Dear Parents and Guardians,
Last month I wrote to you regarding the work of the BHS Community
relative to our upcoming ten-year accreditation visit. One
of the major areas on which the New England Association of
Schools and Colleges will evaluate BHS relates to our statement
of Core Values and Beliefs. This statement outlines our vision
for what it means to be educated at Belmont High School. While
the Core Values Statement can be found in all of our school
publications, such as the Student Handbook and Program of
Studies, I thought it might be useful to bring it to your
attention on its own. Here is the text of our statement of
Core Values:
Belmont High School Core Values and Beliefs
Belmont High School, in partnership with our community,
provides students with outstanding educational opportunities
for them to reach their intellectual, creative, personal,
civic, and social potentials. Together we strive to create
and maintain a safe, supportive environment in which all students
feel valued and respected as they become successful, productive
citizens in a diverse and changing world.
This statement encapsulates what we work to achieve every
day at BHS. A key piece of this statement is that we do not
only focus on academics or college admissions as the sole
indicator of success. Rather, students at BHS are given the
opportunity to grow in many different ways, each of which
is important in the development of a well-adjusted adult.
We want graduates who not only are intellectuals but also
are able to be creative themselves and to appreciate the creative
talents of others, who are confident in and comfortable with
themselves, and who understand that they have rights and responsibilities
to live up to as a part of our democratic society.
We all need to keep the vision put forth in our Core Values
Statement in mind for our students as they make their way
through BHS and to remember that there are many ways to define
“success” in this framework. Right now, our seniors
are beginning to decide the path they will take following
their graduation in June. For most of our students, the decision
is focused on the college search process. All too often I
hear that a particular course placement, recommendation letter,
or final grade will hurt a student’s college acceptance.
Unfortunately, the subtext of this concern is not that the
student won’t be able to get into college. Around 95%
of our graduates go to college, and almost all of those that
do not have made a conscious choice to do something else.
Rather, the concern is that the student will not be able to
get into the “best” college, or the “great”
college, as opposed to the college that is the right fit for
the student.
This narrow definition of success puts an unrealistic level
of pressure on our students, and on you as parents as well.
The “high-stakes” culture begins far before students
enter their senior year. Last spring, I had several discussions
with 9th Grade students regarding their choice of courses
for the coming school year. Rather than choosing their courses
on the basis of what they were interested in learning or what
they liked, they were all focused on choosing courses that
were going to put them into position to get into that “great”
college. These conversations left me wondering what happened
to allowing students time to explore different subjects and
curricula, to learn where their strengths and weaknesses lie,
and to figure out who they are. To me, these are part of the
essential purposes of a high school.
To give you a sense of just how prevalent the unrealistic
college entrance expectations are, the
Harvard Crimson reported last year that Harvard received over
30,000 applications for the class of 2014. It accepted
2,110, or just 6.9%. Does this mean that the roughly 28,000
applicants who were not accepted are going to be unsuccessful
in their lives or are somehow “failures?” Of course
not. Yet the pressure to be accepted to a “top”
college continues to push our students to unreasonable expectations.
We find far too many of our students pursuing multiple advanced-level
courses and extra-curricular activities and sacrificing basic
human needs, such as sleep, all in the name of getting into
“THE” college. If we limit our measure of success
to admission to one of the “US News and World Report’s
Best Colleges,” we’re unnecessarily setting our
kids up to view themselves as failures.
So what is it exactly that drives this culture that puts
a premium on admissions to the most selective colleges and
universities? I think all of us in the BHS community, administrators,
teachers, parents, community members, and students play some
role in perpetuating the often unrealistic and unreasonable
expectations that are placed on our students. As part of our
18 Month Improvement Plan, we’ve identified “reducing
student stress” as a goal to address and as a result
will be spending time examining our current practices to see
if there are ways that we can help to reduce the stress of
our students. The trick as I see it is to figure out how we
maintain our high standards for students while at the same
time keeping students from feeling overwhelmed by them. I
ask that you assist us in achieving this goal by identifying
the ways in which you currently contribute to this culture,
and by considering how you can re-focus your own expectations.
As the year progresses we will be seeking opportunities to
come together as a community to address the issue of student
stress. I hope that you will be able to share your impressions
and ideas with us on this issue. Sincerely,
Michael M. Harvey, Ed.D
Principal
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