LETTER FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

Dear Friends of Watershed School,

What do you remember from your middle school and high school experience?

Can you name all the biological classifications: Kingdom, Phylum, . . . Can you recite the quadratic equation? What was the Bull-Moose Party platform? What’s a gerund?

The simple fact is: we teach too many facts. The cup overflows. We cannot possibly retain even a small fraction of what we have been taught in our many years of schooling.

I am big fan of brain research. Increasingly, brain researchers are providing a scientific basis for what many of us have known intuitively for a long time – that we learn best in a multisensory, contextualized learning environment. I asked Watershed School students about what will stick with them from their education, and this is what they told me:

• Our service trip to New Orleans, and our study of what makes a healthy community.
• Our 10-day backpacking trip in the Indian Peaks Wilderness where I learned about ecosystems and myself.
• My independent study starting an equine services business.
• Homestays in Mexico, and the friendships I made there.
• The dawn hike at the Mexico border, and how it helped me better understand the immigrant experience.
• Our trip to Mesa Verde where I learned about anthropology and the culture of the native Puebloans.
• Our “Energy and Sustainability” project getting solar panels installed on our school building.

The point of education, as I see it, is to provide increased opportunities for students, to expand their horizons, and to equip them with skills for success. If we want students to retain what we are teaching, then why wouldn’t we honor the way the brain works? Why keep pouring water into a cup that is already full? Why worry so much about content if, as researchers have proven, something like 80% of it will fade within a year? Don’t get me wrong – concepts are important, big ideas are important, skills are important. But facts alone, and content for content’s sake, are not. It’s quality, not quantity, that really matters.

The “inconvenient truth” of education is that school is primarily an opportunity to practice habits. The question IS…. which habits are we choosing to focus on, which habits are we choosing to teach? Obedience? Consumerism? Stress and sleep deprivation? Test-taking? Competing against my peers? Overfilling the cup? Or: Craftsmanship? Kindness? Curiosity? Collaboration? Integrity? Service to others? Watershed School emphasizes the latter.

When asked about what they want others to know about their experience at Watershed, this is what our students said:

• The depth and quality of my learning at Watershed School has been more than that of any other school.
• We learn a lot about a few things versus a little about a lot of things.
• Everything I learn here I'm really holding onto - I really care about what I am learning.
• I want them to know how much I have learned about myself and my community.

The transition to a new paradigm in education is full of challenges. The path is not always clear, but the direction is unmistakable. This is life-long, life-changing education. This is education that is important for the future of our world.

Please continue to explore our website and please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or want to learn more.

Best Regards,

Jason Berv, Ph.D.
Head of School