Moments of: The Blog
The View From Here: Reinventing Ourselves
In our mission statement, we promise to “nurture inspiring faculty.” That is always true, but especially this year as we find ourselves having to rethink everything from class projects to student life. Our teachers have been going “back to school” all summer, preparing for a school year like no other with a sense of adventure and even excitement.
As last school year ended, we were all confronting the threat of a global pandemic, the challenge of creating safe and effective pathways back into the classroom while also preparing for possible distance learning, and a long-overdue national conversation about race and justice. At the start of the summer, a staffulty task force convened to help teachers identify professional development opportunities that would equip them for teaching during this unprecedented time.
Our teachers used their “time off” to take online courses, read broadly, and attend zoom conferences. Here are just a few examples of their areas of study:
- Maitane Elorza, Danielle Delario, Alissa Coenen, and Florence Rink studied methods for teaching world languages in a distance learning setting
- Ramsey Musallam, Dan Karbousky, and Eric Moes took courses on adapting STEM curricula for a variety of learning situations (distance learning, classroom, and hybrid) and for a variety of learning styles
- Lisa Zavieh (STEM) and Pam Vincent (Mandarin) participated in a workshop on project based learning
- Teachers and administrators from every department dove into workshops and study groups discussing anti-racist classrooms and communities; every staffulty member was given copies of How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi, White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo, and A More Beautiful and Terrible History: The Uses and Misuses of Civil Rights History by Jeanne Theoharis for summer reading
In the weeks leading up to the start of classes, teachers met and debriefed to share and discuss what they learned across disciplines and departments. Now that school is back in session, we are seeing the effects of these weeks of study and reflection in reading lists, assignments, and classroom activities.
Our teachers are always driven by their own creativity, inspired by their students’ passion, and motivated by a desire to make their curricula relevant and responsive to our always-changing world. But they also rely on gleaning knowledge from experts in their fields to keep things fresh and exciting. We are fortunate to have teachers who love being students as much as they love the art of teaching, and a school culture devoted to the idea that we are all lifelong learners.
Sonoma Academy Is...
...the only private, independent, college preparatory high school in Sonoma County. On our beautiful campus nestled at the base of Taylor Mountain in Southeastern Santa Rosa, our students are able to explore their interests and passions in a rigorous and inspiring environment that develops a lifelong love of learning and prepares them for college and beyond.
Sonoma Academy admits students of any race, color, religion, ethnicity or national origin, citizenship, gender or gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, or disability, to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. The school does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, ethnicity or national origin, citizenship, gender or gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, or disability in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and tuition assistance programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.
