Pegasus School Vision Newsletter

visionnews

The Newsletter of the Pegasus Vision Committee

Spring, 2009

Pegasus Stays True to Its Roots Vision Continues to Drive Progress

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hen we look back on the 2008-09 school year, what will we remember? Surely the passing of our founder and head, Dr. Laura Hathaway, will shape our memories of the year. As will the deep economic downturn that is impacting each of us in one way or another. Despite these unexpected circumstances, The Pegasus School hasn’t wavered in its commitment to the goals and principles of the Vision Plan, which Dr. Hathaway guided from its inception. (See page six for a summary of the Vision Plan.) Indeed, our resourceful faculty continues to implement key elements of the plan in ways that require little more than innovative thinking. The result: enriching new programs that enhance our children’s experience at Pegasus without adding costs. “The Vision Plan is so ingrained in all of us now,” says John Sullivan, Acting Head of School. “Even small changes or decisions are based on the set of 21st century

skills. We encourage our teachers to take risks and try new things, but they do so within the framework of Vision.” The Vision Plan can be viewed as a blueprint for The Pegasus School’s future—a blueprint that reflects Dr. Hathaway’s wishes for the evolution of our school. “We’re all certain about the future of the school due to that very critical foundation that we created with Dr. Hathaway,” Sullivan says. Along with program changes, the Vision Plan requires physical changes on the Pegasus campus. In good economic times, we anticipated taking great strides in the near future towards developing the school’s master

plan. Our goal is to gradually transform our 1950s campus to a facility designed for learning, technologically advanced and environmentally sound, with an infrastructure that will function effectively for decades to come. In light of the current economic climate, we have modified the pace for implementing the various phases of the plan. Yet we remain no less committed to seeing our campus evolve into a true 21st century learning facility. Just like any business, Pegasus must adjust its expectations in difficult financial times. But we refuse to adjust our expectations as they pertain to the quality of our children’s education. For 25 years now, Pegasus has delivered on Dr. Hathaway’s promise of giving bright and gifted students a place to flourish. Now, more than ever, we all must remain committed to Dr. Hathaway’s vision. In this newsletter, you’ll read about how we have demonstrated this commitment during the 2008-09 school year.

Laura S. Hathaway, Ed. D. Founder and Head of The Pegasus School In Loving Memory, May 18, 1941 - March 8, 2009 “The world awaits and we have a limited time to make a difference. ‘Building wings’ is more than just academics; it is how we define ourselves as human beings. Let’s soar on this adventure together and see the difference the Pegasus community can make.”

Vision Inside the Classroom What’s New This Year

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t takes little more than a glimpse inside a classroom to see the Vision Plan in action. You can see it in second grade, where the Famous Americans presentations have been expanded this year to include famous people from around the world, enhancing the students’ global awareness. And in first grade, where a new unit on different cultural traditions for marking the loss of a tooth teaches that the tooth fairy doesn’t leave money under pillows in far reaches of the world. And in middle school, where expanded

Independent Study for Grades 4–5 Recognizing that many of our bright and gifted students thrive on in-depth research, our fourth and fifth grade teachers now give them a pretest on each new social studies unit. Students who already have a solid grasp of the material are encouraged to select a more narrow area of study to enhance their critical thinking. Oral presentations by these students upon completion of their units not only build their own communication and leadership skills, but also enrich the entire class experience.

“With Independent Study I get to pick a topic that interests me and then learn a lot about it. It’s fun!” ~ Randon Davitt, Fifth Grade Student

Technological Advancements Enormous campus-wide benefits have been realized this year under the leadership of our new Director of Technology, Trish Paulson. We’ve upgraded our computer network, making Internet access 20 times faster and providing wireless access to 100% of the school. It’s all part of our efforts to make our teachers and students more technologically astute. Teachers are better able to use technology in the classroom when it runs quickly and efficiently. We’ve also updated the middle school technology lab with over 20 new computers and acquired software programs, such as Adobe Suite, Flash/Reason multimedia, and animation software, all of which allow our students to use technology like never before.

options for eighth grade Spanish will give students who demonstrate a high level of proficiency the choice of a course focusing on culture and conversation, or a more traditional course focusing on vocabulary and grammar. “The conversation class will be a wonderful way to develop our students’ Spanish speaking skills and foster their confidence to use the language,” says Spanish teacher Charline Nakamura. The impact of the Vision Plan can also be seen outside the classroom, as far away as Sudan, where last year’s coin collection at Pegasus raised enough funds to buy two wells for an impoverished village. As a direct result of Pegasus fundraising, girls from that village are now able to spend their days in school instead of walking nearly 10 miles round trip to collect water. Pegasus Middle School students were deeply moved by Lost Boy of Sudan, Benjamin Ajak, who spoke at our school last year. Their connection with him was so deep that they invited him back to Pegasus, where he played soccer and joined in the middle school field trip to Fountain Bowl for his first time bowling. An inspirational international figure, Ajak was nonetheless accessible to the students on a personal level.

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Interactive whiteboards are becoming ubiquitous in our classrooms and teachers are growing more and more adept at using this outstanding communication tool, thanks in large part to training programs offered during the February intersession.

Moodle Merges Poetry and the Internet Fourth graders have been flocking to the Internet this year, but not just for Facebook or YouTube. A program called Moodle allows our students (and our students only) to publish their own poetry online and then comment on each other’s work. In this safe online haven, students enjoy writing, analyzing, and sharing their thoughts—helping them become technologically astute, excellent communicators, creative and innovative.

Teachers to Tap Into Moodle, Too A collaborative Moodle site for our teachers called “Global Perspectives” is in the works, thanks to middle school teachers Jim Conti and Vicki Schmitz. The Global Perspectives Moodle site will allow our teachers to share ideas and materials to enhance learning and instruction. Teachers will post in an open forum about topics on which they are working and receive feedback and suggestions from their colleagues. A searchable Resource Exchange database will enable teachers, along with their students, to easily find educational tools such as videos and print materials. Teachers will also contribute resources to the database.

In what many of our faculty called the best intersession ever, multidimensional seminars were offered, depending on the teachers’ skill level and interests. Several of our teachers are now Promethean Masters, a certification that qualifies them to lead other faculty members in the use of the Promethean interactive smartboard.

Other Moodle sites for students and staff are in the initial stages of development.

Spatial-Temporal Math for Grades 2–5 Pegasus has always embraced differences in learning styles, and now we have a fun new program that better accommodates spatial-temporal learners in math. This year, roughly 80 students participated in the computer-based Spatial-Temporal (ST) Math program from the Mind Institute. The animated program engages the students in visual interpretation of math

Middle School Rotation All middle school students now participate in a rotation that includes courses in global affairs, creative writing, and technology every third day. These ungraded courses develop students’ global awareness, communication skills, creativity and technological astuteness in a setting that encourages learning for learning’s sake.

“My children and I spent an enjoyable hour solving the challenging puzzles on the ST math website. They’re a great way for adults and kids to exercise their minds together.” ~ Nancy Fries, Parent

If you’d like to try the sample ST Math games, go to www.mindresearch.net and click on demo. concepts using no language at all. Our teachers agree that even students who learn well in the more traditional logical-sequential manner will benefit from ST Math, because it enhances their critical thinking. Thus, our teachers will be further trained in ST Math over the summer, and it will augment our Saxon Math program for all students in grades 2–5 next fall. Thanks to a generous donation by a parent, we now have a perpetual site license.

The rotation gives students the opportunity to be exposed to more subject matter across the span of the school year than if those courses were offered only individually and without the pressure of grades.

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Vision Inside the Classroom What’s New This Year

Continued from page 3

Science Night for 3rd and 4th Grade Girls

Earth Day Goes Global

Studies have shown girls’ interest and performance in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) drops off dramatically in the late elementary years. We consider confidence in these areas to be a critical factor in the emotional well-being of our bright and gifted girls. To that end, we are implementing some special STEM events for our third and fourth grade girls. The first such event will be a Science Night in April with a CSI theme. The girls will collaborate in an exciting, educational investigation while their parents listen to speakers on the importance of keeping girls interested in STEM. We anticipate this will be the first in a series of similar events designed to foster leadership and excellence in the sciences.

To promote more global awareness, we shifted our entire observation of Earth Day from the national date in April to the international date, which falls on the Spring Equinox. In the middle school, students learned about their eco-footprints and completed surveys to determine their own environmental impact on the world. Based on their survey results, students worked with their advisory groups to develop fun and creative presentations for the rest of the middle school on ways to reduce their eco-footprints.

Entrepreneur Day Goes Eco-Friendly Entrepreneur Day this year was expanded to include all grades in this event that promotes economic literacy. But we took it one step further by tying it in with International Earth Day and calling it Entrepreneur World Market. Roughly half of the 28 businesses reflected environmental consciousness, among them an organic produce stand and a booth selling green cleaning supplies.

Middle School Curriculum Integration A key step in enhancing curriculum integration in the middle school was the designation of grade level English teachers. In the past, teachers shared responsibility for sixth through eighth grade English, but now those grades each have their own teacher. This allows for a distinct, well-orchestrated progression of skill sets throughout the middle school years. Additionally, it facilitates curriculum integration between English and other subjects. For example, the term paper for social studies is also graded by the English teacher; the book jacket design for English becomes a technology project, too. Not only do teachers work collaboratively, but students do as well, with an increasing number of group projects specifically designed to develop this key skill.

Environmental Consciousness Expands Additional programs to make our students environmentally conscious include our Tanaka Farms program, which brings a selection of fresh produce directly from farm to school each week. Students in grades K-4 continue to complete the cycle of soil to table to soil, by planting, harvesting and composting. Third graders this year cleared an area for planting a native, drought-resistant garden. Many of our children have become more eco-conscious as their parents!

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Increased Programs for Emotional and Physical Well-Being

After-School Options Increase Our new Assistant Director of Special Programs, Terry Link, has introduced roughly a dozen new after school activities for our students, ranging from sports to music to technology. The options are as diverse as our students’ interests and offer the opportunity to try new things on our own campus. Depending on the programs they choose, students can develop their physical, technological, artistic, creative, and communication skills.

We aim to keep our students not only academically challenged but also emotionally and physically balanced. To further that goal, we have expanded our human development program in grades 4–8 and added new units on health and nutrition. In middle school, we’ve changed the advisory program so that groups are smaller, averaging around 12 students. The advisory groups meet for weekly tutorials and participate in various middle school activities that build school spirit and enhance the students’ sense of belonging.

Growth in our Programs for the Arts The collaboration between our music teacher Cheryl Wilson and our new drama teacher, Janice Krell-Coyle, has enabled our entire K-8 arts program to take on a new dimension. For the first time, our Winter Concert included middle school and lower school students together on stage. In the middle school, overall time spent on the arts has increased 50% and all electives fall into the categories of fine or performing arts. As a result, all of our students are becoming well versed in the arts.

“This has got to be a place where bright and talented students feel safe to be who they are.” ~ Dr. Laura Hathaway Founder and Head

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Summing it up: The Vision Plan The Vision Plan, in case you are not familiar with it, helps our children see the world more clearly, today and for the future. Dr. Laura Hathaway was truly visionary when she started Pegasus 25 years ago. From its humble beginnings with a tiny student body of 40 in two Fountain Valley classrooms, Pegasus has grown to a community of 565 students on a 14-acre campus that we now own. Its reputation has grown within Southern California and beyond, drawing students from a wide radius whose parents know they can receive no finer preschool through grade eight education anywhere. But Dr. Hathaway’s vision didn’t stop there. A few years ago, she formed the Vision Committee—a collaborative group of faculty, administrators, and parents who aimed to identify the key skills 21st century Pegasus students would need to succeed in life. Committee members visited 40 top-tier schools around the nation and identified eleven core skills, outlined below. Based on that research, Pegasus faculty members have implemented myriad new programs that help build those skills in our children. When you hear teachers mention that a program has stemmed from the Vision Plan, you will know that it is a program that enhances one of these eleven core skills.

The Pegasus 21st Century Student Will Be: Emotionally and Physically Well-Balanced

A Critical Thinker In an increasingly complex world, students need the ability to analyze, synthesize and evaluate vast amounts of information. While concrete thinking will continue to be essential, critical thinking will help our children use problem-solving skills and pure intuition to decipher complex information. It will also help them gauge the credibility of information, whether on the Internet, in a text message, or in old-fashioned face-to-face communication.

Part of being successful is being healthy in one’s physical and personal life. We aim to teach our students how to care for themselves and for one another, for personal success in school and beyond.

A Good Citizen Good citizenship starts from within, with strength of character and belief in oneself. It extends to the community with a sense of personal responsibility and an awareness of how your own actions impact others. Pegasus students understand their role and welcome the responsibilities and the potentials that full citizenship represents.

Technologically Astute Proficiency in key technological tools is clearly essential to today’s students. But proficiency isn’t enough. They need to understand the risks inherent in our technological world. Technologically savvy students will know how to protect their own identities and cultivate their reputations while using the power of technology to gather information and communicate more efficiently and effectively than ever before.

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Creative and Innovative

A Collaborative Worker with Leadership Skills

We cannot even conceive of the new issues our children will confront as adults. Those who succeed will have the courage to think beyond the status quo to find exciting new solutions. The founders of Apple, eBay and Google are good examples of creative and innovative thinkers in the first phase of the Technology Age. The trendsetters of the next phase will be equally adept at envisioning a possibility—some might say a wild idea—and making it a reality.

Employers cite the ability to work collaboratively as one of the key skills they look for in hiring. Professionals at every level will have to work together to help navigate the mazes of technology, bureaucracy, and our innate resistance to change. Few big ideas come to fruition without teamwork. Leadership is required to unite the team and make those big ideas happen.

Economically Literate

Environmentally Conscious

Our local and national economies are inextricably intertwined with those around the globe. While it is essential for our students to understand the world economic market, economic literacy goes well beyond financial concerns. Our students need to grasp how the economic forces of supply and demand drive virtually everything in the world—time, resources, money, and more.

Our students must understand their role in managing our planet’s resources. They need to be aware of their interaction with physical, biological and chemical properties of our world, so they can develop innovative solutions to problems like global warming, diminishing fossil fuel supplies, overpopulation, and much more.

Equipped with a Global Perspective Messages travel around the globe in milliseconds; people do so in mere hours. Although our students may have lived their entire lives in Southern California and perhaps never attended a school other than Pegasus, they need to consider themselves members of a global community. Understanding different cultures, viewing the world from the perspective of those with lives different than our own, speaking at least one additional language—all are essential to success in our shrinking world.

Well Versed in the Arts It’s more than being well-rounded; the arts help enhance many of our students’ other skill sets, from creativity and communications skills to global awareness and physical well-being. The arts are an essential part of the human experience, steeped in history and evoking the range of human emotions.

An Excellent Communicator Written and verbal skills have always been important, but our children will need to be able to communicate appropriately in a vast range of formats. Texting, e-mailing, and blogging use different writing formats than traditional communications, and our students must master both old and new styles. Persuasive verbal skills will always be essential, whether for landing a job, pitching an idea, contributing to a group effort, or managing personnel.

“The Vision Plan updates our program with skills that are essential for 21st century citizens; it has changed the way we prepare our kids for the future and enhanced the relevancy of our program. Despite Dr. Hathaway’s passing, the Vision Plan will ensure that our school continues to evolve the way she anticipated.” ~ John Sullivan Acting Head of School 7

The Pegasus Vision Committee 19692 Lexington Lane Huntington Beach, CA 92646