“When you stop expecting people to be perfect, you can like them for who they are.”-Donald Miller
The reverse of this is also true – when you stop expecting yourself to be perfect you can like yourself for who you are. Each of us bring different perspectives, opinions, experience, understanding, and expertise to the table that is the Grand Rapids Child Discovery Center. The picture you see here is me with a group of Reggio educators from Iceland. We had a wonderful time discussing the Approach, our lives, children and the world. I learned a great deal, and made some wonderful friends in the process. The past week at our school vividly demonstrated the importance of relationship for me, and hopefully for many others in our community. The first instances of this realization were the several families that brought issues to my attention. Some were simple, some were not, but in each instance, I was grateful that each of the families in question felt comfortable bringing their questions and concerns directly to me. If they did not feel they were in relationship with me, or the school, they might not have come forward. A little later in the week, I was invited by the president of Kendall College to attend a Design-Thinking workshop presentation, and then a few days later took part in an organizational project meeting at Steelcase. I was also honored to observe Ms. Dews, Miss LaVoie and the students of Discovery F, participating in the Grand History Lesson at the Van Andel Public Museum. This week long session allowed our fourth and fifth graders to learn and study within the museum’s exhibits and facilities. Finally, on Saturday, I witnessed several staff, parents, and students making rain barrels as part of our sixth community retreat in partnership with the West Michigan Environmental Action Council. None of these experiences or opportunities would be possible without the relationships each of us has developed over the course of our lives, past and present. The really exciting piece is that our relationship-building is never done, and the challenging piece is that maintaining and nurturing these relationships takes time, patience, understanding, and effort. As I reflect upon the relationships I have formed over the course of my life, I find great comfort and respect in the fact that I have been fortunate to work and learn alongside many wonderful, encouraging, and supportive people. I would not be where I am today without having made the relationships I have all along the way. For example, many of you might not know it, but my relationship with Ms. Amash is how I came to be the Principal of the GRCDC. Way back in 2004, while I was a new professor at Aquinas College, I was asked to meet with a student. That student was Ms. Amash, she had some questions about the Language Arts program, and finding a teaching job. Well, she got a job here at the GRCDC, and a few years later, when the school needed a Principal, Ms. Amash stopped by my office at the college and asked me to apply. I agreed, and am so happy I did! I cannot imagine doing anything else! So, if it had not been for my relationship with Ms. Amash, I might never have known about this opening. The point to all of this is that you never know who is going to come into your life, but you can be certain that everyone who does, is there for a reason, and the reason might not become clear for some time. Finding time, space and energy to meet the needs of those with whom we are in relationship with is sometimes difficult, but if we make the effort, the rewards can be great. - emm, 3/25/13
“The more the student becomes the teacher and the more the teacher becomes the learner, and then the more successful are the outcomes.” (John Hattie, 2009) You may recall I mentioned we had opened a Twitter account for the GRCDC [GRChild]. The original intention was to open another communication path for our school. What I was unprepared for was the tremendous amount of networking and learning that can be facilitated with only 149 little characters. While posting a ‘tweet’ for our school last week I ran across the quote above with only the initials “J.H.” following. Curious, I set about trying to find the author of this wonderfully Reggio-aligned quote. Find it I did. I soon discovered the author was John Hattie, a professor from New Zealand, who not only made this wonderful statement, but as I began to research Professor Hattie and his work I found a larger volume on student achievement which speaks to the importance of visible learning, another important facet of a Reggio-inspired approach to education. In it he states:
“It is critical that the teaching and learning are visible. There is no deep secret called teaching and learning: teaching and learning are visible in the classrooms of the successful teachers and students, teaching and learning are visible in the passion displayed when successful teaching and learning occurs, and teaching and learning requires much skill and knowledge by both teacher and student…..the explanation of visible teaching relates to teachers as activators, ….effective teaching and learning is not always loud and heated, but it is rarely silent and deadening….it is often intense, buzzing, and risky.”
Even with the short passages I read by Hattie, I quickly realized I do not agree with his philosophy in total, but he does make some important and valid points. The main point I wish to convey here is that what we do at the Grand Rapids Child Discovery Center is often intense, buzzing and risky, but with intensity [i.e. hard-work] and risk can come great reward. Examples of our risks have been moving to our new school building, trusting a new administrator, and being open to accepting needed changes in our systems, policies and procedures. Our reward is the continued achievement and success of our students, the happiness and well-being of our families, and the professional growth, development and satisfaction of our staff. As I have stated many times before, we still have challenges and improvements ahead of us, as long as we continue to be willing to work hard, implement change, acknowledge and accept challenges, we will continue to grow and succeed. It takes everyone working together, working hard, and the realization that sometimes the needs of the organization need to come before our own personal wishes and desires. If we can manage to keep our goals clear and visible, like our teaching and learning, we will be able to accomplish our objectives.
Ms. Parker discussing Discovery A's Village Project 
A few of the village houses
Two nights ago, the Grand Rapids Child Discovery Center hosted its 13th annual Open House - "Expressions of Learning". Not only did we have tremendous turn-out from our families, both current and prospective, but more importantly, we had another opportunity to share the work and learning of the students. This "squadra" [Italian for team] is only one of our events aimed at sharing and educating. Last Wednesday, our school community toured the classrooms and viewed the current status of the various projects in process. The photos you see here are a few examples. - emm
Who we are…..How we exist….What we do….Where we are going…..
A significant portion of my day-to-day work involves explaining who we are and what we do to the public. On any given day I might be touring a prospective family through the school, meeting with representatives of a foundation, conducting an interview, or talking with a reporter. The one question I am almost always asked is….”Can you explain your relationship with GRPS?” This question always makes me smile inside, because even though the answer makes perfect sense to me, I realize it still holds a bit of confusion and even mystery for many. The following is my attempt at explaining this unusual but valuable relationship.
A Brief History of the Grand Rapids Child Discovery Center
Around 1998, a group of parents with children at the Aquinas College Child Development Center, approached the leadership at the college about the possibility of creating a Reggio-inspired elementary school. These parents had been very pleased with the education and care their children were receiving at the center [my daughter Frannie, was part of the first group of children to move from the campus over to the St. Adalbert’s site in 1999] and wanted a similar environment for their now grade-school aged children. The president and members of the college’s school of education agreed to explore the possibility and determined it was worth pursuing, however, they knew that the school had to be public, since the economy of West Michigan would not support another private school. A charter school was a viable option, but this presented a challenge, since, as a parochial institution Aquinas could not hold a charter in Michigan. The two largest charter authorizers, Central Michigan University and Grand Valley University were approached, but declined. This is when the Grand Rapids Public School District entered the picture. State law allows for any ‘public education entity’ to authorize a charter, and GRPS, is definitely that. Then Superintendent Patricia Newby agreed to take on the task and with a bit more blood, sweat and tears, the Grand Rapids Child Discovery Center, an elementary Reggio-inspired public school academy, was born.
While the parents of the GRCDC were Aquinas and GRPS, our school was born a fully-emancipated adult, with all the rights and responsibilities of a public school. Our legal designation is a public school academy, and in laymen’s terms, we are a stand-alone charter. This means we are at the same time, a school AND a district. This also means that I am legally both the principal and superintendent. GRPS, while a wonderful friend and resource for us, serves purely in a compliance or oversight role and has no day-to-day operational or administrative authority over us. The oversight is limited mainly to finances and assessment scores, and only if a problem arises. As it was explained to me early in my tenure by the CFO of GRPS, “As long as you balance your budget, and continue to improve test scores, you will hear no complaint from us.”, and they have been true to their word. I am also pleased to report that there have not been any ‘problems’ since I began in August of 2010. Since that time our financial picture, and more importantly, the academic achievement of our students have improved steadily and consistently. Of course, this puts me, your Principal, in the sometimes unpopular position of making budget cuts, and focusing on assessment data, but each are responsibilities that help us further our mission, vision, and principles. In short, we are allowed to make and set our own policies, procedures [e.g. afternoon meeting] and decisions [e.g. snow days], as long as they do not contradict state or federal mandate or law. This special designation enables us to provide a safe, nurturing, valuable, and rich learning experience in response to the needs, wishes and desires of our students and families.
In short, GRPS is a good friend and valuable partner, but the Grand Rapids Child Discovery Center is the captain its own ship.
"EXPRESSIONS OF LEARNING"The Grand Rapids Child Discovery Center 2013 Open House 5:00 to 7:00 pm 409 Lafayette SE - corner of Wealthy and Lafayette in downtown Grand Rapids - All are welcome! Join us as we gather to share the work of our students, connect with new and prospective families, and just see what we are all about!
"We can learn much from the Reggio story - as we wrestle with our own enormous problems; uneven quality, poor coordination, and lack of access and affordability of early childhood services; coupled with universal recognition of the need for high-quality early childhood programs to boost children's chances for later school success." [C. Edwards, L. Gandini, G. Forman, 1994,p. 5] The preceding excerpt taken from the introduction to the first edition of The 100 Languages of Children, has always been true, and is especially relevant at this time in our history. Going over my notes from last month's Winter Institute in Reggio-Emilia I was struck by this year's theme, which was CONTINUITY. Institute participants were asked on the first day to provide their thoughts on what the prompt of continuity meant and provoked in them. Many ideas were generated, and each became a theme or point of reference for the conference. For me, continuity means not only ensuring that children are able to work and learn through the benefit of the Reggio principles throughout their education, but also that ALL children are able to benefit from quality educational experiences in beautiful, safe and clean environments, regardless of income, location, or birth. We saw examples of many wonderful schools from all over the world, and each seemed very normal to each of us knowledgeable of the Approach and the important role the environment plays. So it is disheartening and frustrating that not all citizens in our country agree with this 'radical' idea - recently promoted by President Obama in his State of the Union address - to make high-quality preschool available to all children in the United States. "....conservatives said they were suspicious that it would be a foot in the door toward more big government...", that they ..."fear the creation of another federal entitlement program"..and that "...there was little evidence that large-scale preschool programs do much good for children in the long run." ["Conservatives Skeptical of Expanding Preschool" The New York Times, 2/15/13] The fact that we are arguing over providing the minimum standard is just plain sad. I selected the accompanying image to put a bit of perspective on this issue, and that is , no matter what we decide, it is still comforting to know that all children all over the world, love to learn and have fun in engaging and unique ways. The students at the Grand Rapids Child Discovery Center come from extremely diverse backgrounds and experiences, yet all of our children respond to our approach in similar ways - with vibrance, joy, productivity, construction, sincerity, and energy! This picture was taken at our annual Fall Celebration. This photo booth was designed to not only be fun, but connect with our belief and practice of documentation. Recording our story in multiple ways helps us develop our rationale and provide evidence for school experiences and environments such as ours. - emm
....The rendering you see here is our plan for converting our current 3 acre site from 75% impervious surfacing to a maximum of 30%, and create not just a playground, but a true outdoor learning environment. Currently, the building, sidewalks, and extensive asphalt parking lot make up 3/4 of our footprint. Our current location in the heart of Grand Rapids, combined with our belief in sustainable and ecologically sensitive environments, makes redevelopment of our site not only a value-add for our city, but imperative in helping the Grand Rapids Child Discovery Center carry out its academic mission, vision and principles. We have begun working with local agencies and foundations to strategic raise funds and generate ideas for how best to see our dream and concept become a reality. We are watching with great interest the progress and development of the Pleasant Park project a few blocks away on Heritage Hill and hope to see progress on our site in the near future. We view our role not only in the educational landscape, but as a partner in the social and cultural fabric of our larger community. One of our guiding principles is the importance of relationships and collaboration, this project is evidence of our attempt at each of these. - emm
Individual student MEAP letters will be mailed to parents this week. In anticipation of this, I wanted to share some thoughts on the MEAP and standardized testing in general to help provide some perspective of how this affects all of us. First and foremost, we are a Reggio-inspired school, dedicated to the education, growth, development and well-being of over 200 students. At the same time, we have been, since our founding a public school, open and accessible to all who seek a progressive, child-centered learning experience. In order to remain as a Reggio-inspired school, we must satisfy the mandates and requirements that all other public schools must recognize, which are many, but the most significant is standardized testing, and for our school, this is the Michigan Education Assessment Program - also known as the MEAP. The test really is not the great evil many have made it out to be. It assesses the standards and criteria that students are expected to learn, and teachers are expected to teach – Reading, Writing, Math, Science and Social Studies. All of which are necessary to have a successful and productive life regardless of the path one chooses. While I accept the MEAP, and the other requirements the MDE and Federal government place upon us, I do NOT for one moment feel our test scores define us, our mission, or our programs. Yes, we are much more than test scores. The trouble is, our approach and practice is best described in qualitative [descriptive] terms. We can tell and share all about the Reggio-Emilia Approach, and the amazing work our children engage in and create, but our government, the entity that provides us with funding to carry out our vision and implement our principles, will only do so with quantitative measures [e.g. test scores, balance sheets] that show evidence of student achievement and fiscal responsibility. Yes, at the end of the day, as parents and as educators, we just want our children to be happy, but we also want the best for them, and this cannot be obtained without education. Education is the one thing that can never be taken away, and if we have a choice in how our children are to be educated, we know a Reggio-inspired education is the best choice, especially in Grand Rapids. It is encouraging however, to share with our community the achievements of the last three years, when we have seen steady improvement in many areas, especially the language arts and science. As we complete our transition to the Common Core and work to grow our school, we have no doubts these upward trends will continue. We are planning strategically to meet the challenges and goals.
It is ironic that these two distinctions [public and Reggio-inspired] are sometimes difficult to reconcile when one thinks of the origin of the schools in Reggio-Emilia. There, the schools have always been public, supported by the local community, free and open for the last 50 years. There is however, an important point to remember;-the Approach was developed for use with infants and toddlers. In Italy the infant and toddler centers continue to be the predominant model. Only in the last few years have the leaders of the Approach been piloting implementation of their practice in the elementary school system. While in Italy, we visited elementary schools in which the Approach was being implemented, and just as we discovered in Arizona, I found great validation for the work we are doing right here in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It is unique, it is amazing, and it is successful. Thank you for helping make it even more so.
Just a fun image for a chilly Sunday - the "Snow Cat" was made my some parents and children at our school in honor of Stripes - our school cat, local reaident of the Grand Rapids Child Discovery Center for over 10 years now - check back tomorrow for some new thoughts on the Reggio Experience in America - you can also now follow our school activity on Twitter at GRChild - #GRCDCreggio, #reggioapproach, or #reggiochildren thank you to all who follow this Blog - emm
