Head of School

Teaching Life Skills at School


Dear parents,
 
Tower Hill’s philosophy to education is to nurture the whole child, engaging students’ minds with challenging academics while also attending to their physical well-being and social and emotional growth. In the school’s earliest years, Burton Fowler championed Tower Hill as a school where students were taught to lead “happy lives,” and he famously supported noontime dancing in the halls.
 
Finding joy in learning and participating in a strong school community can shape one’s outlook on education, and life, for years to come. A recent article in The New York Times highlighted the value of teaching life skills in a school setting, with some schools going so far as to measure students’ social-emotional performance. While the jury is still out on the merits of ​such evaluations, there is no question that teaching qualities such as perseverance, resilience, curiosity, social consciousness and responsibility are important. In fact, teaching social-emotional skills has been shown to improve academic achievement.
 
Yesterday Middle School parents heard from clinical social worker and psychotherapist Ken Brick on the emotional development of children and teenagers. He provided a list of reading on this subject that you can download here. As we partner with you to provide your children with a well-rounded education, please know that we are committed to a healthy, balanced approach. And speaking of which, music is surely part of this balance. Bravo to our Middle and Upper School musicians for an exquisite performance last night! ​

Sincerely,

Elizabeth C. Speers
Head of School
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