To Friends of The Willow School:

   The Mission Statement of a school is the basis for developing its philosophy of education, curriculum, choice of teachers – even its construction of classrooms.  Every word and phrase in the Statement should be replete with importance for us to understand the totality of the school and its significance in raising children academically. 

   In my first Commentary I reflected on “academic excellence,” and it is fitting that I should choose “the joy of learning” for my second commentary. The essential purpose of The Willow School is to combine academic excellence with the joy of learning.  Thus, as we accomplish the rigors of inquiry, study and action, we also induce an eagerness of engagement and a willingness to grow.   

   As always, I invite you to observe this process in action at The Willow School.

	Richard Eldridge Head of School, 2003-2006

The Joy of Learning

   A student said to me this past week, "I wish for one thing – that we had more school!"  Hers is not an isolated opinion.  I see every child here eager to return after a weekend to an academic setting that is exciting, creative, and rewarding. The joy of learning is measured by the degree to which a child is inspired by the climate where learning takes place, when inquiry and search move the student naturally to the next level of understanding.

     When children are allowed to ask questions and make discoveries, intellectual inquiry becomes its own motive. At The Willow School I see this eagerness to acquire knowledge placed in a setting that induces a love of learning.  One child is in awe of the conditions that frogs’ eggs need in order to hatch.  Another child comes to class with a poem composed in her mind, ready to write it down and illustrate it.  Yet another discovers an insight in having read one book that leads to an understanding of another book previously read.  The joy comes from learning intensely and connecting what one has learned to grander patterns and creations.  

     I sense at The Willow School a climate that permits inquiry to occur through discipline and accountability. What we add is the enthusiasm that sets a classroom into joyful discourse of contention and resolution.  The teacher is at the heart of this joy, for in providing the eagerness to share in discovery, she sets the attitude toward learning and models the gratification for intellectual growth.  Together the student and teacher can discuss what it was that made it so much fun.

The second in a series of commentaries by the
Head of The Willow School, February, 2004