Page 33 - Priorities #67 2017 Spring

“It’s like a many-headed hydra. All the teachers are fighting for more time with kids. They each feel their subject matter is most important. And that’s who we want teaching, because of their passion.”
reflection is key.
As a Benedictine school in high-octane Silicon Valley,
Priory has long had a paradoxical identity. Now those famil- iar tensions—between old and new, wisdom and informa- tion, a reflective stance and a rush into the future—and our insights into how to manage them make us uniquely suited to guide other schools forward.
“We could be a national leader in the conversation,” Mr. Schlaak says, “If we do it well.”
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feel their subject matter is most important. And that’s who we want teaching, because of their passion.” Everyone has the best of intentions, he explains, but the problem tends to crop up over and over again.
That’s where The Edward E. Ford Foundation came in. The organization’s stated mission is to “strengthen and sup- port independent secondary schools and to challenge and inspire them to leverage their unique talents, expertise and resources to advance teaching and learning throughout this country.” A prestigious E. E. Ford grant, highly sought after in the education world, allows schools like Priory to identi- fy best practices, collaborate with other schools, and share what works.
In mid-2016, Priory applied and was awarded a $50,000 matching grant around the core principle of balance by the Ford Foundation, whose people were genuinely excited about the concept. If all went well, they said, Priory might be considered for a $250,000 Leadership Grant to further the work.
The purpose of the initial grant is threefold: to ana- lyze the impact of the changes Priory has already made around the principle of balance; to host a summer collo- quium where schools can share ideas on the subject; and to support professional development, so faculty members can keep on learning.
But before any money could be received, the Priory community needed to match the grant amount through its
own fundraising efforts. That turned out to be easy. Once word got out, the match was exceeded in less than a month. “It shows you how invested parents are in addressing these issues,” says Mr. Schlaak.
In September, the newly formed Priory Balance Com- mittee met for the first time, with each member of the group offering a unique perspective. Kindra Briggs and Amy Payne are representing the faculty, Nancy Newman the Priory trustees, and Matt Lai and Brian Schlaak the admin- istration. Kawai Lai brings experience from the National Association for Independent Schools (NAIS), Yvonne Faisal will facilitate, and Campus Minister Molly Buccola aims to articulate Benedictine wisdom for the group.
That task—defining balance from a Benedictine per- 33 spective—is not a simple one, but the Rule holds clues.
“Nothing harsh, nothing burdensome,” Benedict counsels.
Ora et labora is the balance of prayer and work. Time for
1. The Balance Committee pictured l-r: Brian Schlaak, Barbara Humphery, Adam Siler, Molly Buccola, Yvonne Faisal, Matt Lai, Amy Payne, and Kindra Briggs. (Not pictured Kawai Lai and Nancy Newman.)
2. An example of balance in the classroom: making mandalas in Ms. Saddler’s theology class.
3. Enjoying chocolate fondue in Ms. Ghazal’s French class.
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BALANCE