| Take a moment to remember your own time in middle school. Do you remember what books you read, or what you studied in science class? Your closest friends, most cringeworthy moments or turning points? The secondary school counseling team and I recently previewed the timeline and approach to secondary school counseling for interested Upper Division families–complete with pictures of ourselves from middle school (my oversized ears and glasses give a hint to some of my own middle school experience.) Middle school is an essential rite of passage; it is a time of significant intellectual, physical, social, and emotional growth. And, while year after year, our Grade 8 graduates head off to incredible high schools, the lessons behind the secondary school counseling process reveal that the journey to high school is far more important than the destination. Each year, students engage in a highly collaborative process with their family and secondary school counselor to reflect on their intellectual, co-curricular, and extracurricular accomplishments. They are also honing their executive functioning skills, flexible thinking, optimism, and resilience, all while maintaining attention to the demanding Grade 8 program that prepares them for greater independence and responsibility in high school—it is a lot, yet they are buoyed by their pride in their roles as the leaders of the school, the strength of their relationships with teachers and peers, and their foundational middle school experiences. Out of this transformational process, students graduate from Park and enter high school ready to dictate their own future with clarity and confidence. (They might even get a chance to reinvent themselves after some expectedly awkward moments.) – Matt Kessler, Director of Enrollment Management |
It All Starts with…Gratitude
As we head off into a well-earned break this afternoon, I want to underscore the central
