As the Upper School President for the 2014-2015 school year, one of my goals was to form an alliance among the independent schools in the city. So on Thursday, September 11th, 2014, the Chapin president Alison Levitt ’15 and I hosted the first inter-school president meeting at Hewitt. 12 independent schools were represented: Hewitt, Chapin, Brearley, Spence, Nightingale, Marymount, Columbia Prep, Horace Mann, Riverdale, Fieldston, Dalton, and Birch Wathen Lenox.
The school presidents were invited to come and talk about their individual student government programs, share their plans-of-action for the school year, and problem solve some of the obstacles they have faced with regard to following through with ideas. Alison and I prepared discussion questions to carry the conversation along, but everyone began to popcorn off of each other as the evening went on.
We talked about different election processes, the structures of our councils, traditions unique to our schools, and ways that we can help make the independent schools a more cohesive unit.
Many presidents mentioned they were struggling to find ways to connect with the middle school, and the Brearley co-presidents, Hannah Waxman ’15 and Katherine Mann ’15, suggested the implementation of “houses.” Each house is made up of middle and upper schoolers based on a personality quiz, and it is a way to bond across grade levels through conversation, activities, and competitions throughout the year. I took note of this idea and plan to institute this.
The use of social media and technology was brought up, as some presidents have their own student council Facebook page where they update about upcoming events and general announcements. The Dalton president, Andrew Milich ’15, added that his school has a phone number that students can text to ask questions like, “What period is it?” and “What’s for lunch?” I have talked to some of the programming students to see if this could be replicated at Hewitt.
Something the council has been struggling with is how to go about selling merchandise. We don’t have a student store, like Columbia Prep, whose president, Brent Romanow ’15, claims, “The student store is like our headquarters.” However, many people chimed in about ordering in bulk and keeping a stock at school. Brent suggested creating a website to allow students to buy merchandise directly by credit card. The council and I have to work on this, but we will definitely take some of these recommendations into account.
Towards the end of the evening, one of the Horace Mann co-presidents, Michael Scherr ’15, brought up the AP class debate. He shared that he believes having AP courses gives his school a “competitive edge,” but the Riverdale and Fieldston presidents argued that their schools have done away with them and are doing much better; students feel less stressed, but they can still opt to take the exams and will probably be prepared enough to do well. This debate was not apart of the agenda Alison and I had planned, but I know the administration has been talking about maybe phasing APs out in coming years. It was interesting to hear students on both sides because their arguments were equally valid.
Overall, the meeting exceeded all of my expectations, and I am happy to have started this tradition. I am hoping to plan another meeting in a few months to check in and see what everybody has accomplished.
Great article, Jessica! I just have one concern, and it’s related to the implementation of a ‘house’ system based on personalities.
Harry Potter separates kids into four personality-based houses, as well. Slytherin: the ambitious, Gryffindor: the brave, Ravenclaw: the smart, and Hufflepuff: the kind. It doesn’t quite work out so well. The Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs tend to feud with the Slytherins (not that they’re not given cause), and the system breaks down into ostensibly ordered chaos.
Were the system being proposed for implementation within the Upper School only, I wouldn’t be worried in the slightest. 9th – 12th graders are more than capable of handling houses based on personality traits.
And I don’t even fear that what happens at Hogwarts will happen with the Hewitt Middle School. The students here are too nice to attack members of a certain house for their defining personality trait. No – my alarm stems from the fact that 4th – 8th graders might see a house labeled “intelligent,” for example, and think that because they’re not in that house, they can’t be intelligent (applying, of course, to any personality-driven house title).
So I guess what I’m trying to say is that if this is executed as written (though I would recommend houses based on something other than personality), make sure that you choose the personality traits very carefully. You don’t want middle schoolers feeling excluded by not having certain traits, and you don’t want them laughing at others for having those traits.
Good luck with all of these ideas!