Welcome from the Head of School
We are increasingly realizing what an important role confidence plays in the development of children. Confidence evolves from competence. When a student is provided with opportunities to do his best, coached in the skills that lead toward success, and given recognition for his accomplishments, how could he avoid feeling positive about himself?
The converse—confidence breeds competence—is also true. Our emphasis on educating students for the 21st century has called for learning that is deep, authentic, and meaningful. To fully embrace this standard of learning, a student must feel free to take risks, to take a bold stand, to follow her own path of discovery. The quality education that characterizes our school depends upon the blend of confidence and competence. I see it daily throughout the school year, in the lower grades as well as with the older girls.
Confidence and competence form the core of everything to come. Three of our recent graduates—all from the same Nashoba Brooks class—will serve as presidents this year of the student bodies at Middlesex, Concord Academy, and Dana Hall. A lower grades graduate who continued at The Fenn School was elected president there. Two of our college-age graduates were elected president of the student body at Deerfield Academy—out of only four female presidents since that school went co-ed in 1989.
As we look at competence and character at Nashoba Brooks, a third “C” enters the picture: character education. A parent of an eighth grader recently told me that although he had expected his daughter’s experience at Nashoba Brooks to include reading, writing, math—all of the academic skills—he had not foreseen the power of the “other curriculum,” the coaching she would receive in learning to collaborate, compromise, and successfully interact with others.
Finally, with apologies for the alliteration, we add another C—creativity—to the mix. New research reported by Newsweek (July 19), emphasizes how creativity requires “divergent thinking (generating many unique ideas) and then convergent thinking (combining those ideas into the best result).” At Nashoba Brooks, you will see students of all ages involved in collaborative projects that call for fact-finding, problem-finding, idea-finding, solution-finding, and a plan of action—a mix of divergent thinking with convergent thinking and creative to the core.
The spark that starts it all is confidence. A parent who describes herself as both “old” and “young” (with three graduates in their twenties and one current student in eighth grade) can attest to the long-term effects of the Nashoba Brooks mix: “Strong character and strong sense of self propel them fearlessly toward their goals . . . what more do you want from your child in the world?”
E. Kay Cowan