All We Have Learned

By Head of School Adam Rohdie

In June, the first full class of high school graduates—114 strong—walked across the stage as both the beneficiaries and creators of the GCDS Upper School. As I think about this class, I am struck by what has been accomplished in the last several years, the challenges we overcame, and all that we have learned. 

Once the decision to launch a high school was announced in 2017, the conversation turned to what type of high school we would create. I was adamant that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to build a high school for the future, unlike any of our neighboring schools. Our high school would be based in learning that was both deep and joyful, interdisciplinary by nature, real-world focused, experiential, and guided in part by the students themselves. It would be deeply rooted in our core beliefs around knowing and loving each student, enabling them to discover and develop their strengths and passions, and in creating a sense of belonging and relationships that will last a lifetime. 

THE BEST OF THE BEST

Hiring the best faculty and staff was critical in not only creating our vision for a new type of high school, but for connecting our strong community culture from the Old Church Road (OCR) campus to the Stanwich Road campus. Since 2017, we have hired well over 200 people that share in our vision for educating students. I have had the honor to interview each one. From the chef to the calculus teacher, I knew this would be our most important task and it was one that proved challenging. We were looking for people who had an entrepreneurial spirit, who were discipline area experts, and, of course, we were looking for people who genuinely love children. While we knocked it out of the park in most cases, there were times when the fit was not quite right, and we learned how to correct the course quickly. As a result, we amassed an incredible faculty and staff, excited to be part of a creation story, building a student-centered program in a new school that was free from decades-old curriculum, pedagogy, schedules, or traditions. The faculty and staff we’ve hired are incredibly talented and some of the best anywhere. They are ready to start this year with an optimism and passion second to none. 

A CARING COMMUNITY

We faced the critical challenge of extending the culture of a caring community that has been the ‘special sauce’ of Country Day to an almost entirely new faculty and staff on a separate campus. Add to that a pandemic requiring remote learning, masks, and social distancing in the first years of operation, and the challenges seemed insurmountable. And yet, because having a caring community is a strongly held value for each individual, because we have a shared vision for our school, and because we intentionally focus on ways to build the community, we have been able to meet these challenges. We have made great progress in this area as expressed by one of the most senior and respected members of our community, Johnna Yeskey, in a note she sent to me after the final assembly in June, “I cannot leave today without saying something. The past two days were amazing. In a nutshell, everything you have been trying to do for the last 4 years came together under the tent today.  It was the very best ever end of school assembly. I think today we really became one school. Having everyone sit together in an encapsulated space was very powerful. You could feel the connectedness and Tiger Pride.”  

CREATING AND ALIGNING THE PROGRAM

As important as hiring the highest quality faculty and staff and creating a culture of community has been to our success, it is equally necessary to develop the best learning environment and program possible. We began this task by creating the outcomes we desired for students and the principles with which we would design instruction—The Portrait of a Learner and Design Principles. The Stanwich Road team worked collaboratively with the OCR divisions to evolve the capacities desired in a high school graduate to be relevant for every student, Nursery through Grade 12. Similarly, a focus on Tiger Pride and the associated attributes have been extended from the OCR campus to the high school. Next, we developed the curriculum and programs that would best engage and educate our students; providing them with options for building on strengths, exploring individual interests, and applying their learning in academics, arts, and athletics—including project-based opportunities for deep learning, speciality diplomas, a three-week intersession, junior thesis, senior internships, and global studies to name a few. In addition, we have intentionally created ongoing opportunities for teachers in Nursery through Grade 12 to work together to align curriculum, ensuring that the content supports developmental learning objectives and minimizes gaps or redundancies across divisions. 

Through this ongoing process, we have learned to be nimble and patient. Big institutions are often compared to ocean liners, very hard to turn once they have set sail. We learned early on that not only is it ok to pivot mid-course, but that ability would actually prove to strengthen the organization. We knew that not every project we would roll out for the students would be a homerun. We knew that from a curricular standpoint we had an opportunity to test ideas and approaches and we could be selfless enough to admit when something did not work and smart enough to cast it away and retool for the next semester. Not many schools in the world have shown this level of flexibility. Now, heading into year five we have a much better sense of what resonates with students, what creates deep and sticky learning, and we know that the students love it. 

IF YOU BUILD IT,  THEY WILL COME . . .

For year one (2019–2020), with no track record, we counted on our brand reputation and our vision for the high school to attract new applicants—our pioneers—for Grade 9. We were pleasantly surprised when those numbers outpaced our projections. That first year I had hoped to retain 50% of the 8th grade class; the number was closer to 60%. That number has steadily risen with each successive year. As we approach the start of the 2023–2024 school year just under 90% of our 8th graders are moving up to 9th grade. This data point coupled with receiving over 150 applications for only 20 open seats at the Upper School puts us in the enviable position of being highly selective. As we waved goodbye to our first full graduating class, I think their trust in an unknown program four years ago paid off. Our pioneers were accepted into their first choice colleges and are attending the most selective universities in the country.

In all areas, we remain a work in progress. I believe a healthy organization continuously reflects and refines. To that end, we will remain nimble and flexible in addressing new research and trends in education, and in being responsive to our community and the environment in which we live and work. 

Commencements evoke all sorts of emotions. I am often emotional at the thought of all that our graduates have accomplished, full of pride knowing they are headed into the next phase of their journey with a strong sense of self and a commitment to being of service in their community. This year, I shared a tearful moment with one of the graduates, who acknowledged what I could only dream would happen as we launched the high school. A GCDS ‘lifer,’ he pulled me aside visibly upset. When I asked him if everything was OK, he shared that he was just so sad to be leaving this special school, his “home.” The fact that we could extend the magic that has always existed on Old Church Road to Stanwich Road in four short years is all that we hoped for and is incredibly gratifying.

To enable students in our care to discover and develop what is finest in themselves—could there be a more noble cause?