Where Lower Division homerooms employ Responsive Classroom activities each morning to build community and skills, Upper Division right-sizes for the needs of middle school learners: creating an environment in Morning Meeting where students practice public speaking and leading in front of a larger community of peers.
A long-standing Park tradition has been the opportunity for Grade 8 students to lead the meeting agenda from the podium, while younger students speak up to share the outcomes of games or a grade-level highlight. This year, the Upper Division is launching a new initiative called “Morning Moments,” in which students, teachers, and community members can sign up to share a presentation or performance with the community. In addition, students in the Theater Tech elective are helping run the Morning Meeting “show” each week – managing sound, lights, and projection, gaining the confidence that comes from mastering practical skills, along with the joy that comes from the challenge of doing something for the benefit of their community – and doing it well.
Setting the tone for the school year, the early focus of Upper Division Morning Meetings has been on kindness and creating a sense of belonging. We also know that early adolescence is all about a desire for independence and responsibility; rather than starting the year with a list of actions we don’t want to see, Morning Meetings have been filled with teachers sharing praise about what they have loved seeing. This positive reinforcement has been a subtle way in which we are creating the behaviors and community we hope to sustain throughout the school year.
If you happen to be in the building on Monday or Thursday morning between 8:15-8:30 a.m., we encourage you to see Morning Meeting in action (you can also check out Lower Division Community Time on Wednesdays in the theater!)
– Elaine Hamilton, Assistant Upper Division Head
Paint, Power Tools, and The Park Portrait: How the Drama Department’s Community Creation Event Personified Park Values
I did not, as Upper Division students sometimes do, receive a Veracross alert informing me that
