As we look ahead and begin the re-enrollment process, we remain committed to thoughtful and incremental initiatives that improve school.

I would like to highlight several areas that we will be focusing on in the upcoming academic year, with several more to be announced as we get closer to the start of the year.

Opening a new, reimagined library, art, and music wing in the Lower School

In order to help us create a more highly collaborative, integrated curriculum we need spaces that aren’t just dedicated to math or science or language arts. We need larger spaces that allow learning to flow from one subject to the next and more creative spaces that encourage students to dive deeper into their learning by creating understanding, showcasing their interpretations, and connecting ideas across disciplines and with other learners. We will be opening the new,reimagined library, art, and music wing in the Lower School in the fall of 2020.

Preparing students to thrive in the world of the unknown.

As parents, we see the uncertainty and unpredictability that define the world our children are preparing to enter. To succeed, they will need to be life-long learners who interpret novel information, take thoughtful but bold action, and inspire themselves and others to outwork and outthink global competition. This is why every year the faculty, staff, and I have committed our school to improving and adapting how our students are learning. A core advantage at Moravian Academy is that expert teachers continually write and refine the curriculum for students whom they know well because they see and interact with them on a daily basis. What unites them and drives this creative learning process forward is the excitement created by looking for what we do not already know. This is why curiosity is the engine for our continual improvement process. In 2020, we will continue to enhance our learning activities in incremental, thoughtful ways that are more project-based and experiential, emphasizing student choice and inquiry, as we teach students to persevere and to pursue excellence.

Creating a Personal Research Curriculum that builds from age 3 to Grade 12.

In the past year we have added several new curricular features to teach students how to tackle open-ended, complex, real-world topics that do not have easy or even single answers. In the year ahead, we will be refining and deepening these assignments and activities so that Moravian Academy students are building their core knowledge sets through inquiry and research. 

These additions to the curriculum are making our notions of academic rigor more relevant and more challenging. A contemporary definition of rigor demands that students prepare both their content-specific knowledge sets and their application and synthesis skills. Excellence will mean, for example, that students be able to show what they know on a traditional test and also create a compelling and interesting response to a wide open question. Both convergent and divergent thinking are required and it is not enough to pursue just one side of this equation; students need instruction, experience, feedback, and repeated practice in both. 

In the year ahead, we are excited to refine our personal research curriculum to help students progressively build their questioning, researching, and critical thinking skills. Students begin the journey on science fairs, art expositions, and daily explorations in Lower School. By Grade 7, they are ready to choose topics and sustain their research on SCORE projects, which provide a key stepping stone in directing your own learning.  By freshman year, students combine core knowledge in science, history, and English classes during the FIRE lessons in order to understand how complex the real world is. An ambitious goal for any student is to design, propose, and complete a Comenius Independent Study Project in grades 10-12. In just the first year of the personal research curriculum, we see over twice as many students on track to reach this goal than in the past. These are the experiences and accomplishments that make Moravian Academy students stand out. 

Engaging and listening to the community to understand and improve school and home partnerships

As an independent school with a long-standing commitment to excellence, we remain dedicated to a continual cycle of self-reflection and positive growth. As we engage in this self-reflection it is important to curate the perspectives of all members of our school community. This year, we asked parents to tell us about their experiences in a survey authored by the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS). This survey was carefully administered to preserve anonymity, so we have aggregate data and comments but not individual responses. Our faculty and staff completed a similar survey in November. 

Our next step is to share what we have learned so far with the Parents Association at their meeting on Tuesday, February 25. We intend to share this learning with all parents and to have more focus groups at different times of day later this spring. We hope parents will join us and participate in this important conversation. We will remain committed to this process of understanding what is working and what we want to improve next in order to meet the most important needs of our diverse community.

Upholding Moravian Academy values with renewed expectations and consistent processes for student conduct

Inspiring and teaching students to be their best selves relies on immersing them in a truly diverse community that honors, respects, and appreciates each individual student as well as the community as a whole. Moravian Academy’s deep commitment to these ideals continues through our dedicated work in the areas of all-school standards and character education for our students. Our commitment to enhancing the culture of our school through shared community values is incredibly important and complex. 

Starting in December 2019, we have been working diligently to create all-school community standards that are equitable and meaningful across our diverse community. Our teams are working now across divisions to prepare an updated set of shared guidelines so that all Moravian Academy students and their families know what to expect when community rules are broken. Importantly, we want these guidelines to reinforce our belief that children are always learning and deserve significant chances to take responsibility for their mistakes, to learn from them, and to recover within our school. Committing to common standards for student behavior and consistent conduct processes is paramount to the creation of an equitable school experience for all members of our community.

Enhancing the level of support for our students 

Another step towards the creation of a cohesive, healthy community is a renewed commitment to strengthening the support offered to our students. Offering spaces for social and emotional support in addition to enriched learning support ensures our students are provided an ideal setting on their developmental journey. As part of this commitment we are adding an additional, full-time counselor at the Upper School who will serve students in individual and small group settings and will serve as a resource to faculty, staff, and families. The presence of a dedicated counselor on each campus will allow us to serve our students in their intellectual and social pursuits, ensuring an optimal environment for their personal success.

Collaborating with a new campus security partner 

Safety and security across our campuses will again be an important part of our annual improvements. Moravian Academy will be collaborating with a new partner to train, organize, and deploy our campus teams of security personnel. We are selecting the partnering firm for their expertise and experience in providing high level, community-based security to Pennsylvania schools, public and private, as well as churches, synagogues, and mosques. We plan to not only meet but exceed the requirements for all Pennsylvania schools, which are continuously updated each year. As we are all aware, school safety and security is a multifaceted and evolving field, where increased capacity, sophistication, and expertise are essential. As such, it remains an investment priority for Moravian Academy for the 2020-21 school year.

Thank you for partnering with Moravian Academy to guide, encourage, and shape your child’s future.