Summer Greetings from Mark Davis 2008
9/11/2008

The dawning of a new school year has focused my thoughts on the contrast between the tranquility of my Vermont vacation and the riveting story of Three Cups of Tea. You have often heard me refer to the familiar rhythms of a school year. The comforts and certainties that come with those rhythms seem especially soothing on our pastoral hilltop, where we work, create and play together in an enriched setting far removed from the cares of our surrounding communities, to say nothing of the rest of the world. Yet we are called – by our mission, our motto, and our Community Goals for Learning - to scale challenging heights of achievement, to overcome obstacles, and - especially - to serve others. We know without pondering the question that the purpose of a St. Luke’s education is to enable us to become our best selves, and thereby to make the world a better place for everyone in it. We also know that is not easy.

In a July 2007 Harvard Business Review interview, Toyota’s CEO Katsuaki Watanabe explained the two
pillars of his company’s core beliefs as “continuous improvement” and “respect for people.” At St. Luke’s we share these two fundamental beliefs with the world’s most successful car maker. By reaching for big goals, by insisting on high standards of teaching and learning, by understanding the differences among us, by managing setbacks, by caring for others, by thinking globally and collaboratively – by constantly striving for all of these objectives, we recognize that education actually is not filled with comfort and certainty in spite of the school year’s familiar rhythms. In asking all of us – students, teachers, administrators, and parents – to become our best selves, we assert the value of continuous improvement. Resting on our laurels, no matter how strongly we feel about how well we are doing, is not an option when we have a mission to educate today’s children to become tomorrow’s lifelong learners and global citizens. Core values endure, amidst changing landscapes and supported by evolving and new practices.

For the 2008-2009 school year, I am pleased to announce the creation of the St. Luke’s Teaching Fellowship. Modeled after similar programs at several New England boarding schools, and supported this year by funds available through the Head of School Discretionary Endowment (created by a St. Luke’s family in the 2004-2005 school year), the fellowship enables the School to recruit exceptional young people to our faculty for one year. Selected after an exhaustive and rigorous search process (led by Assistant Head of Upper School Jim Decatur, who worked with educational placement agencies and college and university career centers), Teaching Fellows teach a reduced load (typically two classes) for one year in addition to coaching, advising and serving the School in other capacities. While the program will bring to St. Luke’s young people of outstanding talent and character, it will also enable the School to provide a larger service to the education community by sending Fellows on to full faculty status at other schools after a year with us. Several recent and current faculty members ((Tim Sullivan, Jon Lord, Tim Helstein, for example) have learned the craft of teaching at St. Luke’s as recent college graduates, and others (including Beth and Jim Yavenditti) began their teaching careers through similar programs at other schools. Now, the Teaching Fellowship allows us to support promising young teachers with appropriate resources, workshops and internal mentorship.

We are pleased to welcome our first Teaching Fellow - Steve Andelman – to the Hilltop this fall. A graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy and Haverford College, where he majored in both Chemistry and Philosophy and captained the baseball team, Mr. Andelman will teach two sections of chemistry and coach soccer, basketball and baseball in addition to co-advising my Upper School Advisory.

Another faculty change, brought on as the result of Dave Ferguson’s retirement after 22 years at St. Luke’s, brings us French Teacher Franz Batoh. A native of Cameroon who taught for seven years abroad before teaching in South Carolina for the last two years, Mr. Batoh brings a joyous energy and broad world perspective to the classroom. He also will coach soccer and basketball.

And finally, as students and parents in the Class of 2009 know, we will have a transition in the College Counseling Office. With the impending retirement of Director of College Counseling Tim Cantrick and new responsibilities for Associate Director Joe Terbell, we conducted a highly successful search for new leadership of the college counseling program during the 2007-2008 school year. Sonia Bell will serve as Co-Director of College Counseling with Mr. Cantrick this year and assume the directorship upon Mr. Cantrick’s retirement in June. Ms. Bell’s extensive experience includes service as Associate Director of Admissions at Johns Hopkins University, Senior Dean and Associate Director of College Counseling at Nichols School, Dean of Students at Springside School and, for the last seven years, Site Director for the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth where she oversaw the summer academic and residential program for 650 students and 80 faculty and staff. She will also teach a section of 11th grade English. In addition, after five years as Associate Director of Admissions at Skidmore College, Nat Smitobol joins us as Associate Director of College Counseling. On top of his responsibilities as Associate Director, Mr. Smitobol achieved remarkable success overseeing all of Skidmore’s multicultural recruitment efforts. Also a former special education teacher and tennis professional (he was an instructor as well as a Prince Pro-Team Player in California from 1999-2003), Mr. Smitobol – like Ms. Bell – has devoted his professional life to education.

As a former Director of College Counseling at two New England boarding schools, I know how important it is for an excellent school to support students and parents with a superb college counseling program. St. Luke’s has always been known for its extraordinarily personalized and professional college counseling, and our already strong reputation among highly selective colleges will only grow under the direction of Ms. Bell and Mr. Smitobol, who stood out in a large and deep pool of qualified candidates. We are fortunate to have the resources to bring them to St. Luke’s in the same year to assure a smooth and coordinated transition to new leadership.

And finally, in the spirit of continuous improvement, division heads Jim Yavenditti and Gareth Fancher have begun a careful evaluation of the School’s advising system. In addition to the twice-weekly advisory meetings, students and parents have access to expert advising in many places throughout the school and along every student’s St. Luke’s career path. Moreover, Dean of Studies Guy Bailey outlines the academic advising resources available to students and parents in the Curriculum Guide that accompanies each student’s Suggested Course of Study every April. However, many parents have told us they would like greater consistency in the system overall and more individualized advising for Upper School academic planning in particular.

We have heard these requests and are studying various models for delivering high-quality, mission-based advising to students and parents. While we evaluate various options, we are pleased that Associate Director of College Counseling Joe Terbell will provide individualized academic planning for 9th and 10th grade students and parents for the 2008-2009 school year. Mr. Terbell will outline his services - which include course and standardized testing planning as well as advice on summer activities - and a schedule of meetings for students and parents in a forthcoming letter. He also will be available to answer questions this fall at Upper School Parent Coffees and on Upper School Parent Night.

As Albert Einstein used to tell his students, “I wish for you the thrill of daily discovery.” I hope this summer has brought many discoveries for you and your children, and that the spirit of discovery will find its way into your daily experience at St. Luke’s this coming school year. We await your return to the Hilltop with the eagerness of a day hiker anticipating a satisfying stroll through Vermont’s Green Mountains and the determined vision of an experienced mountaineer preparing to scale a Himalayan peak.
With warm regards,
Mark C. Davis
Head of School