Dear Parents,
The school year is drawing to a close. The elections for the 2008-9 Parents' Association Board are well under way. Please turn in your ballots by June 9th, if you have not done so already. There are also a few vacant positions to fill and we are
seeking nominations for those positions (please see the story below).
At the May 12th Parents' Association Admissions Director Michael Veitch spoke about the changes in the Lab Schools' Admissions over the last seven years. Christopher Jones and Paul Gunty spoke about the state of emergency preparedness at the school. Director David Magill gave parents attending the meeting a preview of what the Lab Schools might look like in the future as the demand for enrollment grows. You can read about all of this in the Parents' Association Meeting Report.
Anne Ryan, Parents' Association Communications Coordinator
Ken Housinger, Parents' Associatin Communications Coordinator-Elect
By now you should have received a ballot to vote for the following offices of the Parents' Association Board:
President-Elect
Secretary-Elect
Treasurer-Elect
Communications Coordinator-Elect
Fundraising Coordinator-Elect
Volunteer Coordinator-Elect
Programs Coordinator-Elect
Two representatives for the High School Council.
Please fill out and mail or turn in ballots by Monday June 9th.
Questions? Please contact Joan Simmons at jsimmons.pa@gmail.com.
Middle School Council
A one-year position on the Middle School Council, beginning July 1, is open for nominations due to the resignation of a council member.
Nursery/Kindergarten School Council
Two one-year positions on the Nursery/Kindergarten School Council, beginning July 1, are open for nominations due to the resignation of two council members.
For information on the responsibilities of these positions, refer to the PA Bylaws available on the PA website.
Send nominations to Joan Simmons, Secretary-Elect at jsimmons.pa@gmail.com by Friday, June 6, 2008.
Admissions
Admissions Director Michael Veitch spoke about the changes in the "demographics" of the Lab Schools' student population over the last seven years. Veitch said that enrollment has gone up during this time and attrition has gone down. Enrollment currently stands at 1745 students or 99.7% capacity. The schools used to lose about 150 students per year due to parents' job changes or other factors, but now only lose about 115 per year. The percentage of students
coming from the University is now at 55% and climbing. Diversity has also gone up significantly. The schools are now 59% caucasian and 41% students of color, an increase of 20% in the last seven years. The number of multiracial students has also increased.
Geographically about half of the students come from the Hyde Park or South Shore neighborhoods with a wider geographical range as the kids get older. The fastest growing areas for enrollment are Bridgeport, South Loop, Bronzeville, and North Kenwood.
Admissions are categorized into University Faculty, "Lab People" (i.e. employees and teachers of the Lab Schools, siblings, Lab alumni, etc...), UC Staff, Other Priority (development, diversity, community, recommendations or relatives) and No Priority. University faculty receive highest priority and there are many grades where there is only room for children of University faculty.
High school admissions is "a more level playing field" in terms of admissions, according to Veitch. That is where students who have no University affiliation have the greatest chance of being admitted. Veitch said that the financial aid budget has also doubled in the last seven years. "That has certainly brought some terrific students here that might have gone to Walter Payton, Northside, or Whitney Young (high schools)."
In light of the increased demand for admissions from University faculty and demand for admissions from the outside, Veitch noted the need for a larger school.
Emergency Preparedness
Christopher Jones and Paul Gunty spoke about emergency preparedness at Lab. The Laboratory Schools' crisis plan was developed in 2001 and is reviewed on an annual basis. Currently the school holds drills for various emergencies using a new emergency broadcast system that works in every corner of the Lab Schools other than the Woodlawn building,
which has its own procedures in case of an emergency. Students are well-prepared for emergencies. Teachers go over procedures with students in their classrooms.
School administrators also coordinate with the Univerisity of Chicago. "Very few independent schools are able to rely upon the resources and services of a university like the University of Chicago," said Jones. School administrators work very closely with the University Police who are very familiar with the Lab Schoos' buildings. The University's Health & Safety office has also been engaged in the school's crisis plan.
Jones stressed the importance of communication in the event of an emergency. The schools can use the call center or the schools' website and they are exploring the use of the cAlert system which utilizes home phones, cell phones and text alerts to communicate with students at the University of Chicago. The administration is working with the University and is looking into making the system available to Lab parents and students as well.
Depending on the type of emergency, Gunty said, teachers go to the classroom door to listen to instructions given over the emergency broadcast system, then act according to whichever type of drill is being signaled. In case of evacuation (as in a fire drill), safety coordinators are located at the doors of the school to determine whether the children should be allowed back into the building. Each teacher knows where to take their group in an emergency. The emergency broadcast system is also zoned so that different parts of the school can be turned off and on depending on where communication is needed. Many teachers also have radios that they can use to communicate with the office or administrators.
Director David Magill said that he did not feel comfortable about the state of emergency communications at the Lab Schools when he arrived five years ago because he could not get an announcement out quickly. Now he feels far better about emergency communications. "The key, however," he said, "is not to use it. It is not a public address system. It is an emergency broadcast system. "
Director's Report
Director David Magill addressed the need for expansion of the Lab Schools and the need to renovate the aging school
buildings. Magill asked, "How do we create the conditions for learning that are going to optimize our children's chances?...How do I create an environment where teachers will want to come here? Because what makes a school great are the teachers I put in front of your children."
Judd Hall is being slowly incorporated into the Lab Schools and should belong entirely to the Lab Schools sometime in
2009 or 2010. According to one estimate Magill received, it will cost about $37 million to renovate Judd Hall and convert it into classroom space. Blaine and Belfield Halls are also in need of extensive renovations. Currently the rooms that are in the least favorable condition are the rooms for the arts. None of the rooms were initially designed for the arts in terms of ventilation, storage, water supply or acoustics. The tiny, boxy theater can't hold more than 100 people.
As Magill wrote in a letter he sent out in April, the plan for newly expanded Lab Schools adds an additional section of grades N3-5, and two additional sections of grades 6-8. The high school could expand by up to 25 students per grade. Demographic studies have been done that show the school would have no problem filling the classes.
The schools would be comprised of five divisions rather than four: An early childhood center N3-K, Primary School 1-2, Lower School 3-5, Middle School 6-8, and High School 9-12. Magill believes that in creating a community that really cares about its kids, every child should be known by every adult in their division. The combined enrollment will be around 2000 when the plan is fully implemented.
The project may end up being among the highest expenditures in the history of the University of Chicago. A gift of $10 million from the family of Chicago business leader Earl Shapiro (http://news.uchicago.edu/news.php?asset_id=1346) is a good beginning for the fundraising effort that will be required. The University will also contribute to the project. In June, when the University trustees are expected to approve the project, an architect will be selected. At the earliest, construction would begin next summer and continue for about five years. Magill is committed to making sure that current students are not disrupted during the construction.
Magill then showed some drawings of what the school could look like in the future with expansion and renovation. He described the drawings, from Skidmore Owings and Merrill, as "the dreams of an artist." Actual plans have not been drawn at this point, nor has an architectural firm been decided upon. The drawings included a new theater space, larger libraries, a glass atrium, a cafeteria/large gathering space, and an art gallery. Magill wants to keep the gothic nature of the buildings and interior woodwork and also add "some level or greenness."
One parent expressed concern about rising tuition costs. Magill responded saying that the project will not be financed by tuition hikes, but rather with funds raised through a capital campaign. He added that rising tuition costs are due to a number of variables including the cost of hiring quality teachers.
Dear Parents,
I am writing to ask for volunteers to assist with this year's used book buyback program. As you may know, this year we have a brand new system for buying our children's textbooks which involves ordering the books online. The vendor with whom we will be working is MBS Direct. MBS offers a used book buyback program called EZdrop Buyback. The Parents Association will be at school to help with this process on Tuesday, June10th through Friday, June 13th. Although this process will be different from in the past, it appears to be very straightforward and user-friendly.
This is how it will work. Each parent or student will create a voucher at home listing the books they wish to sell. This will be done by going online with MBS and listing the books and their ISBN numbers. MBS will fill in the buyback prices. The parent or student will then print 2 copies of the voucher. The parent or student will then bring the books and the vouchers to school. This is where we need your help. As a volunteer, you will check the books against the voucher to make sure the list and books match. Next, you will put the books and one copy of the voucher in a bag provided by MBS, seal the bag, and pack the bags in boxes provided by MBS. That's our entire role! Checks for the used books will be sent directly from MBS to the parents.
We are very excited about this new process and are hoping that, with your help, the transition to the new system will go smoothly. We are seeking volunteers for the following days and times:
Tuesday June 10th - 8:00 to Noon Noon to 4:00
Wednesday June 11th - 8:00 to Noon Noon to 4:00
Thursday June 12th - 8:00 to Noon Noon to 4:00
Friday June 13th - 8:30 to Noon
The buyback will take place in Belfield gym (BD141). We will also have a short set up and training session on Monday, June 9th at 8:30AM.
Please let me know if you can volunteer. We hope those of you who volunteered in the past will help us launch the new program. Thanks again for all of your help.
Nia Verdirame (Niadhns@aol.com)
Parents Association
May 22 - Choral Music Concert, Grades 7 -12, 7:30 pm Mandel Hall
May 24 - Senior Prom, 8pm Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
May 26 - No School - Memorial Day
May 27 - 30 - 8th Grade Class trip
May 30 - 4th Grade Rock Climbing Trip
June 3 - Middle School Spring Sports Recognition Gathering
June 4 - Fourth Annual Athletic Awards Reception & Ceremony
June 5 - May Project Exhibition, 9 am - 9 pm in Judd 126
June 6 - Race Against Hunger, 12:10 pm - 1 pm on the Midway
June 9 - Awards Assembly for high school sutdents, 9 - 11 am Max Palevsky
June 9 - Parents' Association Meeting, 7pm in Judd 126
June 10 - 8th Grade Graduation
June 12 - Last Day of School, noon dismissal
June 12 - High School Graduation, 2:30 - 4 pm Rockefeller Chapel
June 23 - Summer Lab 2008 Begins
September 8 - First Day of School
June 9 - Deadline for submissions for June Newsletter. Send submissions to Anne Ryan, anneryancomm@gmail.com
Dear Parents,
Spring is finally here and preparations are underway for this year's Rites of May which will be held from May 15th - 17th. Volunteers are definitely needed, so please read the story below for contact information. We also have a few Parents' Association Board positions that will be unfilled next year, Fundraising Coordinator-Elect, Programs Coordinator-Elect, and
Volunteer Coordinator-Elect. The deadline for nominations has been extended to May 1st for all board positions and we are actively looking for candidates. Details can be found on the Parents' Association homepage, www.uclspa.org.
The April 14th Parents' Association featured a presentation on Laboratory Schools founder John Dewey by Catie Bell and Joe Kallo. If you were unable to attend the meeting, you can read a recap of the presentation below in the PA meeting report. Next month's PA meeting will feature speakers D. Michael Veitch, Director of Admissions, and a report from Christopher Jones and Paul Gunty on the state of emergency preparedness at UCLS.
We hope you will be able to attend.
Anne Ryan, Parents' Association Communications Coordinator
by Lauren Polite, Kate Surmeier, and Nicole Power
Lab parents are gearing up for this year’s Rites of May to be held on May 15-17 th. One of Lab’s oldest traditions, the three day Rites of May is an all-schools event. High School Students will be performing Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night’s Dream each evening at 8 pm. Thursday and Friday events will be in the Blaine courtyard from 5-7 pm. Saturday's events will run from 11-5 and and will celebrate Lab’s diversity in a fun and exciting way with an International festival in Sunny Gym and Kenwood Mall. The International festival features crafts and traditions from around the world, with international dances performed throughout the day, and an outdoor carnival with a giant 25-foot inflatable slide and inflatable obstacle course. The annual Scholastic Book Fair run by the Blaine Bookstore will be held in Belfield 141 from 4-8 pm. Chairing this year’s event are Peri Altan, Catherine Beard and Lauren Polite.
This year’s Global Cafe on Saturday May 17th from 11-3 features wonderful dishes from Lab families, highlighting their
culture and culinary skills, plus food offerings from local restaurants. Organizers Kate Surmeier and Jennie and Ed Gin would like families to let them know if they have a restaurant contact that could assist them with getting dishes donated. Please contact them at JGin@fhlbc.com. They are also looking for chefs and home cooks in the Lab community that would like to participate in cooking stations. Lab families are also invited to participate by bringing in a favorite family dish to share, potluck style. Chafing dishes for warm food and ice for cold dishes will be provided. All food should be delivered the day of the event by 11 am and labeled with a name, country of origin and any ingredients of concern, i.e. meats, peanuts, dairy, etc... All dishes are served tapas style so prices remain low and people may truly taste a variety of spectacular foods. If you would like to volunteer at the global cafe or provide a dish, please contact Nicole Power, npower@ucls.uchicago.edu.
The International Booths and day-long entertainment will allow kids to learn about Lab cultures through art, music, dancing and more. Africa, China, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Japan and Korea will all be represented. Entertainment will include demonstrations by the after school Indian Dance Class and Irish Dance class, the Hyde Park School of Ballet, Irish dancers, and the return of the traditional May Pole Dance. Watch for tie-dye T-shirt sales leading up to the event.
Volunteers are needed for all areas of the event including: International Booths; Carnival; T-shirt sales (especially the week before the event); and Book Fair (Thursday, Friday and Saturday). Global cafe volunteer shifts in the cafe are staggered and last two hours, beginning at 10:30 am and ending at 4 pm. All parents and teens are welcome to help serve and set out foods and drinks for ticket purchase. You can also help out by picking up foods from around the neighborhood and the city and dropping it off. Checks will be given to you ahead of time. All you need to do is confirm the order the night before and then pick it up at the scheduled time. Another place help is needed is with cleanup, which begins at 3:30. If you would like to volunteer at the Global Cafe, please contact Nicole Power, npower@ucls.uchicago.edu. If you are able to help anywhere else, please contact Catherine Beard csbmeyer@yahoo.com Peri Altan at perialtan@yahoo.com, or Lauren Polite at bnpolite@sbcglobal.net.
by Anne Ryan, UCLS Parents' Association Communications Coordinator
John Dewey
Featured speakers at the April 14th Parents' Association meeting were Lab Teacher on Special Assignment Catie Bell and Lab webmaster Joe Kallo. Both Bell and Kallo wrote their dissertations on Laboratory Schools founder John Dewey.
John Dewey was born in Burlington, Vermont in 1859 and grew up on a farm there. After receiving a doctorate from John's Hopkins in 1884 he joined the faculty of the University of Chicago in 1894, shortly after it opened. Dewey started at the University as the head of Psychology and Philosophy, but then became the head of Pedagogy. The Pedagogy laboratory he started in 1896, known then as The University Elementary School, is now The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools. Dewey published "The School and Society" in 1899. Kallo and Bell explain Dewey's basic education philosophy in four basic tenets that echo in the Lab Schools today.
"1. Dewey believed that education was the primary ground of social reform, and that the School should be responsive and responsible for changes in society at large.
2. Dewey's philosophy has at its core the belief that all inquiry, and thereby learning, begins with a spark of interest which arises from concrete experience of the world.
3. The spark of interest becomes full-fledged inquiry when the learner is provided with a rich sensory environment to investigate the question, and it terminates when the conclusion of inquiry is woven into broader knowledge.
4. Dewey believed that a democratic community had the best chance of fostering the capacity for inquiry. Such a community supports growth by drawing the best from children in those areas in which they can contribute to the good of others."
The children at The University Elementary School were divided into eleven age groups and their classes were very
"hands-on" or sensorial, providing children with that spark of interest and that environment to explore it. Children learned through gardening, building, cooking, sewing, weaving textiles, woodworking, printing with a printing press and much more. The activities were connected to the home and the community. Children were not sitting at desks in a traditional classroom. Dewey "taught that you could not teach directly, only indirectly by means of an environment," says Bell. The teacher's job was to offer suggestions as the students were pursuing knowledge.
Students used sand tables to build three dimensional maps of continents, rather than just studying a flat map in a book. They also built model forts and castles on the sand tables as a part of their history lessons. At least one and one half hours per week were devoted to cooking, which provided students more opportunities for learning arithmetic, chemistry or physics. Children, of course, got a chance to eat what they cooked and even spoke other languages like French during the meal or listened to a story in French. Students also made many of the items to be used at school like pencil boxes, coat racks, and even a clubhouse for the debate club. Lessons about distribution and marketing were learned in the textile workshop.
Books were kept in the background and students only got them out when they genuinely wanted to find out more about a subject. Kallo acknowledges that Dewey was criticized for this, but says that students were also more likely to be reading at home then since there were no televisions. Bell says that Dewey believed that reading was passive absorption of knowledge and that kids should rather be actively asking questions.
Kallo and Bell said that Dewey's legacy continues today at Lab in the Arts and Humanities programs, Independent Studies, Class Trips, the fitness program, the May Project, Model United Nations, the Sutherland Awards, the Reggio Emilia program and many other places.
Director's Report
Director David Magill complimented PA President Dick Mintel on the interesting programs presented by PA this school year, stating that he hopes these types of programs will continue into the future. He also commented on the letter he sent to all UCLS parents recently regarding the Lab school's expansion/renovation plans. The plan will go before the Board of Trustees in June and they will be voting on its approval. The next step will be for the school to decide on an architect. He also said to look for a major announcement from the University in the next few weeks regarding the upcoming capital campaign. He said an alum will be making a major donation to start it off.
Magill also praised parents Christena Nippert-Eng and Cate Plys for their efforts to start up a program emphasizing civility, designed to reduce/eliminate behaviors including bullying in the school. (For more information see the March Parents' Association Newsletter).
Principals Report on Steps to Promote Civility/Prevent Bullying & Other Negative Behaviors
Following Magill, three of the four Principals spoke about their approach to starting age-appropriate civility programs in the different schools. Nursery & Kindergarten Carla Young spoke of the work of psychologist Larry Kohlberg who, with others, coined the term "Just Communities", where students have a trusting relationship with each other and work together as a community. Young remarks, "One of the things of greatest interest to the children in Nursery and Kindergarten are the other children and how they behave and what they think about." She is using that interest to get children to think about "How does one get along in this world with other people?" Teaching children to be more reflective at a very young age is also being explored, i.e. teaching them to think about how they think and feel as well as how others think and feel. Young is interested in creating a classroom in which children develop a sense of responsibility and autonomy, not because of an adult authority, but more with an adult acting as a moral guide. Research suggests that children in this type of classroom community are more highly developed emotionally and socially. The Nursery School and Kindergarten devoted a recent faculty meeting to Pier Massimo Forni's book Choosing Civility: The Twenty-five Rules of Considerate Conduct. Young has also been looking at materials published by CASEL, Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning. She looks to providing the best possible learning environment for the children.
Beverly Biggs, Lower School Principal, reminded parents of the Code of Conduct already established in the Nursery/Kindergarten & Lower School handbook. She says that at the beginning of the year each Lower School teacher will sit down with their classroom to create and post a set of rules as to follow during the school year. All end up being a variation of the Code of Conduct. Biggs and the Lower School faculty are also looking at Forni's Choosing Civility and the Rules of Considerate Conduct he mentions: Pay Attention, Acknowledge Others, Think the Best, Listen, and Be Inclusive. Biggs says that she gets to see children at their best more often than not, frequently children helping their peers through a difficult time. Over the summer, Biggs and the faculty will be reviewing the Code of Conduct.
Middle School Principal Amani Reed acknowledges that Middle School is a difficult time for students and that Middle Schoolers sometimes forget the lessons about conduct that they learned when they were younger. Reed believes that setting rules is important, but that it is also important to spend time talking about why the rules were made. An important theme this year has been "What do we expect of ourselves?", a question for both students and faculty. The Middle School is also re-examining their Code of Conduct. In fact, they are ratifying the entire Middle School handbook page by page and checking for consistency. Students have been assigned to create comics to explain rules to their peers like the Computer User Agreement, How to Survive Mr. Kass' class, and How to Survive the Lunchroom. Over the summer Reed will send some faculty members to a conference with Rosalind Wiseman, author of Queen Bees and Wannabes. Other faculty members will attend the Mean Girls Conference.
High School Principal Matt Horvat, speaking from the experience of working at three previous high schools, said "students at University High School are unbelievably nice to each other on a daily basis, unbelievably nice to the community outside and incredibly respectful of the faculty that work with them." When Horvat asked the faculty what made them want to come to work each day, they answered "the students and our colleagues." When he asked the students the same question, they responded "the teachers and our friends."
Horvat said that U-High is not without its flaws, though, and brought up the subject of chemical dependency. At the beginning of May a representative from FCD or Freedom from Chemical Dependency will meet with U-High faculty, administrators and parents. U-High has also introduced a drug prevention curriculum for 9th and 10th graders. There is a plan to extend this program into 11th grade. The goal is to make students stop and think before they engage in a dangerous behavior. "Programs do work, " says Horvat, "and we need to remind kids that there's a group of kids out there who are not involved in this particular behavior...This is something that all high schools face." Horvat plans to have a series of speakers on drugs and alcohol abuse next year.
Safety Update
Parent Laura Lambert has continued safety discussions with the University Police Department. Children walking home are advised to talk in groups of 3-4. She is also asking parents to get together on deciding safe walking route, 1-2 east-west streets and 1-2 north-south streets.
