I would like to share the
School’s Guiding Principles with you. Together with our Mission Statement, our
Common Trust, and our Diversity Statement, our Guiding Principles represent our
School philosophy.
Last January, the faculty began a
process of reviewing and updating the Guiding Principles statement that was first
developed in 2002. Changes reflect
today’s educational landscape with references to “global communities” and
“information literacy.”
As part
of USM’s re-accreditation process by the Independent Schools
Association of the Central States (ISACS), the Guiding Principles will be
reviewed by Visiting Team members during their time at USM this fall. The team
will look for congruence between what we say we do and what they observe. (For background on the ISACS re-accreditation
process, please see my blog post from February 10,
2012.)
Please take a moment to
review our Guiding Principles, which clearly
enunciate our teachers’
commitment to each student’s intellectual, social, emotional, ethical, and
artistic development.
Our Self-Study is also a
vital part of our ISACS re-accreditation process. During Monday’s in-service day, our
faculty and administrators worked diligently in their self-study committees. (The School prepares a comprehensive report,
referred to as the Self-Study, which addresses every aspect of academic and
non-academic life.) Under the
leadership of Judy Bloch, our self-study coordinator, the committees—ranging
from PK-12 English to Financial Management and Operations —engaged in in-depth
discussions to describe current practices and identify strengths and challenges
facing the School.
I am so impressed by the
level of commitment and the thoughtful
deliberations, as these committees move forward on their work on the report.
