachers, lockers, and furniture will relocate to one of the indoor tennis courts and temporary trailer classrooms. We elected to start the renovations in spring so they will be complete by the time school opens in the fall. As the spring weather takes hold, the problem of temporarily losing student hang-out space will diminish when kids gravitate to the outdoors.

In order to make time for moving out of the affected buildings and into temporary digs, we are extending spring break only for Upper School students to include Friday, March 23, and Monday, April 2. The teachers will use those two days to move out of their current classrooms and offices and into temporary classrooms and offices. The students did not complain about this schedule alteration when we announced the plan in early January.

We recognize that the temporary disruptions cause some hardship, but our students and teachers have proven themselves resilient time and time again. This year’s seniors will no doubt complain that their final months at Catlin Gabel are disrupted, but I can imagine them at their 10-year reunion remembering the glory of ending their high school careers in temporary classrooms. Surely the class of 2007 understands that others before them withstood campus construction projects so that today’s seniors could benefit from a new Middle School building, a glorious track and field, a remodeled gymnasium, and vastly improved Upper School facilities. By next fall students and teachers will undoubtedly overlook this temporary inconvenience when they move into beautifully remodeled and expanded facilities.

We take every precaution to ensure student safety during construction. Most of the work scheduled for April and May will occur indoors. Exterior work will take place during summer vacation. Construction sites will be tightly fenced. We are working once again with Walsh Construction, which has a proven safety record on our campus. Their crews are particularly respectful of our students and teachers.

Facilities are an important factor in learning. Ambience, relationship with outdoor spaces, and quality of classrooms enhance learning. When we plan for facilities improvements we always look to school founder Ruth Catlin for guidance. In her philosophy statement Miss Catlin included the learning environment as an essential ingredient: “To maintain a school with the most enlightened ideals of education...in healthful, comfortable, cultural, simple and beautiful surroundings.” Our goal is to respect the inspiration of the architects who have come before and the historical memories of alumni while renewing and adapting to meet the needs of emerging generations of students.

I recently attended a conference for independent school heads and deans at Harvard University. The conference, “Leading and Managing the Independent School of the Future,” explored how American schools can best deliver relevant teaching and learning.

I was particularly intrigued and gratified by the presentation by David Perkins, senior professor of education at Harvard University, because so much of what he said validated what we do at Catlin Gabel. Armed with a doctorate in mathematics and artificial intelligence from MIT, David Perkins has turned his attention to research and development in teaching and learning for understanding, creativity, problem-solving, and reasoning in the arts, sciences, and everyday life.

David Perkins makes a clear distinction between rote learning for tests and meaningful learning, which he calls knowledge arts. As he describes it, knowledge arts include “communicating strategically, insightfully, and effectively, thinking critically and creatively, and putting school knowledge to work out in what educators sometimes humbly call the ‘real world.’ The knowledge arts bundle together deep reading, compelling writing, strong problem-solving and decision-making, and the strategic and spirited self-management of learning itself, within and across the disciplines.” Sounds like Catlin Gabel, doesn’t it?

He talked about how schools underserve students when they focus on test results and mechanical learning rather than on teaching kids how to think, analyze, and apply their knowledge. He summarizes his appraisal of most American schools by dividing teaching into that which is “taught a lot, but matters not,” and that which is “not taught, but matters a lot.”

The concept of teaching what matters speaks to the national conversation about testing. Catlin Gabel and other progressive schools resist the trend toward teaching that which matters not by eschewing Advanced Placement classes. By definition AP classes teach to the test. After hearing David Perkins, I am more convinced than ever that we are doing what’s best for students by avoiding the rigid AP curriculum.

Last month I wrote a response piece for The Head’s Letter, published by Educational Directions, on this topic. My article was published as an endorsement of a New York Times op-ed piece by Rodney LeBrecque, an educational consultant and former independent school dean at Choate Rosemary Hall and science department head at Milton Academy. Here is my response:

I applaud Rodney LaBrecque’s position on the Advanced Placement examinations. Catlin Gabel School has never taught AP courses, for the reasons Mr. LaBrecque cites. We have always felt that teachers need the freedom to create courses that meet the needs of the students and provide flexibility to make what’s happening now open for investigation. Students take the AP exams – in all subjects available to them – if they want to. Our median grades are 4 and 5.

A strong curriculum that emphasizes thinking skills, information management and interpretation, and that focuses on the skills of a discipline affords a student the necessary preparation for solid collegiate work. And Mr. LaBrecque did not mention that many colleges give their own placement tests in various disciplines.

NAIS and regional independent school associations should band together to take a strong stand against the AP culture. We threaten our own independence by AP-ing and IB-ing to such an extent that we might as well be under the thrall of No Child Left Behind. I do not believe that top students in public or private schools are well served by exam-directed classes: there’s no room for engagement with original ideas, and too much rote memorization.

For many independent schools, teaching beyond AP is a way to compete with other local choices. If we communicate that our curriculum exceeds the AP standard, we can counter AP proponents, while providing something much more substantive for our students.

Swimming upstream is not always easy, which is why I am so proud that Catlin Gabel has been in the vanguard of teaching what matters.