I graduated from Watkinson in 1986. During my time as a student, the skills prized by Watkinson faculty and commonly held by my Watkinson peers included the ability to use one’s voice well in and out of the classroom and the ability to work collaboratively and creatively. A week ago, I attended a Zoom conversation

The Civil Rights Project is a long-standing tradition in 8th-grade social studies. In years past, students have created mostly low-tech projects with both handmade visuals and an oral presentation. They shared their knowledge with family, faculty, peers, and community members during an on-campus Civil Rights Day. Picture a fair-like setting in which visitors visit and

Watkinson’s financial aid practices are a direct expression of the school’s values. Watkinson is committed to having a diverse student body in all ways. To achieve this, our practice of awarding financial aid looks different from many other schools.   FACT: More than 60% of Watkinson families receive some form of financial aid. This percentage has

An interview with four members of the RAMbassadors club. Student voice is part of Watkinson’s DNA.  Our students are encouraged to speak up, step up, and lead in myriad ways from the moment they enroll.  Not surprisingly, when Watkinson’s admissions process turned to a virtual one as a result of COVID, a new student group

To anyone who is not involved, not aware of the subtle and not-so-subtle shifts that are occurring as we accommodate and adapt to the ever-changing landscape of school today, this scene might just look like a whole lot of, well, clutter. To me, walking Watkinson’s grounds these past couple of mornings at the crack of

With COVID numbers spiking in CT, with less than 24-hours notice, Watkinson teachers and students recently had to pivot to virtual schooling for a two-week span. While there were some hiccups along the way, there were also bright spots.  Teachers reported, “I saw my students’ full faces for the first time this year!” And, we

Over the past weeks, we have undertaken intentional conversations both as a faculty and with our students about the importance of the upcoming election, the ideals of our Constitution, and the practice of civil discourse.  When I reached out to Watkinson employees about planning for the day after the election, and how we would plan

At our recent virtual Open House for our current parents, I was listening to my colleagues discuss and describe some of what’s happening at school right now and I noticed a bit of a pattern. Anna Alferi (our middle school English teacher) talked about our Beads for Education program, a longstanding connection we have forged

Letters from current parents are somewhat commonplace for schools. In fact, thank you letters from parents about their child’s happiness at Watkinson are a regular occurrence. However, given the enormity of change that occurred to re-open Watkinson during the COVID-19 quarantine, a recent letter from a parent holds particular weight. After receiving the note below,

In any school year it is vital for teachers and students to begin by establishing norms, an agreed upon set of standards to which each class, grade, team or activity agrees to adhere. This year, with the health and safety challenges imposed by a global pandemic, the norms took on a different focus and level

An initial update on our planning for the fall of 2020, Watkinson’s most critical task, one which school leaders  have been working tirelessly at since the last day of school.  One of the certainties of living and planning in the era of this COVID-19 pandemic is the prevailing uncertainty. Nevertheless, the thought and hope of

Eighth-grade science teacher Kim Picard talks about accomplishing the same goals with her students while in a distance learning model. In 8th-grade science, the Rube Goldberg Project is a final unit project in Ms. Picard’s class that synthesizes and teaches each student how to use different types of physics. The core skills each student learns

When we began this period, a few long months ago, our goal was to keep being our real selves for as long as we could. Full-strength Watkinson. We knew that we didn’t want to water down the curriculum. We didn’t go pass/fail, in spite of what many other schools were doing. There’s a kind of

In March, there were many questions for our Chinese students, especially those who returned early to China and were subject to a mandatory 14-day quarantine. School leadership decided to treat the quarantine as a medical leave; that is, students would not be responsible for missed work, although some valiantly carried on. Teachers have been generous

A point of pride for Watkinson faculty is that we teach the range in heterogeneous classrooms, day in and day out.  With small classes (average size is 12-13) and a block schedule where we get to spend 85 minutes with our students every other day, it is conducive to seeing and knowing our students and

After just one week of distance learning, it became very apparent that our middle school students really benefited from having synchronous learning, so much so that one of our early iterations was to ask all middle school teachers to start their classes with a Google Meeting. While it was not required for the real-time online

In the midst of Watkinson’s March break, we realized that our campus was going to have to close and when school resumed, it would be via remote learning. This meant that, like many of our sister private schools, we needed to communicate that fact to our teachers AND set up our post-March break solutions while