October 3, 2005

Dear Friends,

From the opening convocation to the board retreat, this month has crystallized as an important new beginning for The Bay School. We are already telling tales about the mythical, prehistoric year in the Cavalry Building, which will become more and more elaborate as the years go by. The stories we are writing now reflect an important duality in the school today, between living happily ever after and maintaining the adventure.

Living Happily Ever After

A major task for the next three years is to stabilize the school's finances, complete our physical needs, increase enrollment to at least three hundred in four grades, complete the faculty, complete the junior/senior curriculum, and establish the internship/research, apprenticeship programs. Issues of accreditation and college placement/test preparation, well under way, are being addressed in a timely and professional manner. We need to fill the shelves in the library, refine the lap-top program, and integrate service learning in innovative ways. All of these are "on the list" and being taken care of by people we can trust to be thoughtful in analysis and elegant in providing solutions.

Maintaining the Adventure

All of us who have become part of this venture are people of courage, patience, and hope. One of my greatest fears is that as we become successful and stable, we will begin to lose our edge. Building a school around the needs of 2040 is all very well. Now it is time to start thinking about 2050, and to create a culture in which challenge, re-invention, and visionary thinking are the norm.

I believe that my task these next three years is to lead you in the dance-the dance between growing up, becoming a settled, orderly place on the one hand, and a place of reinvention, courage and risk-taking on the other.

It should be fun.

Yours very sincerely,
Father Malcolm

A Second Year's Beginning
Ryn Blecke, Academic Dean

Fall 2005 has again brought a number of new things to The Bay School: a magnificent permanent campus, new and rising expectations, and new and deepened ways of coming together as a school community. One of the most invigorating and stimulating additions to The Bay School is our new faculty. The eight experienced educators who have joined our founding faculty come from across the country - literally, from Hawaii to Massachusetts, and bring with them a total of 36 years of teaching experience and great dedication to their profession. Each of them has fit seamlessly into The Bay School community, bringing great enthusiasm and commitment to the school's mission and its student body. Already, our freshmen and sophomores can be overheard in the hallways sharing anecdotes about a teacher's funny personality, or giving a lively description of the amazing thing that they have experienced in class. Bay School legends are created daily.

Another exciting change in the area of academics is the dramatic growth in The Bay School curriculum. We have expanded upon the four arts electives that were offered last year, offering eleven different electives this year. Some of the new arts courses include Jazz Ensemble, Painting, Video Production, Drawing and Design, and Dances of Latin America. Not only have we expanded our Digital Arts, Drama, Studio Arts, and Dance programs - the school's music program is beinglaunched in fall 2005. Other curricular areas are growing as well. The new sophomore level writing and research course, titled Research and the Community, builds upon the foundation of Writing Workshop, required of students in their freshman year, and instructs them in more sophisticated research methodology, while incorporating the investigation of community needs and issues surrounding us in the Bay Area.

Finally, we have recently submitted our application to the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), the accrediting body for all California schools. WASC will review our in-depth report, make a formal visit to the school, and should award our accreditation later in the fall. We are off to a very auspicious start to our second year.

Time for Learning - Re-Flections on a Re-Discovery
Bill Brown, Humanities

Some years ago, at another school, I presented a paper called "Time in Learning, Learning in Time." The paper addressed the value of time in formal educational settings, such as schools. The project taught me that, specifically, we need time for three activities that I now see as central to successful learning. We need time to observe, time to consider, and time to create.

This past year, at The Bay School, I was unexpectedly, yet quite powerfully reminded of this idea. Our school community had planned to see the final Star Wars movie together. To accommodate this adventure, all classes had been halved in length. We ended up with forty-minute sessions, rather than the regular eighty. I was thoroughly surprised by the effect that this reduction had on our work that day. No sooner had we greeted each other, reviewed yesterday's activities and the new day's agenda, as well as begun our discussion, than it was time to pack up. After nine months of the longer rhythm at The Bay School, I discovered a dramatic difference between it and the class length to which I had grown accustomed during years of teaching. This difference, I should add, is clearly qualitative in nature, and the improved quality corresponds elegantly to the school's mission and precepts.

On this particular day in Humanities, we were scheduled to continue work with Chinua Achebe's novel, Things Fall Apart - set in traditional Nigerian villages in the 1880s. Our theme was justice. After greetings, reviews and introductions, each student wrote (in a journal) an answer to one of four questions about a trial scene in the novel. Afterwards, individuals began sharing their responses with the group. Each question was keyed to a different learning style. For example, one asked for a physical description of the trial itself, while another asked how you would have decided the case. Still another asked what beliefs underlie the court's traditions, and so on. Students had the chance to address the question that best fit their inclinations-or, they would have, had the class run its usual length. The plan had been to develop a holistic understanding of the trial by allowing an open and respectful exchange of different views on the subject. This takes time. Shorter classes place a premium on fast answers and confident talkers. Genuinely full discussions, actually productive exchanges-these require time. That's simply the way it is.

Accept no substitutes. When, through trial and error, people are genuinely trying to construct meaning with speech, and when others are authentically listening to these attempts, time passes. Schools need to provide safe arenas for these activities.

When such exchanges occur, several of The Bay School's precepts become evident. Consider just one of them here: "We value patience with ourselves and others; we don't rush to judgment." A school's social architecture, which includes class length and other scheduling elements, can contribute to rushing. On the other hand, when everyone in the class knows that we have time to let someone speak; our understanding of an issue becomes as rich as the diverse ideas expressed. Keep in mind that the true measurement of our diversity is not how many people speak, but how well we listen. To echo words from the school's mission, what matters most in the long run is the depth of the exchange rather than its breadth. In modern American spirituality and politics, we see significant examples of impatience and rushing to judgment. The same holds true for ancient societies, in the Near East and elsewhere. We have a responsibility to study such examples and learn from them.

Finally, patience and rushed judgment are not issues just in Humanities or Languages. Science and Math, for example, depend on close observation, postponed conclusions, and cooperative endeavor. Art, as another example, goes nowhere unless the artist has taken the time to see-unless that artist is present to his or her experience. The brain learns best when it can link new information to existing knowledge. I am grateful for my re-discovery, my learning, on the day we saw the movie together. While I know that other schools also have long classes, I am beginning to understand how the undeniable benefits of such sessions are woven into the fabric of The Bay School's mission and precepts. It's about time.

Bill Brown teaches Humanities and Writing Workshop at The Bay School.

The Bay School Board of Trustees Fall Retreat
Gigi Coe, Chair

Fall is, as the beginning of the school year, a time to reflect, assess, and set out anew. The Bay School Board of Trustees did just this in a two day retreat in mid September held, happily, in the new and very large conference room at the south end of the administrative wing of our new campus. What a thrill it was to sit in the midst of this wonderful creation as we began to assess our next steps.

It is clear that this board has no intention of resting. As gorgeous as the new campus is, and as proud as we are of the faculty, the administration, the families, and particularly the students who have chosen to link their futures with The Bay School, our intent is to begin immediately to chart the course of our next five years. Inherent in the culture of this school is constant re-examination, reflection, and reinvention. Academic Dean Ryn Blecke Fleisher gave an excellent presentation highlighting the many ways in which these qualities are incorporated into the design of the academic program. The board's job is to take up that task at the governing level while sustaining the entrepreneurial energy that has brought us this far.

What Grew Out of the Board Retreat?

The board reflected upon and unanimously expressed its enthusiastic support of The Bay School's distinct mission. Both national and international events continue to underscore the need for future leaders who are highly literate in the sciences and technology, are literate in global religious and value systems, and are well trained and courageous enough to face, with compassion, highly complicated problems. Thus, the mission seems even more relevant and important now than it was when we designed and adopted it in 2001. The living and breathing heart of our mission - the "how" not the "what" - manifests itself in the school's guiding precepts. Developed by Father Malcolm and Teah Strozer, our Buddhist chaplain, our precepts extend the mission to the day to day interactions which define who we are.

The board once again committed itself to the importance of athletics as part of our comprehensive college preparatory program. This summer saw the completion of an agreement with the Presidio YMCA for use of the Letterman Gym as our home gym for the next two years. We look forward to a prosperous and long term relationship with the "Y" which is already serving as our weight room and fitness center. Next task is to determine the best design for the Crissy Field seaplane hanger which we have under contract with the Presidio Trust to develop into a gym/field house. Potential uses include tennis, indoor soccer, box lacrosse, indoor track, as well as the traditional indoor sports. We expect also to partner with other organizations, notably the YMCA youth program, for use when the facility is not needed for school purposes. Our goal is to have this facility retrofitted by the fall of 2007. The astounding success of Bay athletic teams so far has shown us that sports are a vital part of our school community.

Naturally, the gym isn't free. Based on extensive discussions among board members, our courageous Development Committee will lead significant fundraising efforts over the next two years. We are determined and confident that we can meet our goal.

Although the gym is an important part of the fundraising efforts ahead, there is also money to be raised in another important area. Central to The Bay School's mission, and thus our fundraising program, has been the Opportunity Fund, which provides financial aid given to students who would otherwise not be able to attend Bay. From the beginning, the board has believed that in order to achieve a truly diverse community - diverse in spirit, in economic and ethnic background, and in the neighborhoods students come from - we had to begin with a diverse enrollment. Thus, the Opportunity Fund was launched long before the school opened and will continue long after our first class graduates. With the continued commitment of the entire Bay community, it will continue throughout the life of our school.

Finally, the board committed to reconvene for a retreat this spring to begin a long term planning process. Fortunately, the future opportunities provided by our extraordinary location and our growing community are limitless. Stay tuned, so much more to follow.

On the Mark…
Steve Glass, Athletic Director

Bay School sports teams and activity classes are off to great starts in this, our second year. On the volleyball court, The Bay School has nineteen enthusiastic girls playing on the freshman/sophomore and junior varsity teams. At press time it is exciting to announce that the JV team is off to a successful start with three wins and one loss, and the frosh/ soph team has one win and no losses. First year coaches, Jim Scrivano and Nicole Flores, are thrilled about the way their JV team is rapidly developing. Coach Scrivano adds, "I think this team is already on track to make some noise when we join the Bay Counties League (BCL) next year as a varsity squad."

Out on the trails, the second year Bay School cross country program continues to aggressively train, taking full advantage of our beautiful surroundings in the Presidio. Despite battles with injuries and illnesses, the team made a strong showing at the Lowell Invitational meet held on September 17th. A new Bay School record was set on the challenging two mile course winding through Golden Gate Park. Cross country coach Erin Lapping looks for marked improvement from her five promising runners as the season progresses. They will be joining high school runners from across the Bay Area on Sunday, October 2nd competing in the Bridge to Bridge run, and on Saturday, October 8th for the Crystal Springs Invitational meet.

On the soccer pitch, the boys' soccer program continues to grow and develop - this year under the leadership of our own Matt Hannibal (Head Coach and Co-Director of Admissions), and Spencer Stevens (Assistant Coach, and Biology teacher). This year's roster features twenty two determined athletes. So far this season the soccer team has earned two ties playing against challenging teams from Urban and JHS. Coach Hannibal reports: "The boys are really beginning to come together as a team both on and off of the field. The sophomores have stepped up to set a positive tone for the new students, and new freshmen additions to the team have given us some added speed on the wings. With twenty-two students out for this year's squad, we are focused on building a solid foundation for both a JV and Varsity program as we look forward to competing in the BCL next year."

And finally, out on the links, the newest addition to The Bay School athletic program this fall is our girls' golf team. Taking full advantage of the beautiful championship course in close proximity to campus here in the Presidio, our four golfers are being trained by head golf professional Pat Jones. Following intensive skills training this season the team looks forward to competing in tournaments in the fall of 2006.

Bay School students not playing on sports teams are able to choose from a wide range of non-competitive activities that meet four days each week, before and after the academic day. On campus in the afternoons Paula Plessas, Bay School dance teacher, leads a group of eight students engaged in the yoga program while Dennis Hartzell trains eleven students in the martial arts. At the Presidio terrace tennis courts nearby Julie Taufaasau (Spanish) coaches eleven students in tennis. Out on San Francisco Bay, Physics teacher Tom Henning accompanies twelve Bay School sailors as they build their skills on the water through our sailing program in conjunction with the St.Francis Yacht Club.

On the early shift at 7a.m. mathematics teacher Andy Shaw can be found at the Letterman pool along with four Bay students swimming laps, while Spanish/French teacher Shellie Banks leads early morning weight training and fitness exercises at the Main Post YMCA. Later in the afternoons, Humanities teacher Bill Brown accompanies fifteen students while they are working out.

Bay School Community Notes
Moneeka Settles, Dean of Students

Bay School community life is off to a dynamic start at the beginning of this, our second year. Our freshmen and sophomores responded quickly and with great concern to the Hurricane Katrina crisis in New Orleans by selling Mardi Gras beads and baked goods - raising over $600. They chose to donate the proceeds to The Tides Foundation Rapid Response Fund; a Presidio based non-profit organization providing supplies to the many thousands of evacuees left homeless as a result of the storm. In addition, Bay School students have continued their involvement as stewards of our immediate environment through weekly cleaning and recycling rotations within the school and through their morning of volunteer grounds work within the Presidio, pulling out invasive species, studying the archeological work nearby, and planting native species as part of the orientation program at the start of the school year.

Watching zombies, throwing Frisbees, engaging in debates, and repairing bikes! What do these have in common? Clubs!

Each club meets weekly and all offer students the opportunity to pursue a personal passion in more depth. This year's expanded list of clubs includes: Student Council, Bike Repair, Chess, Yearbook, Literary Magazine, Break Dance, Fantasy Gaming, Amnesty International, Social Events Planning Committee, Debating, Frisbee, and the Zombie Film Club. A majority of our students have chosen to become members of one or more clubs, indicating both a deep level of interest and high level of enthusiasm. The social club is planning the first all school dance of the year with a Halloween theme, and the student council sponsored and organized fundraising efforts to aid the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Orientation and Convocation- An Exciting Start to the 2005-06 School Year!

60 Bay School freshmen and 63 sophomores began their '05-'06 school year attending two days of orientation activities on August 25th and 26th. The freshman class of 2009 gathered for the first time on Thursday morning. Following an introduction to the school's mission and precepts given by Father Malcolm and chaplain, Teah Strozer, the group set off on a scavenger hunt that took students in, out, around, and all through the new 35 Keyes Avenue campus - learning important information about their teachers, the school program and facility in the process. At lunchtime the freshmen were introduced to their faculty advisors, and the afternoon was spent getting to know each other by working in groups to create skits that were later performed for the class and faculty.

Friday August 26th welcomed the arrival of the returning sophomore class. After an all-school meeting the freshmen headed off on their first Presidio work project - cleaning up and protecting the native habitats at four different sites spread across the national park. Sophomores, meanwhile, met with their advisors to discuss the many different aspects of the transition to a new campus and student body including a class of entering freshmen. The two classes came together for lunch, paired up as freshman/sophomore buddies, and then spent the afternoon signing up for athletic activities and book groups - ending the day in small group discussions.

Monday, August 29th was the first day of classes of the 2005-06 academic year and its highlight was an all-school convocation ceremony attended by Bay School students, faculty, staff, trustees, families, and local dignitaries. Craig Middleton, Executive Director of the Presidio Trust addressed the Bay School audience - welcoming us to the Presidio neighborhood and encouraging the students to take full advantage of the numerous opportunities available to them while attending school in the midst of the nation's largest urban national park. He expressed the hope that this new generation of high school students would begin a lifelong commitment to preserving and supporting the magnificent resources surrounding them.

Profile of The Bay School Student Body - Classes of 2008 and 2009:

• Students hailed from 55 different middle schools, 67% from independent schools and 33% from public and parochial schools.
• 64% of Bay School students live in San Francisco, 29% in Marin County, 6% on the Peninsula, and 1% in the East Bay.
• Students contribute a broad range of interests, abilities, cultural, and economic backgrounds.

Author Jeanne Watasuki Houston Visits The Bay School

On Thursday, September 8th, The Bay School community assembled for its first all-school gathering - a talk given by noted Bay Area writer Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, author of Farewell to Manzanar, an autobiographical chronicle of her family's attempt to survive the trials and indignities of their forced internment at the Manzanar War Relocation Center from 1942 through 1945. Her presence was especially meaningful to her Bay School audience because the book had been read over the summer by the entire school community as part of the summer reading program.

Jeanne Houston's personal chronicle of her early childhood spent as one of 10,000 internees at Manzanar is simultaneously full of humor and affection contrasted by fear and sadness. Her personal story also has a special direct connection to The Bay School because it was on the second floor of our historic campus building, 35 Keyes Avenue, that Lt. General John L. Dewitt ordered the internment of 110,000 Japanese and Japanese-American citizens in February 1942, following the bombing of U.S. naval bases at Pearl Harbor. Jeanne Houston's story and the memory of thousands of other Japanese -Americans will live on at The Bay School as General DeWitt's office is restored to its original setting and opened as a multi-cultural museum during the next few years.

Jonathan Mooney Inspires the Bay School Community

Bay School students, faculty, and staff resoundingly applauded dyslexic writer and activist Jonathan Mooney as he concluded his all school talk on Tuesday afternoon, September 16th. Mooney, a graduate of Brown University in the Class of 2000 who holds an honors degree in English Literature, did not learn to read until the age of 12. At the age of 23 his first book titled Learning Outside the Lines was published and is now in its eighth printing. Jonathan has established himself as one of the foremost leaders in the field of learning disabilities/ADHD and alternative education in the U.S. What is perhaps most remarkable about Jonathan Mooney is his personal and dynamic connection with young people.

The Bay School was a co-sponsor of Mr. Mooney's week-long visit to San Francisco during which he spoke to students and faculty at four schools as well as making an evening presentation open to parents, students, and educators. Consistent with our educational philosophy at The Bay School, Jonathan Mooney encourages all of us to embrace our talents and gifts while also understanding and honoring our needs and differences.

For more information please visit his website at: www.jonathanmooney.com

From the Stacks - Library News
Rachel Shaw, Librarian

Pleasure reading, for many teens, is an activity that is often pretty low on their list of things to do for fun. Even if they enjoyed reading as a child, by the time high school rolls around, many teens would rather do any of 100 other things than pick up a book. And, unlike that in elementary school, the typical high school curriculum does little to encourage reading 'just for fun'. As Bay School educators, we believe that it is important for teenagers to have the opportunity to read purely for pleasure as part of their high school experience as it helps to establish a habit that will continue throughout their lives. This is where book group comes in. Students read a book for fun and discuss that book with their peers; more like a book club, less like a literature class.

Bay School Book Group Basics

Bay School book groups meet every week on Tuesdays from 10 am to 10:30 am. Students are divided into eight sections and meet in various rooms throughout the school. One faculty or staff member is assigned to each section to facilitate discussion and group skills, and to oversee and assess group discussions.

One of the most crucial factors in success of the program is that students are free to choose what books they would like to read. The library provides booklists and book suggestions to assist students in making their choices, and books are provided by the school. Groups are between 4 and 6 students and are formed around the desire to read a particular book. Group discussions are entirely student run. Faculty members do not participate in the discussions but may help a group if they are having a hard time getting started. Students read two books each term - reading each book over a four week period, discussing the book with their group each week during the academic day.

View current book group reading list.

Admissions Season Is Under Way — The Admissions Office has been busy!

When not on the phone, attending high school fairs, on the road presenting to 8th grade classes at schools throughout the Bay Area, or preparing for open houses, the Admissions team has been spending much of its time preparing for campus visits by interested 8th graders that are scheduled to begin in early October. Throughout the fall, we expect to welcome more than 1,200 visitors to our open house events and more than 600 students visiting The Bay School campus to shadow classes and meet our students and faculty members.

Many Bay School parents and students have helped so far preparing application packets, entering addresses, sealing envelopes, metering letters, and even loading up cars for the trip to the post-office. We would like to express our deep gratitude to the following wonderful volunteers who have pitched in making our job a little more manageable, and even brought us snacks along the way!.

Bay School Parents
Dawn Adams (Mother of Brittany Momah)
Suzannah Barbour (Mother of Bar Smith)
Kathleen Connelly
Lisa Geisse
Nancy Graalman (Mother of Meg Millhouse)
Randi Haigh
Marcella Jonas (Mother of Nicole Stevenson)
Dee Lawrence
Gail Marshall (Mother of Emma Mallonee)
Mica Saldivar (Mother of Kelsey Ross)
Peggy Scherschligt
Gina Yee

And.

Bay School students: Emma Mallonee, Danny Rice, and Kelsey Ross.

Thank you for your commitment, support, and nimble fingers!

Happy fall,
Nancy & Matt

p.s. We will need additional volunteer help in the upcoming months. Please give us a call at 415.513.4000 to indicate your interest in assisting. Thank you in advance.