Head of School Nov 3, 2023
On Friday morning at 6 a.m., well before the sun was up, over 100 members of our faculty and staff will gather on the Hillsdale Campus to decamp for Columbus to attend the Annual ISACS Conference on Teaching and Learning.
Seven Hills is blessed with a superb faculty and staff, educators whose academic training and pedagogical experience make them uniquely qualified to help our students reach their full potential. But what is truly distinctive about Seven Hills is our commitment to “being the best at getting better.“
Like professionals in other fields, like medicine or law, our teachers are committed to honing their skills through a regular process of professional renewal. Each year, Seven Hills invests aggressively in providing continuing education for the faculty and staff. This involves sponsoring on-campus professional training on one of at least three designated professional development days each year. It also involves funding our teachers’ attendance at regional and national conferences, particularly those that focus on new developments in brain science and/or on new pedagogical approaches in their own fields.
Each September, every Seven Hills teacher begins the year by drafting one or two professional goals, working with their division or department heads to identify those areas of their practice they want to refine by further study and training. Often teams of teachers develop and work on these goals together, sharing their expertise with their colleagues, so that those with strengths in particular areas can help others learn and grow. Finally, each summer, the school awards approximately 40 Curriculum Renewal Grants. These modest stipends incentivize teachers to work together, often in grade level or departmental project teams, to develop or refine particular units of study.
The benefits of this investment in professional training go far beyond their impact on the individual teachers who participate. In the aggregate, our commitment to on-going training helps forge a professional learning community, a group of consummate professionals who, year after year, are focused on working together to improve the student experience.
When the buses return to school in the evening, my colleagues and I will, no doubt, be tired from a long day of travel and study, but we will also be energized and excited, eager to bring back to our classrooms the new ideas we have learned together. And that is a wonderful return on our investment of time and energy. Enjoy your weekends!
Christopher P. Garten
Head of School
Key Dates & Events
November — Native American Heritage Month
Friday, Nov. 3 — Faculty Professional Development Day. No School.
Sunday, Nov. 5 — Daylight Savings Time Ends. Move clocks back one hour.
Wednesday, Nov. 15 — Board of Trustees Meeting, 6:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 21 — Thanksgiving Break begins at 3:15 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 22-Friday, Nov. 24 — Thanksgiving Break. No School.
Monday, Nov. 27 — School Resumes