Throngs Join New Head of School to Celebrate Opening Day

On September 6, 2017, an excited throng of students, parents, teachers, and staff members—more than 600 in all—joined Shore's seventh Head of School, Clair Ward, to celebrate the start of the 2017-2018 school year with the traditional Opening Day flag raising.

It was Ward's first Opening Day at Shore. She was elected Head of School in October 2016, and officially assumed that role on July 1, 2017. A Danvers native who attended Danvers public schools, she has amassed a distinguished record of accomplishments as an educator over the past 23 years. In 2000, she was appointed Associate Head of School at the Phillips Brooks School in Menlo Park, California, where she served for eight years before being appointed Head of School of Valley School of Ligonier in 2008. During her nine years at Valley, Ward earned a reputation as a skillful collaborator able to forge successful partnerships with students, families, faculty, staff, and trustees.

At the flag-raising ceremony, it was another of Ward's accomplishments that came to the fore as the crowd gathered in the courtyard around the flagpole. Once a captain of the Danvers High School cheerleading squad, Ward inspired the eager audience with a rousing callout: "I'm so happy to be here! Are you happy to be here?" "Yes!" came the delighted response from students and non-students alike. 

Earlier in the morning, as families began arriving, Ward had stood near the Oval to welcome both new and returning families with handshakes and introductions. Parking areas had quickly filled to capacity as more families arrived, many excited to meet the incoming Head of School on the first day of the new year. Perhaps most pleased to shake hands with Ward were the youngest members of the Shore community, three-and-a-half- to four-year-olds enrolled for the first full year of the school's early Pre-K 1 program. With this expansion of Shore's Pre-K offering, as well as the growing interest in Shore's one-of-a-kind ninth grade year, the school's student population has swelled for the 2017-2018 school year, to just over 400 students.

Now, in the midst of the Opening Day celebration, Ward continued her welcoming remarks to families. She spoke about being new to the Shore community, and asked other students, families, and teachers new to the school to raise their hands in solidarity. Acknowledging the newcomers, she said, "This year, it's going to be especially important for those of you who already know Shore to make an effort to take care of those of us, like me, who are new." Many a nervous Kindergartner, first grader, and parent breathed a sigh of relief as it became clear that Ward, though an experienced head prior to coming to Shore, might have a few first-day jitters, too.

With a smile and natural comedic timing, Ward then drew attention to a number of nametag-style stickers, covered with handwritten words, that were affixed to her dress. She asked the elementary-age students in the front rows, "Can anyone tell me what these stickers are for?" The quickly shouted answer was, "the Community Code!" Ward's remarks turned serious as she talked about the school's code of behavior, a set of shared aspirations to be kind, true, respectful, open, dependable, and one's best. "These six things," Ward said, "are a recipe for how you can take care of someone who is new, and how we can all take care of each other this year."

Then, with the help of selected student representatives and veteran Assistant Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds John Borden, it was time to raise the United States flag and the Shore school flag high for the Pledge of Allegiance. To conclude the ceremony, vocalists sang "America the Beautiful," and Ward shared her best wishes for a happy and successful school year for all.

For Ward, the start of the school year has already seen success: Shore's ambitious new outdoor learning environment—a combination of garden plots, natural landscapes, and seating-in-the-round with a Harkness-style discussion table—is nearly complete, and two additional outdoor spaces, including a wetland classroom and hands-on early-learning discovery space, are on track for later in the year. All three outdoor education areas are part of a larger, all-school push to incorporate new, more robust opportunities for experiential education in the curriculum. Shore's program is already well known for emphasizing service learning and hands-on experience in nature through frequent trips at every age; new outdoor spaces will ensure these types of opportunities are available right on campus, as well.

Not content with diving into just three ambitious projects at the start of the school year, Ward energetically partnered with Head of Lower School Sara Knox and Interim Head of Upper School Walter Morris to begin Shore's implementation of the "Responsive Classroom" methodology, a student-centered model of teaching practice that emphasizes the link between academic success and social-emotional learning. Developed by expert teachers and researchers at the Center for Responsive Schools, a non-profit organization based in Turners Falls, Massachusetts, the methodology consists of practical strategies for helping students build academic and social-emotional competencies day in and day out. Responsive Classroom practices and principles are built around the core belief that in order to be successful in and out of school, students need specific social and emotional competencies such as cooperation, assertiveness, responsibility, empathy, and self control that work in concert with academic growth to allow students to do their best work, and be their best selves.

According to Ward, "Implementing Responsive Classroom ideas at Shore—where many teachers already incorporate the method's core concepts into their highly engaged teaching practices—is just one example of the spirit of innovation and the concern for the well-being of children that drive everything we do. I am beyond excited to begin working with all members of the extraordinary Shore community—parents, teachers, students, and staff—on helping to shape the future of our school."