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Welcome Back!

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Greetings from the Walker campus! It has been a great summer at Walker, and I hope your family has enjoyed the summer pace as well. By now, you have received several pieces of communication from The Walker School in anticipation of the upcoming school year. In an effort to keep our families informed, we hope that this document will give you a broad overview of what’s happened on campus this summer and what’s ahead for our students, parents, and faculty and staff.

We welcome a number of new employeesto campus this year, each of whom is excited to share their expertise with our students. We

know that these individuals will become integral to the success of each student, and we take great pride in being able to recruit the very best faculty and staff at Walker. For more detailed information on our new employees, you can visit our website at thewalkerschool.org/parents/new-faculty.

In an effort to enhance campus security, beginning the second week of school all building exterior doors will be secured all day. Our MS and US students will be issued key cards on lanyards, which will allow for daytime access to each building. Guidelines, replacement cards and limitations will be shared with the students as they go through orientation and during the first week of school.

Please be sure to take time to read through this collaboration. You will find lots of helpful information; however, bear in mind that any of our administrators are happy to meet and talk with you individually if you find that you need additional details.

I look forward to seeing you on campus soon!

Jack HallHead of School

...where

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“Love is spoken here.”

Such a simple statement! Yet, perhaps the most profound reflection of who we truly are as a school, past, present and future. This attitude can be seen as the value of each individual is placed far above and beyond their specific talents and skills.

You can tell the love for our students as it is exemplified through Upper School English Department Chair Kate McConnaughey and Lower School teacher Kate Carter as they skillfully guide students through the landscape of the English language, challenging their unique perspectives and

empowering them to uncover their own individual voices.

It is the keen way in which Lower School teacher Roberto Llopart’s and Upper School Dean of Students Ira Dawson’s no excuses and high accountability approaches with students are brilliantly balanced by their genuine commitment to support activities both inside and outside the school’s walls.

It is in the patience and generosity of each Preschool teacher who bring our youngest Wolverine Cubs into the fold.

These are the moments in which we have anchored the very vision of our admission initiative. As I now enter into my third year as the Director of Admission, I am reminded of my predecessor Patty Mozley’s last request before entering into retirement: always commit our greatest efforts in making each family feel welcome. It is in that effort we live out those very words now hanging in Jack Hall’s office: “Love is spoken here.”

Welcome home.

Brad BrownDirector of Admission

wonders await.

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On behalf of Liz Meadows, the Preschool faculty and I want to welcome your family to the Preschool! This is a wonderful place and a place that is truly full of wonder. Curiosity, energy, and hands-on learning drive both our day and our play. Play is the work that enables our children to wonder, to make connections, to ask why, and to ask what if.

We are thrilled about the addition of our Early Learners Program for the 2014-15 school year. Our youngest students will bring much enthusiasm to an already energetic building. As with all of our Preschool students, they will experience dynamic

classroom instruction from their two base classroom teachers, as well as time with our co-curricular team. Classes in art, music, movement, music, science, and Spanish will add much excitement and enrichment to our time together.

I can’t wait to see where the school year takes us!

Katherine HarrisonInterim Preschool Director

In the Lower School for the past two years, the faculty and I have spent considerable time and energy working to best honor the school’s missionof providing transformative learning experiences for elementary students. While this work is certainly not complete (nor will it ever be, as we are always learning and growing), the 2014-15 school year will be one in which the impact of such work is both visible and very exciting.

Our fourth and fifth graders will remain departmentalized, yet both teachers and students will enjoy the smaller class sizes for language arts, math, social studies, science, word studies,

media/technology, and art. Students will be in larger homeroom classes and will spend time as a homeroom class in the mornings and afternoons, for regular class meetings (called Tribes) as well as for their Spanish, music, P.E., and guidance classes. Increasing students’ sense of independence and personal responsibility is important at this age, so we have created structures within their school schedule to support the development of study skills, self-advocacy, and time management. Fifth grade lockers

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have been moved from the classrooms to the fifth grade hallway to support in the transition to Middle School and also create a stronger grade-level dynamic for our “leadership class.”

The addition of an upper elementary science lab on the main floor of the Lower School will be primarly used by our fourth and fifth graders, but all students will have access to this newly designed classroom space. With the growth of our Lower School science program, including our increased focus on STEM education and robotics/programming, having two spaces devoted to such an important discipline will allow for even more growth and progress.

Spring and summer provide invaluable time for curriculum review and enhancements, and the 2014-15 school year will be our first year with a focused writing curriculum which spans and spirals from our early learners through fifth grade. This summer, 14 Walker teachers, representing every grade level in our Preschool and Lower School, wrote a personalized writing curriculum based on the Columbia University Teachers’ College Reading and Writing Project. This writing leadership team’s work was thoughtful, cohesive, and most important, aligned with the strengths and needs of Walker’s student body. Families will hear of this new approach, but parents be assured that our writing instruction will be based on time spent writing, topics that matter, and techniques that writers use.

Megan NellenLower School Principal

On behalf of the faculty of the Walker Middle School, I want to welcome you and your child back to school! Over the past year, we have evaluatedour curriculum and our facilities, and we are excited to begin some new initiatives in the 2014-2015 school year.

Our quarter-length classes have been expanded to semester-length. Specifically, students now take computer for the entire year, alternating even/odd days with physical education classes. Art, Drama, and Chorus are now a full semester each.

Geography in the sixth grade has been replaced with a World History course, and the study of language in sixth grade is also expanding. Instead of taking four quarter-length languages, students will now study an expanded number of languages for an entire year, including, but not limited to, Spanish, French, German, and Latin.

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The Upper School Office will look and feel different this year as Jama Branham, Michael Arjona, and Newton McCurdy move to new locations, Ira Dawson moves into the Dean of Students Office, and Michael’s space becomes a conference and meeting room. What served as Jama’s desk and our attendance office will now transform into a work space for a faculty member displaced by someone assigned to teach in his or her classroom. Cheryl Rogers will remain in the Upper School Office and she is very excited to return to her responsibilities as the keeper of attendance.

What was previously the AP Art studio is now home to our four new Grade Level Deans. Matt Eisenman (Class of 2018), Denice Esterly (Class of 2017), Rob Holman (Class of 2016), and Katie Arjona (Class of 2015) will move through the Upper School with a given class and set of advisors and will share an office; these are decisions that we believe will be valuable to the success of our program. Beginning with the Class of 2015, Jama Branham will also serve as Senior Dean for each graduating class and will be responsible for non-academic events related to senior year.

Our Band & Orchestra programs have been re-organized into three courses based on experience and skill, rather than grade level. Students will now have the option to take Beginning Band, Intermediate Band, or Middle School Concert Band or Beginning Orchestra, Intermediate Orchestra, or Middle School Chamber Orchestra.

Also new to the Middle School this year are our Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Grade Deans. These deans will support Walker’s mission of encouraging meaningful relationships by serving as a contact for parents, students, and teachers with an emphasis on academic issues.

Parents and students will notice some physical changes in the Middle School as well, most notably to our science lab. A renovation has increased our science classrooms from three to four. The lab is now a classroom lab where teaching and lab work can occur simultaneously.

The Middle School faculty and I are busy making final preparations for the start of school, and we are excited to see refreshed students in our bustling hallway in a few short weeks. We look forward to a great 2014-15 school year!

Will ForteithMiddle School Principal

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The fall sports season is just around the corner, and I am thrilled about the number of new faces and skilled coaches joining the Walker Athletics Department this school year.

FALLHaving most recently served as the Middle School P.E. Department Head at The Lovett School, Matt Casper will be serving as our Head Football Coach, as well as a Middle School Physical Education teacher and sixth grade adviser.

WINTERUpper School history teacher Marion Kenny will

be working with our Middle School swim program. Marion previously coached at North Springs Charter School. Lower School teaching assistant Roger Merriam will serve as the Head Varsity Wrestling Coach.

SPRINGUpper School learning specialist and certified yoga instructor Danielle Bartone will be coaching girls lacrosse. Roger Merriam will also join the lacrosse program as the boys coach. Additionally, Middle School English teacher Seth Hagen will serve as an assistant JV baseball coach, and Matt Casper will work with our Middle School and varsity track programs as a coach.

We hope you will join us in welcoming these new faculty members to our school and to our teams. We are looking forward to a great school year and an exciting athletic season!

Go Wolverines!

Gary BlohmAthletics Director

I hope each family has taken the time to be together this summer and appreciate one another’s company. We look forward to welcoming your students back for a fantastic 2014-15 school year!

Bob MurphyUpper School Principal

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Last winter, we invited a project manager from Finalsite, our website consulting company, to come in and speak directly with a group of parents to gain input on how the parent section of the website could be improved. After the meeting, the consultant delivered several pages of tasks to be completed jointly with our office. You may have noticed a few subtle changes already, includingthe addition of the constituent navigation to the homepage, the top level navigation bar edits and the removal of a few duplicate links on the parent section of the website. Those have all been minor changes, but more work is underway. Mike Mackey is working on a parent resource page that

will be separate from the news page so that parents will be able to locate important information more quickly. Once those are finalized, we will launch the new pages and ask for feedback on the revised navigation.

We also found that users were not finding all of the information needed on our mobile site, so we launched an app this summer that is available for Android and iPhone users. I hope that will be a huge help as you access information while you are on the go!

Additionally, the e-newsletter that is distributed each Friday will have a modified design so that you can see school and division news right away. We heard from several parents that the division news needed to be more obvious and accessible, and that was the main priority for the designer. The first issue will be out August 15.

Stay tuned for an announcement later in August about the parent navigation enhancements. I look forward to receiving your feedback on the improved parent navigation, the e-newsletter and the app in late August and early September. Please feel free to email me at kristy.helms@thewalkerschool.org if you have questions or comments.

Sincerely,

Kristy HelmsDirector of Communications

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Over the summer, several new and exciting changes have occurred in the Advancement Office, one of which is the change of the name of our office from Development Office to Advancement Office. We will continue the work of cultivating relationships and raising the necessary funds in order to advance the mission and programs of the school.

I am thrilled to join the team as the school’s first Director of Advancement. It is a true joy to return to my alma mater and manage a talented staff which will work toward realizing the school’s strategic initiatives. Cathy LaClaire will serve as

the Associate Director of Advancement, Laura Nelson as Director of Annual Giving, and Kaitlyn Ranney as the Advancement Associate. It is our hope to continue great work with all of our constituents and further discover how we can maximize our efforts in the Advancement Office.

There are many wonderful things that happen at our school and that are in store for our future, and it is a culture of philanthropy and committed families that make it possible. Thank you for all that you do to support Walker.

Shelly Robertson ManuelDirector of Advancement

Summer is always a busy time at Walker for moving classrooms, painting, and deep cleaning, along with big and small maintenance projects and improvements.

June started with work on the Coles Practice Field. We graded and re-sodded large portion of the field. We also added two irrigation zones to give better coverage. The field looks great! Both gym floors

were screened and recoated to protect the wood floors and keep them looking sharp.

The Lower School lobby and halls have a fresh look with colorful new carpet. The

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The Walker School Association supports and serves the school and its families through continuous volunteer efforts. Our events are a wonderful way to meet other Walker parents and be involved in school life, and we welcome all who would like to participate. Our monthly meetings, generally the third Tuesday of the month, are on the school calendar.

The many projects and activities that our dedicated volunteers coordinate each year fall into five main categories:

• Staff appreciation • New family events

WSA

addition of an upper elementary science lab equipped with new lab tables, stools, and built-in cabinets will enhance science instruction, as well as STEM experiences for Lower School students. The fifth grade classrooms will have new student tables, and lockers are now in the hallway to aid in their transition to Middle School while gaining some additional space inside the classrooms.

A wall was built to separate the Middle School science lab and the science classroom to allow both the lab and the classroom to be used at the same time, without disrupting the class next door. We also added white boards and stools to the lab.

The IT Department has also been very busy this summer with infrastructure and software upgrades. The school’s internet connection was recently doubled and a new firewall was put into place to allow for faster and more secure access to the outside world. The Lower School’s wireless system was also overhauled to provide a separate wireless access point in every classroom. In addition, mobile device management software was installed which allows us better control and manage our iPads, Surface tablets, and other devices on campus.

Promethean active boards were also installed this summer in multiple Upper School and Middle School classrooms, and the Preschool will soon be receiving a large interactive tablet that will allow the students to collaborate and play together on one device.

We hope you will enjoy these necessary upgrades as much as we do!

Jackie Porubiansky, Director of FacilitiesKerry Bossak, Director of Technology

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Patrons of the Arts (POTA) is proud to help Walker embrace the value of each student’s artistic expression – whether through the visual arts such as photography, drawing,painting, and sculpting, or through the performing arts including band, orchestra,

chorus, theatre, hand bells, or dance. We are currently seeking parent volunteers to help with the advancement and focus of the arts. If you are interested, please contact Todd Motter, Upper School Fine Arts Chair, at todd.motter@thewalkerschool.org.

The Walker Backers serves to support and enhance our athletic programs through providing additional support to our coaches and teams. In addition, we work in conjunction with student clubs to run concessions and to encourage school spirit. We are always looking for parent volunteers and those interested in seeing Walker sports programs develop more fully. For any

who are interested in joining the team, please contact President Brad Slade at sladewalkerbacker@gmail.com.

backers

PS Ambassadors: Rina Nath & Lee GarrettLS Ambassadors: Kim Robertson & Sari BradermanMS Ambassadors: Kristie Cowan & Melinda MasonUS Ambassadors: Sally Wright & Kris Michaelides

• Fundraising events• Community-building events• Parent education events

This year we are looking forward to our much-loved traditions like Fall Festival and the Secret Shop and the return of the live auction in the spring. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me or your division-level Ambassadors with any questions or to find out how to get involved.

Thank you,Melissa Gilbert, WSA President

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