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Superintendent's Message


Department :	Superintendent's Office
Type :	Parents
The global achievement gap remains invisible to most of us-in part; because it is fueled by fundamental economic, social, political and technological changes that have taken place so rapidly over the last two decades that they seem more like static in people’s lives than like tangible forces that are shaping our future. -Tony Wagner Six years ago a K-12 faculty committee met to begin the Weston global initiative by identifying potential ways to infuse a global perspective into our curriculum. To that end, teachers and administrators attended conferences, such as the Massachusetts Initiative for Global Education, and created and participated in related summer workshops. As a faculty we have continued to educate ourselves on this topic. Last year alone teachers participated in 35 sessions of professional development, either summer workshops, graduate courses, conferences or afternoon courses on the topic of global education. The creation of the Schoen Travelship in 2004 was very timely as it provided a grant for faculty to travel outside of the United States for at least 30 days in the summer. Upon returning, teachers confirmed the value of travel by sharing their experiences and knowledge with their colleagues and students. With the help of WEEFC, seven teachers from southwest Uganda spent three weeks in our schools and community in the spring of 2007, personalizing the value in learning about other countries and broadening our global perspective. Last June eleven teachers and administrators returned the visit and spent two weeks teaching and visiting in Ugandan schools. They returned with a commitment to continuing this exchange. The Town of Weston has long been a leader in advocating for student global exchanges, having founded the Rombas program shortly after World War II. For more than five decades, one student from France, and later another from Brazil, each spent a year in the Weston Public Schools, while two of our students lived in their home communities and attended their schools. Recently, this program, which was curtailed due to changes in regulations linked to September 11^th, was reenergized and the high school exchanges to France and Brazil have been launched again as destinations for high school students. We have also added another destination for a small group of students, a three week summer trip to Uganda. This year a new district wide committee, composed of parents, teachers, administrators and students, has been meeting to draft learning standards in support of a well articulated K-12 global education program. The committee’s work will be reviewed by faculty members at the January 19^th professional development day. That day will begin with Tony Wagner, author of The Global Achievement Gap (2008), speaking to the entire faculty and administration. His concern is that districts need to be concerned about teaching what he calls the Seven Survival Skills in order to address the global achievement gap. These include: critical thinking, collaboration across networks, agility and adaptability, entrepreneurialism, effective oral and written communication, analyzing information, and curiosity. On January 8^th the PTO is sponsoring an evening at which I will speak about our global initiative. Also speaking will be high school history teacher, Kim Young. She has taken on the responsibility of overseeing the student exchanges at the high school as our new coordinator of global initiatives. Danielle Capalbo, a parent who has volunteered to coordinate home stays for students who visit Weston, will also speak about how parents can support these exchanges. We hope you will join us for this conversation in the High School Library at 7:00 PM. Cheryl R. Maloney Superintendent