Upper School
Thank you to everyone who joined us at last night’s BVR Community Event. It was wonderful to see so many of you in-person, on-campus (yes, we’re still celebrating the fact that we.are.BACK!)
Below, we share a few highlights from the evening as well as links to the resources mentioned in the Upper School. For the Middle School recap, click here.
- REMINDER: US Open Studios is Thursday, September 30.
Head of School Kim Samson kicked off the evening talking about her excitement for the upcoming year and her goals for the community.
“It’s an amazing time to lead in the world of education. Education should look entirely different a decade or so from now but we are really fortunate at Beaver because it looks different at our school today.”
— Kim Samson, Head of School
Some of the opportunities and areas of focus we are working on now include:
Focusing on the skills that are unique to being human in a world where technology can take over many of the skills that have traditionally taken center stage in the workplace.
Finding real-world applications and building problem-solving skills that will make school feel relevant to students’ futures.
Inspiring students to be part of solutions by teaching history truthfully and inclusively through a social justice lens.
In addition, Kim talked about the evolution of Beaver’s Core Senior Leadership Team, introducing Associate Head of School for Special Projects Zaira Santiago and sharing how they have been—and will continue to—work together this year. Their focus for the next 4 to 6 months includes faculty recruitment, board work, the Independent School Gender Project Symposium, and (of course) the ever-changing protocols and policies around the pandemic.
She also expanded on Kader Adjout‘s new role as Director of Teaching, Learning, and Innovation and highlighted the work he’ll be doing across both the Middle and Upper schools and the individuals and departments he’ll be working closely with. (Click here to read more).
US families then heard from Director of Upper School Chai Reddy, who joined Beaver this July. Born and raised in Oklahoma, Chai spent the last 14 years as a teacher, administrator, football coach, and more at Punahou School in Honolulu.
So, what drew him to Beaver?
Beaver is not just about trying to come up with different ideas; it is trying to come up with better ideas. That is something that was very evident to me and made the decision to move from Hawaii to Beaver very easy (ok easy for now, but check-in on me in mid-January). — Chai Reddy, Director of Upper School
He talked about how the last 18 months have been very hard on many students, and while we should be looking forward, we need to acknowledge the impact and work to restrengthen the community. He also shared how the relationship between US parents/caregivers and Beaver is a partnership and talked about The Feedback Loop as an example of the many different ways families can stay connected with the school and the work that’s happening both in and out of the classroom.
Director of Student Life & Equity Jimmy Manyuru, Assistant Director of Student Life and Equity Elisha Cho, and Director of the Hiatt Center Liz Latour then talked about student life and the work they are doing to ensure we are constantly building a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and socially just Beaver. Going beyond the work they do in the classroom, they focused on the programming, workshops, events, and activities students are (and can choose) to be part of, including:
- Wellness + Identity Workshops
- R+D Workshops
- Community and Class Meetings
- RISE Wellness Workshops
- Clubs
- Hiatt Summer Fellowship
This was just the first of many BVR Parent Association events we have planned for this year; check out all the dates here.