September 11 , 2008                                                                                             

Dear Upper School Parents:

Our first full week is winding down and I wanted to thank those who came to our Parents' Night for making it such a vibrant evening.  Those veteran teachers among us remarked about the large number of parents present as well as the enthusiasm in the air.  From my biased perch, I thought it was a fantastic evening, one which I hope gave you a window into your child's daily life here.  Even more impressive was the big turnout the following morning for our first Parent Meeting, with over 25 parents in attendance to hear about technology in the Upper School (I displayed the College Office web site <Naviance> as well as the teachers' course management site <Moodle>, and will be happy to share more information about both for anyone else with questions).  One thing worth mentioning again: all students have password protected files this year on which to save their work; they also have school email accounts which they will need to check since teachers will use those addresses to communicate with them about homework and assignments on Moodle. 

During our first Parent Meeting, we heard the need for a designated time for parents of ninth graders to meet with us to discuss in greater detail the transition from the Middle School to the Upper School .  We will host a coffee at 8:15 in the Student Center on September 23 rd for this purpose. Please join me and Tinnie Salzano, Ernie Lasher, and Sandy Boyd to learn more about our community expectations and the ever evolving world of ninth graders.

We have heard some concerns about our dress code enforcement, particularly as it applies to the young women with us—I addressed the issue at the Parent Meeting on Tuesday and noted that this is a case where teachers and parents are indeed working in partnership towards the same goal.  Tinnie Salzano, in her role as dean of students, has spoken to the girls in the school and made clear our expectations. She will be having another all-girls' meeting on Monday to announce that the warning period is over and that detentions will result for those girls who wear tops that are obviously too low-cut.  We do not want to open a debate about the elements of our dress code as it relates to current culture and fashion for girls; rather, this is simply to clarify for parents where we stand with respect to detentions.  We are also tracking student lateness more effectively this year and students who are late three times in any one class will receive a detention. So much for the updates from the department of defense.

Yesterday, the entire US participated in an Open Space forum, moderated by a team who have presented internationally, and to audiences as large as five thousand persons.  The point of the exercise was to let each student have a voice in the small group discussions—of their choosing—about ways to make the Upper School experience as rewarding for them as possible.  I was impressed by the maturity and the behavior of our students as they were asked to embrace this exercise with a great degree of freedom.  The work we accomplished yesterday will inform some of the decisions we make about program, time, and resources as we move forward.

As a reminder, for those of you interested in seeing our new athletic property on Sweeten Creek, there is an open house tonight from 5:30-7:00 pm and then again tomorrow morning from 8:00-9:00 am.

Finally, our athletic seasons are well underway and we appreciate the support of parents on the sidelines.  Our student-athletes deserve continued praise and recognition for their commitment to their teams and for their personal pursuit of excellence.

Regards,

Bob

Robert W. Hill, III
Carolina Day School
Associate Head of School
Upper School Principal
828-274-0757

Carolina Day School 's Upper School students:
Engaging the Mind, Embracing the World, Embodying Leadership