Dear Parent(s),
As we move into this second month of 2011, there is a great deal of news to share with you about Agnes Irwin. It was a busy first semester as we began in earnest to plot the course for the Center for the Advancement of Girls, which will be an intellectual site of research and thought about the best ways to educate girls.
The Center’s initial steps have resulted in some exciting opportunities, such as last month’s eye-opening presentations by author and educator Lyn Mikel Brown to faculty and parents on the sexualization of girls in popular culture; an upcoming collaboration with Stanford University on Challenge Success, a research project to broaden the vision of success for youth today, and the introduction of a one-week summer leadership academy for girls entering 7th through 9th grades. (Please visit
www.agnesirwin.org/RealDeal) Each of these initiatives has contributed significantly to our ongoing commitment to thought leadership in the area of girls’ education, health and wellness.
Sometimes the best made plans go awry, as we experienced in January. Our cross-cultural visit, a partnership with The Haverford School to host 24 students from China, was canceled due to unanticipated student visa problems. Although we were disappointed when our extensive plans did not materialize, we were fortified by our community’s positive response to this new international direction. We felt tremendous support when so many families volunteered to house our Chinese guests. It spoke volumes about parent engagement at Agnes Irwin.
I am happy to report that another initiative to bring a cross-cultural experience to our community is well under way. In August, we will welcome five new students from China. These young women will matriculate in grades 9 and 10 as members of our community for the remainder of their high school years. This initiative is made possible through collaboration with the Cambridge Institute in Boston, and we are delighted to have been selected as a partner by the institute. Agnes Irwin’s reputation is reaching far and wide and it is wonderful to see our commitment to excellence recognized.
On the local front, we have entered into negotiations to acquire primary use of Memorial Field in Radnor Township. The acquisition of another playing field so close to campus is a dream come true. Scheduled to be covered with artificial turf, the field will provide the essential playing space we need as we begin our Campus Improvements Project this spring and will be a perfect complement to our on-campus facilities once construction is completed.
It has been another banner year for college acceptances. A significant number of our seniors have been accepted either early action or early decision to their top-choice schools. As you might imagine, our girls are well-prepared for college, a fact that is consistently recognized by the colleges and universities that continually welcome them. Diverse in their interests, some of our girls will continue to be athlete/scholars at the college level; others will be pursuing interests in science and mathematics, humanities and the arts. These remarkable young women have found their passion and will depart Agnes Irwin with the academic training, confidence and sense of self that are the hallmarks of an Agnes Irwin education. We have no doubt they will experience tremendous success.
Both the Lower and Middle Schools have been busy reinforcing the importance of service learning, a teaching strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility and strengthen communities. In particular, fourth graders, as part of a year-long unit on hunger, successfully completed their first of three food drives. More than 90 Middle School girls joined with students from The Haverford School and The Baldwin School on MLK Weekend to staff a fun, highly interactive Variety Club-sponsored Caring Community Carnival for children with cognitive and/or physical disabilities. Before the event, our girls heard a presenter from DuPont Children’s Hospital discuss how to appropriately interact with special-needs children.
The Upper School has been awhirl with activity as well, hosting art exhibitions, dance performances and distinguished Pakistani diplomat Anwar Kemal. Students continue to delve into their passions through independent study and enjoy visiting speakers for the Lunch Series hosted at the Head of School’s house. Several have traveled to renowned local cultural institutions to soak in the arts of the Renaissance and French Impressionist periods.
Last December, our faculty viewed Race to Nowhere, a documentary that examines the stress experienced by students in our achievement-obsessed culture. As this letter reaches you, we will have just hosted a parent viewing of the film which directly ties in with our Center for the Advancement of Girls initiative with Stanford University.
In late winter, we will participate in Challenge Success, a program that investigates student attitudes toward learning, life stressors and issues of overall health and wellness. By analyzing student responses to probing questions, we will work with researchers to disaggregate the data in multiple ways to better understand the experience of the Agnes Irwin student. This type of analysis informs future decisions that relate to course offerings, schedules, as well as the way we advise and counsel students and many other aspects of school life that impact the girls.
The days at Agnes Irwin bring exceptional and sometime rare opportunities. This year the two teachers who founded The Dream Flag Project, which reaches schools across the globe, will travel to Nepal to represent the program at the 50th anniversary of the Khumjung School founded by mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary -- the first on Mount Everest. This celebration has obvious special meaning to our community, as The Dream Flag Project has brought Mount Everest and the Sherpa culture into our classrooms and expanded to schools throughout the world over the last eight years. Sixth grade teachers Sandy Crow and Jeff Harlan will carry the dreams of thousands of children from around the world to share with students at the “Schoolhouse in the Sky.”
Why is The Agnes Irwin School such a thriving learning community? What are the variables that clearly set us apart from other institutions? I often ponder these questions and continually come back to the same conclusion. I believe that Agnes Irwin is a unique community due to the amazing girls and young women who give us their best every day and the incredibly supportive community of parents who understand that single-sex education is invaluable for their daughters. These two factors, combined with the dedicated faculty and staff who are committed to our mission, provide unlimited opportunity for our girls to soar.
I sincerely thank you for your trust in us and for the positive partnership you have allowed us to develop with you and your daughter(s). Agnes Irwin girls have the potential to significantly influence the way women are viewed in our culture and to have significant impact on our collective future. They can, and they will, take on the challenges of tomorrow with the spirit and the confidence that is the hallmark of an Agnes Irwin girl.
Cordially,
Dr. Mary F. Seppala
Head of School