Welcome Back for Family Weekend! 

What a joy it is to welcome parents and families to campus during fall in beautiful Farmington! Over the summer, I sent a letter to parents that outlined a plan to share ideas about education and the ways in which Miss Porter’s School continues to be a leader in school change. I decided that a series of blog posts is just the way to keep the community informed and involved in the conversation! 

Academic Programming is Exciting!

Porter’s continues to be an innovator in girls’ education! From mastery education to problem-based curriculum to Advanced Interdisciplinary Seminars, we are #LeadersLeadingLeaders in the academic space. Over Family Weekend, I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible and invite you to learn more about the academic program during the Academic Office’s presentation on Competency-based Mastery Learning.

Sharing the What, Why, and How!

MPS is mission-driven to ensure our students have the education and skills they need to become bold, informed, resourceful, and ethical global citizens. Throughout the year, I will spotlight the innovative ways we are preparing our students for success and fulfillment in a rapidly changing world. Topics will include: 

• A portrait of a Miss Porter’s graduate.
• Education for a changing world.
• What’s competency-based mastery learning?
• The interdisciplinary, problem-based curriculum.
• Mastery transcripts: changing how society views success.  
• Assessing for mastery.
• School schedules that support health and wellness.
• The benefits of Advanced Interdisciplinary Seminar courses.
• Two questions all “elite” private schools must ask.

Leading the Way!

MPS is a model for independent schools in all of the above. Porter’s recently sent a team of administrators to an independent school conference in San Diego. Mark Silver, head of Hillbrook School in Los Angeles, recorded this short podcast about his experience at the conference. It provides a great overview of competency-based mastery learning and the challenges high school students face today. He also talks about how Porter’s is leading the way. It’s worth a listen – thanks for the shoutout, Mark! 

Tim Quinn

Chief Academic Officer