September 9, 2011

Dear Parents,

As Head of School, it is of course my job to toot our horn about what a wonderful education we provide to our students.

And we all know what a special place this is.

Take a look at our curriculum guide, that we have printed for you at the back of the hall and have posted on the website, to get a sense of the rich and thoughtful curriculum that directs our learning.

Watch a soccer game, played out on the dust bowl we used to call Olmos Basin, to witness the heart and guts our students bring to their teams. Or look at our 6-Man Football team, who just defeated River City in the first game of the season, 39 to 20!

Above all, enjoy tonight, as you meet the teachers and move from classroom to lab to studio. Part of the pleasure of Parent Night of Classes, is that visits do not conclude with the assignment of homework. Sometimes it really is better to be old.

The teachers at St. Luke’s work hard, and they care passionately about their disciplines. They strive every day to make sure their students grow, and they bring an unrivaled creativity and energy to that task.

Which brings me back to my responsibility to toot the school’s horn – or in the case of St. Luke’s – quite literally, to blow this whistle I have in my hands.

That just might be the most contrived transition you have ever heard – but it is my job to blow this whistle, so I had to work it in somehow – and that was my best shot.

This whistle is an interesting object. It was designed on a computer by one of our elective classes, under the guidance of Michael Zeigler. It was then printed in glorious 3-D, using a particular kind of plastic, by an extraordinary printer that we purchased late last academic year. The printer was produced by a bunch of 20-somethings in Brooklyn, New York, and went on sale about 10 months ago.

As you would expect from a bunch of 20-somethings in Brooklyn, New York, they were way too busy to actually put it together, so it arrived as a kit. Mr. Zeigler spent almost the entire summer putting 3000 pieces together, and I want to thank him for never in my presence damning me as the idiot who ordered something, because it was unbelievably cool, without first reading the fine print.

If you click on this link to our Facebook page you can see photographs of the printer, the whistle, Yoda, and some chess pieces that the class has already created.The Computer Design and 3–D Printing class combines cutting-edge technology with sculpture and design, and is new to our curriculum this year.

At the same time that we are enriching the art and technology curriculum, we are taking our 7th and 8th grade English classes back to what I regard as the beginnings of formal education: Socrates sitting under a tree outside Athens, conducting a conversation with anyone who wanted to join him, to answer some deceptively simple questions about life.

Our 7th and 8th grade English classes now take place around a Harkness Table. Wander by Anne Burnson’s classroom to see this mighty object – and I mean mighty – as it weighs about 900 pounds and can double as a stage. It was crafted from live oak reclaimed from gardens in our very own Alamo Heights and Terrell Hills, by an incredibly gifted local artist who has the patience of a saint.

Each discipline demands its own peculiar space. A science lab, a Reggio Emilia early childhood classroom or an art studio, all speak to us of the particular intellectual and imaginative frontiers our students cross in those subjects.

In an English class, what do we hope will transpire? We want our students to read great classical and contemporary works that will fire their imaginations. We want them to sit across from one another and learn to express their opinions, to listen to what others have to say, and to argue thoughtfully. From such conversations, good, clear writing grows.

For me, these two additions to the middle school highlight the value St. Luke’s provides to your children. They are exposed to the best that past generations have created and thought, in a manner that encourages them to take on this inheritance as their own.

At the very same time, we expose them to the possibilities that the future holds, for invention, for creation and for entrepreneurship. It makes for a very exciting place.

Sincerely, Q. Mark Reford