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Comments and Parent Conferences – A New Approach
Dennis L. Calkins
Head of the Upper School
As the end of the semester approaches in the Upper School, we can look back upon the successful implementation of a new approach to the writing of comments for your sons and daughters and a new emphasis on the importance of parent conferences for every student in the Upper School. I hope you were able to attend a parent conference during early November and that you noticed a difference in how our faculty communicated with you regarding the progress of your son or daughter in their classes. I certainly noticed a difference in what was written about our students and I want to share with you a number of examples of what we are trying to emphasize.
Each course in the Upper School has its own body of knowledge and set of skills and aptitudes that will always remain an important part of what we are trying to accomplish. Above and beyond what is specific to each course in the Upper School, our faculty has identified six traits that we believe are important to the success of every student, not only at Holland Hall, but in life after Holland Hall. We are committed to nurturing these traits and fostering their growth. Following are a few excerpts from comments that illustrate how our faculty members are reporting on each trait.
Character Trait #1 – Perseverance (resilience, tenacity, follow-through)
“I see his resilience first-hand in the aftermath of his mid-term paper. It had a lot of problems, logically and grammatically, and his writing is an area where I have some real concerns. However, the way he responded to my criticism and suggestions says a lot about him. He sought help and his revised essay was much better.”
“I also appreciate the resilience he has shown when his result on a quiz or test has been disappointing. He is good at focusing on seeking help to fix the situation, rather than getting frustrated or discouraged.”
“She is much more resilient now. As a ninth grader, when understanding didn’t come immediately, she became quite anxious and shut down at times. She shows patience now, fully aware that I will help her.”
“The phrase that comes to mind about him as a student is follow-through. He is one of only a handful of students to come by after every test to do corrections with me. He has raised his average to a solid B by coming by so regularly.”
Character Trait #2 – Work Ethic (dependable, self-directed, diligent)
“I wish more students had the work ethic that she possesses. There is no question that she works hard. I can always count on her to attempt to answer the tough questions.”
“His strength is clearly his work ethic. He really hustles all the time. His work is on time every time.”
“She is a self-starter so she gets going on a project quickly and works steadily to complete each stage so she has sufficient time to finish the entire long term assignment.”
“She is willing to put in the time required to do each stage of a project thoroughly and with extreme care. On several occasions she has gone back into the field or lab to either redo or do extra work when she was not satisfied with the results of her initial attempts.”
“Her work ethic is outstanding. She does her daily work with great care, her projects are well done, her essays are thoughtfully put together, and she prepares well for quizzes and tests.”
Character Trait #3 – Attitude/Motivation (open-mindedness, flexibility, optimism)
“I have especially appreciated his self-motivation that drives him to come in before he leaves on an athletic trip to get his homework ahead of time.”
“He is always engaged in our class activities and works very well with his classmates. His positive attitude and enthusiasm are second to none.”
“I appreciate and respect his hard work and conscientious approach to the study of statistics. He has demonstrated a strong motivation to do his best in this course.”
“I appreciate and respect her conscientious approach to her study of Algebra. She comes to class with a positive attitude and is always ready to learn.”
Academic Attribute/Habit #1 – Creativity (takes risks, sees connections, experiments, possesses intellectual curiosity)
“His strength is clearly his willingness to lay his ideas on the table for everyone to see. In that sense, he’s a creative risk-taker. This particular quality is one that we like to see in our students.”
“He is willing to take risks in his statements. If he begins to take these sorts of creative risks in his writing, he may find that his scores improve. He’s a thinker – so he needs to apply the creative energy he shows in class discussions to his work outside of the class.”
“She is a successful student in this course because she is able to think creatively about the connections and relationships between our sources.”
“I can tell that he is a strong critical thinker because he takes intellectual risks by not writing about a passage that we had previously discussed in class.”
Academic Attribute/Habit #2 – Critical Thinking (questions actively, identifies implications, analyzes and synthesizes information)
“He also has demonstrated some good critical thinking skills and is quick to make connections across related concepts.”
“His aptitude for the material allows him to quickly comprehend new ideas and make connections between topics. This talent for analyzing and synthesizing the big picture will serve him well as we begin to tackle the more complicated AP questions.”
“With regard to his higher order thinking skills, he has demonstrated that he can consistently analyze the material at a sophisticated level.”
“She is able to apply her knowledge to the concepts we are studying and make valid connections between topics. She puts forth the extra effort needed to synthesize the material when she is dealing with a difficult concept.”
Academic Attribute/Habit #3 – Collaboration (works well in teams, develops relationships, communicates)
“She collaborated well with her classmates on their group project, creating a great analytical outline and an entertaining and meaningful presentation of their work.”
“She collaborates well with other members of her small group, offering her ideas and opinions on a variety of topics.”
“He is also a leader at his table, actively working with the other students at his table to ensure that they are all involved in the discussion at hand. This has been extremely helpful to all members of the group.”
“The best thing about him in English class is how meaningfully he participates in large group discussions. He seems to always have something thoughtful to say, but never dominates the conversation. He also works diligently in small groups, not getting distracted easily.”
As a faculty, we have pledged to create learning experiences in class that provide your sons and daughters with the opportunity to use and improve upon the traits outlined above. We have also pledged to report on the progress of your child by writing comments that address these traits. A second set of comments for every student in the Upper School will be written in early March. I hope you will take advantage of the next opportunity for parent conferences that will take place on Thursday evening, March 7 and all day Friday, March 8. These conferences are vital in creating and enhancing the home-school partnership that is so crucial the success of your son or daughter in the Upper School.
History of the Southwest Preparatory Conference
Steve Heldebrand
Athletic Director
The Southwest Preparatory Conference was formed in 1952, when five Texas schools met to formalize a league of schools that were similar in size and had a comparable level of expectations. The original five schools were Houston St. John’s, Houston Kinkaid, Lutheran School of Houston, Austin St. Stephen’s and Dallas St. Mark’s. The first SPC championship team was crowned in the Fall of 1952 when St. Stephen’s won the football championship. In 1953, Casady and Dallas Hockaday were invited to become members of the SPC. Dallas Greenhill was accepted in 1958, followed by Fort Worth Country Day, Holland Hall, San Antonio St. Mary’s Hall and Fort Worth Trinity Valley School in 1966. Lutheran School of Houston would withdraw from the SPC in 1966 because of the affiliation between the SPC and Independent Schools of the Southwest (ISAS). There were several other schools in Texas who were short-time members of the conference, and for various reasons left after a few years. Over several decades, the conference has added nine more schools and currently there are 19 member schools.
As the conference has grown, so has the enrollment of the schools. Fort Worth All Saints is currently the smallest school at 270 students and Houston Episcopal is the largest with an enrollment of 655. Hockaday has 437 girls, while St. Mark’s boasts 356 boys. Holland Hall is the fifth smallest school in the SPC, with 330 upper school students.
The first conference tournament was held in 1953 for boys basketball. The first girls basketball tournament was held in 1954. Individual tournaments for various sports continued through the years until 1971, when the decision was made to have a culminating tournament for all sports at the end of the fall, winter and spring season. In the early years the conference was divided into a north and south zone and the tournament consisted of the north zone schools playing south zone schools in a pool play format. The school that won the most games, was determined the conference champion. In the late 1980’s the conference decided to move toward a bracket championship and a SPC champion was crowned for each sport, except football. It was not until this past fall, that football created a playoff format to determine an SPC champion where all schools were involved.
Holland Hall won its first SPC championship in 1968 in boys basketball and boys tennis. The first girls SPC championship was not until 1973 in field hockey. Holland Hall has won a total of 84 SPC championships. Girls basketball has won the most with 11 SPC championships, followed by field hockey with 10. On the boys side, football has won 8, followed by baseball with 7. Over the past five years, we have definitely held our own; winning nine SPC titles and finishing second, ten times. The average overall finish for Holland Hall teams has been 5th in the past five years — a testament to the hard work of our coaches and athletes.
Reader of the Month: Ms. Jo-An Vargo
Jo-An's favorite reads:
Leaf Man
by Lois Ehlert
The Pumpkin Blanket
by Deborah Turney Zagwyn
Tops and Bottoms
by Janet Stevens
The Giving Tree
by Shel Silverstein
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
by William Joyce
My Big Dog
by Janet Stevens & Susan Stevens Crummel
(Each month leading up to the 53rd Book Fair on February 23, a person in the Holland Hall community will be featured along with a list of their favorite books to read.)