State of the SchoolFebruary 2011

Susan C. BoslandHead of School

February 28, 2011 Dear Kent Place School Community, What an exciting time at Kent Place School! I wanted to update you on several areas of the school. As we tabulate and benchmark our data, we show strength across all areas of the school community. From impressive academic successes to exciting and evolving initiatives, from new learning spaces to healthy financials, Kent Place School is having a positive and meaningful 117th school year. My summer letter focused on leadership, global learning and academic excellence – which all continue to be hallmarks of a Kent Place School education. With leadership, our youngest students are learning how to be actively involved in discussions and facilitate classroom activities. Our fifth grade leadership classes have presented end-of-term debates and are identifying effective and individualized leadership styles. Middle Schoolers lead their Morning Meetings and participate in consortium activities and competitions with area middle schools, including the general knowledge tournament and the spelling bee. Our unique summer Middle School Girls’ Leadership Institute is expanding to a two-week day program and will include programming during the school year. New leadership opportunities include a student technology committee, which will help analyze our academic technology and make recommendations, and peer mediators, who will be trained to resolve peer conflicts as a part of our new mediation and conflict resolution program. Our Upper School students are leading Senate, Judiciary, School Affairs, Diversity Council, Athletic Association and a plethora of publications, clubs and initiatives – which total well over 150 leadership positions in the Upper School. In addition, they are managing an economic website, www.econlife.com, participating in Model UN in Philadelphia and Mock Trial at the county level (second in the county this year), logging hundreds of community service hours, assisting in Primary School classes and working on independent projects. Overall, the Upper School continues to explore and implement their “Four Pillars of Leadership” developed at the Shore Conference last June: pursue passion, model integrity, think community, love respect. We are in the process of developing a strategic plan for our Global Learning Program. The mission of the Global Learning Program at Kent Place School is to empower young women as leaders who understand, evaluate and take action in response to the challenges and opportunities of an interconnected world. We are further developing and enhancing the four main areas of the program: global curriculum, global travel, global partnerships and community service. This March, students will be traveling to Tanzania for the second year in a row. Students and their teacher chaperones will participate in work and academic projects to benefit the Faraja School and its students with physical disabilities. In addition, another trip will be touring England, Wales and Ireland. The attractions and activities included on the trip are interactive, and allow students to uncover the interconnectedness of the British, Welsh and Irish cultures with history, science, literature, art, music, dance and even math. This June, in partnership with the World Leadership School, students will experience leadership training in Costa Rica as they enhance their language skills, engage in the local culture, explore the vast environmental resources and participate in a community service project.

Our new Diversity Plan also incorporates global learning, in addition to continuing the commitment to and further development of our diversity initiatives across the campus. The new Diversity Plan begins, “Kent Place School is committed to its mission to educate its students for responsible participation in a global community… strives to promote justice and equity and create a school and working environment that is affirming and inclusive.” (The rest of the plan can be viewed in the Diversity section on our school website, www.kentplace.org.) We just had a highly successful Global Perspectives Day, during which several speakers spoke and worked with our students, exploring issues across the globe. This spring we are looking forward to our fourth Hiring Fair, which last year welcomed over 100 potential teacher candidates to our campus. Our academics are in full swing. The Upper School students are each following four-year plans that have been constructed to fit their individual strengths, talents and interests. Although flexible, they also provide a pathway for our students to look realistically at what they want to accomplish, as well as how they balance their academics with their extra-curricular commitments. Many of you will have viewed Race to Nowhere by the time you read this letter and the importance of balance in our students lives will no doubt resonate with you, as we all work together to help our girls and young women pursue excellence, NOT perfection. Statistically, our students are performing exceedingly well on a national level. We have 36 AP Scholars, 10 AP Scholars with Honors and 27 AP Scholars with Distinctions. Ten students are being recognized in the senior class by National Merit or National Achievement. Several of our students were recently inducted into Mu Alpha Theta, our National Math Honor Society. College Advising continues to focus on finding the best match for each student. Over 50 percent of the senior class applied early to a college or university this year and over 80 percent of these applicants have received acceptances from 31 colleges in 21 states, Washington, D.C., and Scotland. Significant work has been done with the transitions between school divisions, as well as grade levels. We want to ensure that each student is well prepared for the next level of work and is well equipped with strategies and skills to make the transition as seamless as possible. The Netbook 1:1 program has allowed the Middle School students to fully utilize the technology that has been built into their newly renovated building. The new sixth grade math course, Thinking Out of the Box, has emphasized problem solving. Our Middle School continues to participate in math competitions, including the MathCounts competition, which was recently held at Kean University. Our elective courses have been highly successful in the Middle School including a new course offered to seventh and eighth grades, Engineering in Our World. This course examines real-world architecture using the engineering process, as well as simultaneously examining the historical and social context of the buildings. Primary School continues to focus on meeting benchmarks with their enhanced curriculum across the subject areas. For instance, we are reviewing current math trends and research, such as the Common Core State Standards in Math, which focuses on more depth of knowledge within certain strands, namely number and number sense, geometry and measurement. As we continue to fine-tune our “Kent Place Math,” we want to remain vigilant to the multiple standards, best practices and teaching strategies that continue to emerge. New and innovative ways to utilize technology has also been prioritized, such as piloting a co-teaching partnership with a school abroad and using technologies such as Flip cameras and iMovies to more authentically assess student learning. The Primary School Music Program continues to evolve, with an emphasis on the National Standards for Music Education. In addition to areas such as vocal and choral development, students have been introduced to many types of instruments. They are learning how other children around the world

study music, how to listen for different sounds, beats and rhythmic patterns in a musical piece, and how to read and write notes proficiently. Professional Development for staff and faculty has continued through the lens of our summer read, Carol Dweck’s Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. Our faculty and staff have presented and hosted workshops at national and local levels, department chairs and their departments have collaborated on new initiatives, such as the future Math Center, and new courses, such as Architecture and the newly expanded History Department courses. Faculty and staff professional development opportunities and study experiences have included: 21st century-learning skills, technology, online learning, global travel, brain research and its relationship to teaching and learning and the examination of the “global achievement gap,” and the skills needed to best prepare our students for their future college, community and work environments. Kent Place School is in its self-study year of a new cycle of accreditation. We have opted to do a combined accreditation, which involves Middle States and the New Jersey Association of Independent Schools. We have been accredited since 1928, and the process always offers us the opportunity to review and assess ourselves as a school, which leads to goals for future growth and strengthening of our commitment to the school’s mission and its students. Nine different standards cover everything from our mission to educational programs, from governance to personnel. Committee members and survey participants include multiple school constituents and our formal accreditation visit will involve all faculty and staff this fall. Our 2011 summer program opportunities are expanding. Summer Explorations is increasing its number of one-week academies based on last year's successes. Fifteen Summer Academy courses will be offered, including “Literature Workshop,” “How Does It Work? How Is It Made?” and “Can You Build It? Yes We Can!” In addition, we will be offering extended day opportunities for our younger campers and a one-week Traveling Adventures Camp, which extends the day camp options further into August. Our Creative Arts Workshop has been re-worked and is ready to launch in a new enhanced format. For more information, please visit www.kentplace.org/summerexplorations. The arts have had a robust year of participation and educational experiences. The Drama Department has had several performances – both formal and informal – in all three divisions. The Dance Department is anticipating its 26th production of “An Evening of Dance” in April. The Music Department has expanded successfully into its new space and has more participation than ever before. The Visual Arts has hosted several gallery shows, the present exhibition, Bruce Stiglich’s “Accumulation/Hallucination,” will run through March 11. We are presently outlining a strategic plan for athletics. Several areas of the athletic program are being discussed and enhanced. This program review is being done collaboratively with the department and several administrators and encompasses numerous key areas including program development, facilities, team sports, coaching, physical education, injury prevention and lifelong fitness. Our admission season is coming to a close as we finish up our last few visits and interviews and the admission committees commence their review of the applicant portfolios. Our past applicant families cited our strong academic program, our emphasis on leadership, excellent teachers, caring atmosphere and college placement success as just a few of the top reasons they applied to Kent Place School. Thank you to all of our parents and students who assisted us throughout the

admission process at open houses, as Green Key tour guides and, in general, as ambassadors of the school. Over 80 percent of our applicants come to KPS due to a parent or alumnae recommendation! I often receive questions from our own parents as they talk with our prospective families. A question I have received more frequently this year, due to the changing public school landscape, is about our commitment to keeping our school population the same size – large enough to offer a strong educational program and small enough to know everyone, motivate participation and encourage leadership. We are in capacity range already and do not have plans to expand. In addition, our faculty to student ratio is purposely small to best carry out the mission of our school. Our class maximums and teacher load are also watched closely to assure a supportive and attentive learning environment. The Ethics Institute is thriving. The workshops are well attended, off-site school visits have been very popular and more of our own teachers and staff members are being trained in how to teach ethical decision-making. In addition, we are starting to create new partnerships beyond the Kent Place School community, which should result in some very exciting initiatives in the future. Our fundraising is going very well. We have a generous community, whose participation has been comprehensive and commitment steadfast. Our Annual Fund services the yearly financial needs of the school community. Our parents, alumnae, faculty, staff and trustees have shown high percentages of participation – outpacing most of the other area independent schools. THANK YOU! In addition, for the last five years, 100 percent of the faculty and staff have given to the Annual Fund, as have several of the grade levels of parents throughout the years. A gift of any amount can count towards our participation goal of 100 percent. We have had a year of rest as far as major construction is concerned. The newly renovated Main Building, now the Middle School, has transformed the teaching and learning possibilities for Grades 6-8! The completion of the three-phased project we began several years ago is on the horizon, but will not begin until we have finalized the design and successfully fundraised for a large portion of the project. The final phase will include a new Math Center, a Middle and Upper School Visual Arts Center, a Technology Multi-Media Center and a new Library and Learning Commons. Over the next year, we will continue to assess the space and design needs of these programs and will include input from experts, as well as our own faculty, staff and students. Various plant and facility upgrades have also taken place over the last several months. Work in the Mabie House prepared new spaces for our College Advising Office, changed entries off of the hallway near the Development & Alumnae Relations Offices and upgraded exits and stairwells for fire safety. The Annex and Primary School HVAC systems have been improved and the new playground for the Preschool has been a big hit! Cleanliness, safety and security continue to be priorities. Participation in a tabletop crisis management exercise with the City of Summit, the continuation of our Campus Police presence in conjunction with more building access control, our strong Guidance and Health Departments, our concussion protocols, our Human Resources Department training for employees and the addition of a day porter on the janitorial staff are all ways in which we continue to monitor our campus environment to meet the high health and safety standards we have as an educational community.

We look forward to receiving our official LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for our new Upper School building in the near future, but in the meantime; we are continuing our commitment to sustainable practices. We have an active composting initiative through collaboration with our Environmental Club and our dining service. We also have switched to green cleaning products and are in the process of analyzing our energy usage as we adjust to our new systems on campus. Our Communications Department has had an exciting year-to-date. We launched our new website this fall, www.kentplace.org, and will continue to add components to the site over the next several months. From November 10 until now, we have had over 44,480 visits and 161,287 page views from over 73 countries across the globe. Kent Place School received the CASE District II Accolades Bronze Award for Voyager, our academic magapaper. The winning issue's theme was “Multicultural Education at Kent Place.” This year's issue, due out very soon, will be about “21st Century Learning at KPS.” Our alumnae have been very active, from hosting events to overseeing our career-mentoring program. A Kent Place father suggested the phrase, “Kent Place for Life,” and the alumnae initiatives are ensuring we live up to this motto! To date, we have 150 alumnae mentors and parents are starting to join the program by providing internship opportunities. We have been successful finding several internships and jobs for our students and alumnae! The Alumnae Office has also gone on the road from Washington, D.C., to Princeton University this fall, and look forward to bringing a little bit of KPS to Florida, NYC and more places this spring and summer. We truly have active, talented and loyal alumnae and we are grateful for the many ways they have re-engaged with our school community! The Parents’ Association has had an unprecedented number of participants at meetings, workshops and volunteering. From the Welcoming Committee to the Spring Fling Committee, from the Class Parents to the Class Agents, we are grateful for your interest, support and leadership! I look forward to an exciting second half of the year. Please continue to keep informed about KPS through our website www.kentplace.org. Best regards,

Susan C. Bosland Head of School