| A World-Class Educational Institution |
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Davidson Day School – A world-class educational institution. Sounds like hype or an inspirational goal. But not so. At Davidson Day, our sights are set on attaining a standard of excellence of the highest order that places our school and our students in the highest class in the world. We are not content to be a “great school” or one that is “better than” the schools in our community, down the road or across town. Our vision puts us on a path of excellence that touches every classroom, every playing field, and every service project, art program and relationship we forge. We want every child who graduates from our school to be holding a diploma that is the gold standard in high school education. We certainly are proud of our achievements thus far. But the initiatives currently in development and in various stages of implementation are even more amazing. These are not long-range plans. These are critical initiatives that we currently are pursuing at a brisk pace because children in our community need this unique kind of educational experience now, not in 5 or 10 years. So how do we define a world-class education? HAVING A WORLD-CLASS FACULTY and STAFF. We seek out men and women whose value goes beyond their academic credentials and resumes and demands creativity, mentorship, student-centered perspective, and world experiences that are woven into student relationships every day. We don’t single out our star teachers for honor and praise. EVERY TEACHER, COACH and ADMINISTRATOR needs to be a superstar to earn their place at our school each and every year. We want kids to come to our school because they want to be taught by our teachers and play for our coaches. We want our school to be known for having the best. CREATING NEW KNOWLEDGE and subsequently NEW PROGRAMS and NEW DELIVERY METHODS. We don’t just adopt curriculum or educational practice because it has been heralded as the new best thing. We have academicians, child psychologists and child development specialists who continually research methods and outcomes from studies undertaken all over the world. This ensures that what we are teaching and how we are teaching it at Davidson Day ignites a passion for learning in our students, is rigorous, child-appropriate, supportive, relevant, and second to none. We have unique programs like our Student Growth Portfolios, EXL projects, Mini-courses, leadership training, and liberal arts college-type course selection already underway. Upcoming new initiatives are being pursued under the umbrella of our Davidson Day Institute for Educational Excellence and its Center for Academic Research. As we begin to build relationships with regional, national and international education, higher education, and business partners we will play a leading role in educational research focused on raising the bar on student achievement by gaining better understanding of the correlation between child development and real learning. BUILDING GLOBAL CONNECTIONS. Beyond a cultural trip or service mission to another country, and beyond foreign exchange students and programs, Davidson Day is making real global connections that are meaningful, life-changing, and long-term. We currently are in the planning phase of building a Field School and Research Center in the heart of Belize on an unexcavated Mayan Ruin site. This unique initiative exemplifies the meaningful and real-world aims of our Global Studies curriculum. Once this facility is completed in 2011, our students will have a hand in uncovering the secrets of Maya history by working the excavation site. They will be able to learn first hand about the social and political factors of a third world culture and its trading partners. They will forge bonds with children from Belize and more than 13 other countries from around the world. And each student’s experience can be designed to fit their own personal goals lasting from one week or one month, to a summer, or even a semester. BUILDING A WORLD-CLASS FACILITY. Our tremendous growth has seen us more than double in size over the past three years. Over the next three years, we will double in size again to our full enrollment target of between 1000 – 1200 students in grades pre-k through 12. As we plan for this growth, our campus master plan will incorporate the best elements of “green” construction and student-centered educational amenities that ensure we have world-class facilities to support our world-class program. DELIVERING A WORLD-CLASS EXPERIENCE TO EACH CHILD. It’s what our world-class goal is all about. Take all of the initiatives above and add diversity of experiences, thought, and people. Add leadership preparation that includes developing vision, creativity, dedication, fairness, and humor. Focus on preparing students for success and leadership in life not just preparation for college. And create an educational environment that values joyful learning, no matter how rigorous, and inspires in each student an insatiable quest for knowledge that is a life-long journey. That is the Davidson Day School experience. I don’t remember running into school each morning because I couldn’t wait to get to class. Our kids do. I don’t know of many schools at which kids are still hanging out at 6 or 7:00 in the evening because being on campus in the company of their friends, teachers and coaches is where they’d rather be. Our school is. Here at Davidson Day, we have taken the education community and the general community by surprise. Those who don’t know us and all the amazing things we are delivering to our students can’t quite understand why we have grown so quickly when most other independent schools have had declining enrollment. Those who have visited our school, gotten to know our faculty and coaches, and experienced our positive energy know the answer. Families and children of all ages want to be part of the Davidson Day experience.
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