The decision to expand Cliff Valley School through 8th grade was preceded by years of study and research on preschool – 8th grade school structures and the academic, social, and emotional needs of adolescent learners.   Included in our research was the position paper This We Believe: Keys to Educating Young Adolescents from the AMLE, a paper that is referenced in the post above.

What was exciting to us at Cliff Valley during our research and preparation for expansion was the realization that the recommended best practices for adolescent learners were things we had been doing well for years.   In that sense, we were not trying to create or do something new.  Rather, we were extending our high quality and developmentally appropriate programs and best practices three additional years to meet the needs of adolescent learners in a part of Metro Atlanta that’s been asking for educational alternatives for years.

The post above affirms that we’re still on the right track.

I love the work I do each day at Cliff Valley School.  In fact, I rarely think of it as work.  To me, I am part of a beautiful business — the business of creating and delivering an outstanding, and often life-changing, education and experience for our students and their families.

It’s a Business — We offer a “product” and services, and we need to attract and retain customers who want what we offer.  If we don’t attract and satisfy our customers, we go out of business.  We expect high performance from all faculty and staff, and we strive to deliver outstanding customer service each day.  And while we are dead serious about high quality work and outstanding performance, that’s accomplished in a positive, fun, collegial working environment.

It’s Beautiful — Our goal is to help our students become the most comprehensively well-rounded students they can be.  Strong core academic programs are accompanied by extensive enrichment programs designed to help students grow in the visual arts, foreign language, environmental education, and music.  Athletic programs enhance physical development, and connections with students and organizations overseas, as well as international trips at 5th and 8th grade, give our students a global perspective and invaluable life-experience.  Social and emotional development, and associated skills such as conflict resolution, problem solving, and public speaking, are critical components as well.

The end result is an exceptional educational experience for students, a productive and positive working environment for faculty and staff, and an engaging and positive customer experience for parents.

I used the term life-changing above.  I’ve had teachers tell me working here is the best decision they’ve made, that it’s rewarding both personally and professionally.  At Cliff Valley we’ve seen students transform from being shy with low self-confidence to confident and active leaders and role models.  I’ve had families come to me to say that enrolling their child at Cliff Valley is the best thing they’ve done, that it’s changed the quality of their family life and interactions at home, and that it’s the best money they spend.  To me, all of this illustrates what I mean by a beautiful business.

Unlike in the public sector, money is not just delivered to an independent school because students are there.  Independent schools have to attract and retain paying customers.  The incentive to earn someone’s business, and the opportunity and responsibility to offer better customer service and a better product to consumers, are the core of the private school advantage.  In terms of accountability, it means that independent schools face the same standard that businesses do: offer a great product or service that people want to buy, or go out of business.

Here are some key components of the advantage private schools can leverage:

• Without teacher tenure and unions, independent schools can expect outstanding performance from teachers and ensure it is delivered each year.  Teachers who do not meet expectations can, and should, be replaced.  Excellence is expected and delivered; mediocrity is not protected.
• Teachers can offer great customer service to students and parents.  That translates into high-quality, engaging teaching that helps each student learn, develop, and make progress each year.  Parents should receive high-quality, professional and regular communications from teachers about what is going on in school and how their children are progressing.
• Administration should ensure excellent customer service in the forms of clear, frequent, and meaningful communications to parents; smooth and well-organized operations for parents and students; and attentiveness and timely responses to parent feedback and concerns.

It’s important to note that while this advantage is available to private schools, many do not seize the opportunity.  If you are exploring school options for your child, see if schools you are researching exercise some of the key components above.  There’s no excuse if they are not; it would just be their unwillingness or inability to leverage a distinct private school advantage.

In my opinion and experience, this opportunity is most important for bright students who often coast through school with few challenges.  Experiencing a challenge, struggling, making mistakes, and dealing with the associated frustration prepares bright students for challenges they will experience at some point in school, college, graduate school, work, and in life in general.   We do them a disservice by not allowing them to experience this.

But letting students learn from their mistakes is not a responsibility for teachers and schools alone.  It needs to begin at home, but unfortunately, many parents try to protect their children from mistakes and struggles, not because they don’t want them to learn, but because it can be difficult to watch a child struggle.

So parents, let your children make mistakes.  Embrace struggles and difficulties as opportunities to let your child learn, grow, and develop.  Children are resilient — they can handle more than you might think, and they will learn from their experiences. 

Here are some ways to do this at home with your children:

• Do less for your child.  Encourage independence, and be okay with the result.
• Let your child do homework on her/his own.  Check for completion, but do not correct mistakes.  Teachers get better information when children do the work, and children will take pride in their own accomplishments.
• Don’t solve problems for your child.  Your child forgot her spelling list at school?  She doesn’t have the book she needs to finish an assignment?  Encourage her to talk with the teacher about it and let them work it out.  No matter the result, your child will learn from the process and be equipped for future situations.
• Rather than simply answering questions, encourage your child to look for and find answers to questions and problems.  Responses like, “I’m not sure, what do you think?” and “How do you think we could figure that out?” or “Where could we find that information?” empower children to be problem solvers and learn to rely less on others.

The decision to expand Cliff Valley School through 8th grade was preceded by years of study and research on preschool – 8th grade school structures and the academic, social, and emotional needs of adolescent learners.  We summarized key findings important to our decision in a document called Why Pre-K – 8?

In addition, the Association for Middle Level Education (formerly the National Middle School Association) has published a position paper on the keys to educating young adolescents.  Instrumental in the decision to expand our programs was the realization that we were already, and had been for many years, providing the type of environment and programming described in the paper.

You will spend a lot of time and effort researching and applying to private schools, so here are some tips to help you find the right private school for your child:

• Clearly define the type of learning environment you want for your child.  Some schools are traditional, others more progressive, and these approaches result in significant differences in the classrooms.

• Do your own research.  Visit websites and schools, and take time to observe in classrooms.  See how teachers work with students and what a school’s climate feels like.  See if you can picture your child in that environment.

• Remember that you will be part of the school community, too, so make sure it feels right to you and that you understand the role of parents in the school community.

• Take time to make your own judgments.  Word of mouth recommendations are great, but remember that in every school, while most families feel very good about their experience, some families will be less than positive.  Be wary of comments like, “My brother’s neighbor’s co-worker’s nephew went to that school, and it was horrible.”  Find out for yourself.

• Remember that it is unlikely that a school will meet 100% of your expectations, so prioritize what is most important.  If a school has everything you want except a pool, you might need to consider the YMCA. 

• During the entire admission process, try to maintain an open, positive attitude about the schools to which you apply.  Strategically, you will want to apply to several schools, and you need to be able to feel good about accepting an offer from your 3rd choice school if that ends up being your best option.

What sets Cliff Valley School apart from other private schools in Atlanta?  Here are a some notable differentiators:

• A staffing model that features co-teachers in each class and a teaching assistant in grades K-8.
• Highly differentiated, small group instruction.  With two teachers and a TA in each class, students spend 80-90% of their days in small groups, and only 1/2 of a class at a time goes to enrichments like art, Spanish, music, and Outdoor Classroom.
• An Outdoor Classroom program that focuses on environmental education and conservation and essentially serves as a second science program for students.
• A global perspective for students cultivated through opportunities for students to learn about and make connections with people around the world, including international trips for 5th and 8th graders.
• A commitment to developing comprehensively prepared students by offering programming that develops them academically, socially, emotionally, artistically, and athletically.

Instrumental in the decision to expand our programs was the realization that we were already, and had been for many years, providing the type of environment and programming described in the paper.