I am delighted to announce that Janelle Bradley will serve as the next Director of the Middle School. Those of you who have had the opportunity to work with Ms. Bradley have probably seen in her some of the same things I have seen: she is a deeply thoughtful educator who knows how to put students first. In her, I see the traits of some of the best educators I have known: she sees in young people the light they may not yet see in themselves, and she finds ways everyday to help young people feel valued, seen, and heard.
Before coming to Latin, Ms. Bradley served for four years as a high school counselor in Baltimore City and then served as the Assistant Director of DC Prep’s college access program. In her two years at Latin, she has brought tremendous partnership, leadership, and love to our Middle School. She has formed strong relationships with faculty, families, and students. She also did a tremendous job last summer leading our largest ever summer school session. With over 500 students enrolled across both divisions, she led a successful model that in many ways informed our virtual schooling this fall.
I look forward to continuing my partnership with Ms. Bradley and am excited that she has agreed to take on this role! Together, with each of you, we will work to continue to deliver on the promise of this school – to see the light in each young person who walks through our doors and to help them to realize their fullest potential as students and citizens.
The schoolwide spelling bee resulted in a three-way tie between eighth grader Niamh O’Donovan, seventh grader Reva Kelly, and sixth grader Gideon Chaffee. These three will proceed to the Cluster Bee, which will be on the online platform in which they will compete against spellers from other nearby schools. Kelly and O’Donovan both attended the Citywide Bee last year.
Upper school students have continued to evaluate scientific ideas using hands-on labs and experiments. Students will be showcasing some of their research in February at the digital science fair. Recently senior Hawa Sturr conducted an experimental taste test of organic vs store bought fruits for A.P. Environmental Science with her sister and two senior peers in her quarantine bubble. They correctly guessed which was which at about an 80 to 90 percent success rate, across 4 different fruits and a beverage. The organic products were all produced within 100 miles from DC, and the store bought were all shipped from over 500 miles from DC.
In Wednesday’s Dialogues Across Differences workshops, students and teachers reflected on the ideas of sympathy and empathy. Students role played various conversations with teachers and friends and considered how to respond to issues showcasing empathy. The ongoing Wednesday discussion series has allowed students in small groups to meet with a trusted adult and several peers to share ideas about identity, diversity, stereotyping, friendship, and acceptance. This middle school-wide program was developed over the last two years to build deeper, more honest conversations and allow students to develop a sense of community and shared humanity and help learn productive ways to respond to discrimination.
In Mr. Bhuva’s sophomore history class, students will be starting a unit on WWI with a Harkness discussion to figure out who is to blame for WWI, based on all of these contradictory primary source texts. Students will use two primary sources to evaluate in their discussion. One will be the “Blank Cheque,” a telegram from 1914 front he Imperial Chancellor, Von Bethemann-Hollweg, to the German Ambassador at Vienna. They will also read a letter entitled “Austria Hungary’s Ultimatum to Serbia” from the following month to evaluate the twin perspectives on the rising tensions in the run-up to the war. Students will also view a timeline of events leading up to the declaration of war in August 1914. By evaluating a wide variety of primary sources, history teachers allow students to view historical events through different lenses, rather than simply reading a summary in a textbook.
