I don’t know what you got up to last night, but I spent the evening dressed in a James Bond tux, having dinner with Marion Cotillard. Admittedly, it wasn’t exactly an intimate tête-à-tête; there must have been at least 500 people at the Alliance gala, but I still think it’s worth a mention. Even during a very traditional week like this one—with the costumes, the parade, Julien and Alisha’s Halloween song on repeat—something out of the ordinary always takes place. No two weeks at The École are ever the same.
Since Miss O’s arrival, my weeks have taken a slightly different turn, too. I now have more time to devote to questions that I previously could only tackle piecemeal. I’d put a few strategic non-urgent projects on the back burner. Today, thanks to the school’s growth and the organizational structure we’ve put in place, my role as Head of School is becoming increasingly focused on The École’s future and what it could look like in five or ten years. The advantage is that I’ve spent the past six years developing the school, working day after day to improve it and building an extraordinary team of educators to better serve our students. I’ve come to know The École inside out, which I believe allows me to identify what we need going forward.
So I’ve dusted off a few dossiers, and I’d like to share some of them with you—not only because they concern you, of course, but especially because I’d love for all of you—parents, students, and colleagues—to have a say in shaping them. Three projects in particular are occupying my attention at the moment: obtaining American accreditation for The École to complement the accreditation we already hold from the French Ministry of Education; developing a portrait of our students—what skills, qualities, and distinctive characteristics do they have?—which leads us to a deceptively simple but rather daunting question: what exactly are we teaching?; and finally, undertaking a collective review and evaluation of the subjects we teach, starting this year with science.
I’ll have plenty of opportunities to come back to these three projects, explain how anyone who wishes to can get involved, and update you on the different stages. Each project has its own timeline. Our review of science education at The École should take between six and eight months—the team will soon begin documenting our current teaching practices. The American accreditation process will last between 18 and 24 months and involve several distinct stages. The beautifully Jamesian-named portrait of a graduate, which the DOE has just launched, is a shorter-term project I’d like to be able to propose one for The École in January (it’s no coincidence that the portrait is an intrinsic part of the accreditation process). I’ll be coming back to you very soon with more details about how you can contribute and to explain why it’s important to develop this framework.
In the meantime, I’ll be wrapping up the week at the Middle School Halloween dance. Friday night, 80 pre-teens and teenagers, my favorite music… It may not be an evening with Marion Cotillard, but I’m sure it’s going to be a great one.