February 9, 2009

Dear Friends,

Our hearts were all full on January 20th when we sat as a school and watched the inauguration of a new president, and a new era of hope begin. The students were attentive, interested, and interesting in their later reflections. All the adults, faculty, staff and parents teared up at some time or other. I printed out the inaugural speech afterwards and found it even more impressive read than delivered. President Obama is not superman and his agenda is daunting, but his resolve is clear. We wish him and our country well.

For me, the highest hope is connected to his commitment to transparency and honesty, to principle over expediency, and to the long view, for these are the principles and precepts on which we have tried to build a school community.

We do not learn the basics of ethical behavior automatically, like learning to walk. We learn by precept, by example, by paying attention, by reflecting on our actions and their consequences, by finding our deepest intentions and trying to live from there. As adults we also learn by sometimes bitter experience.

Furthermore, telling the truth when we are cornered and thinking before we act, the fundamental bases of ethical living are counter-intuitive to the average teenager. It is hard to gain the habit of moving our decision-making process from the primitive amygdala at the back of the brain to the frontal cortex where wisdom resides.

The question is complicated further by the nature of our community. We have assembled a group of teachers, parents and students whose basic affect is kindly and thoughtful most of the time. When things go seriously wrong—as they do—we are less well prepared to deal with them because they are unusual. 

Here is what we can do:

1. We can continue to focus on building mindfulness amongst us all, adult and student alike.
2. We can continue to emphasize the ethical considerations arising from our academic work in science, technology and the humanities.
3. We can model truth-telling as an institution.
4. We can talk about it, over and over again.

Be assured that we at the school share this task joyfully with parents, grandparents, coaches, clergy, and other influential figures. We share your concerns about the potentially negative effects of the media and the Internet. 

And we have huge faith in the basic goodness of all.

Building an Ethical Culture

As most of you know, this is my first year as dean of students and a mathematics teacher at the Bay School.  However, my first introduction to the school occurred back in February of 2006. I attended a conference sponsored by the Council for Spiritual and Ethical Education held here in the penthouse of the Bay School. At the conference I met Moneeka Settles, Bay’s founding dean of students, and I learned firsthand about the school’s thoughtful and compassionate approach to education.

Attention to ethical development (i.e. moral development, character education, and personal responsibility) is at the core of the school’s community values and they are a primary focus of my methodology when working with our students. We encourage Bay School students to pay attention, to be mindful of their behavior, and to respect themselves and others. As stated in the student handbook, “We want our school to be a safe, kind, and respectful environment, a place where we can make mistakes, learn from them, and grow.”

It is customary for Father Malcolm to begin each morning meeting with a call-n-response recitation of a chosen precept. Often the morning meeting speaker (administrator, staff, student, or teacher) will offer their personal story related to the precept. For example, a student recently gave a talk about why some people, like him, are overweight. His willingness and courage to discuss this topic in such an open forum speak volumes about his character and our community.  “We value patience with ourselves and others; we don’t rush to judgment.”

Another significant aspect of life at the Bay School is the reverence for the practice of meditation. Every morning meeting, staff meeting, faculty meeting, and many classes begin with a moment of quite reflection or meditation. The school’s chaplain continually reminds the community about the importance of living in the present moment. (Recognize: be present. Accept: acknowledge things as they are. Investigate: observe sensations in the body. No identification: let change, let go, let be.) It is our hope that the school offers a quiet, calm, and safe place in which students can explore who they are (in the moment), discover their own path through life, and understand their place in humanity.

As a teacher and administrator, I am blessed with the opportunity to work with students from unique backgrounds, having diverse abilities and personalities. Inevitably, there are times when good kids make poor decisions.  How we as educators respond to these mis-steps taken by youth will ultimately provide a beacon of light and direction in their journey towards ethical maturity.

Obviously, there are numerous obstacles along this journey for all, students and adults alike. It takes a degree of awareness, obedience, patience, and resilience to live a moral and ethical life. The school’s guiding precepts offer a wonderful foundation and reference point upon which to build a life filled with positive energy and compassion towards others. It is our hope that by creating a school environment where integrity, kindness, and individual rectitude are nurtured, we are creating a world equally supportive of allowing each person to develop into their whole self.

Shelton M. Shepherd
Dean of Students

Bioethics – Where Science and Ethics Meet

Teaching Bioethics at Bay is incredibly rewarding. Being an upper division course, juniors and seniors come into the class with a foundation of biological knowledge. In this course, we apply the study of ethical principles through examining a number of complicated topics that involve bioethical dilemmas people face every day in our society. The first half of the course focuses on biomedical topics such as stem cell research, cloning, reproductive technologies, and genetic engineering. The second half covers animal rights and environmental ethics.


At Bay, we celebrate diverse thinking. In this course my goals are to provide students with information from all sides and to present opportunities for them to explore, develop and articulate their own ethical perspectives on issues. It's important for students to examine all sides, take the time to think about how they feel about the topic, then articulate their beliefs according to what they feel is "right." This development of their individual ethical codes strengthens their sense of self and helps to establish a moral compass which will guide them through life. And, since many of them will find themselves in a bioethical dilemma at some point in their lives, they will be more prepared after taking this class. The goals of the course are not only to examine biomedical dilemmas, but for students to learn more about who they are, what they believe in and define which issues they feel so strongly about they are willing to take a stand. 

This approach seems to be working because when I pose a question, students invariably come up with a variety of ideas. For example, this question prompted responses across the board: "Is it ethical to pick and choose genes for your unborn baby? How about genes for lethal diseases? Where do you, individually, draw the line?" Some students chose every gene, others would only choose genes related to medical illness and still others preferred leaving things to fate.

The notion of "playing God" often comes into play in our discussions and debates. In these times of rapidly advancing technology, how do we apply our understanding of ethics and listen to our inner moral compass to guide us in our decision making and be responsible with this technological power? Cloning was a hot topic regarding this concept. Another question posed was, "Should we clone a human being just because we can, or is it unethical? What are the ramifications of such a feat?"

During our consideration of this question, I brought in an expert. We were fortunate to welcome Matthew Donne to our class. Matthew is a stem cell researcher who works in Dr. Susan Fisher's lab at the University of California, San Francisco, which is one of the leading universities in the field of stem cell research. Matthew covered everything from his day-to-day tasks to big-picture ethical issues. He discussed how stem cells are harvested and used to develop medical therapies for a variety of diseases. He also reassured the class that cloning of a human being would not happen anytime soon, if ever.

On the topic of genetic engineering we had a second speaker, Doug Tischer. Doug is a senior at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, majoring in chemistry and biology. Also, Doug is the son of Bay staff member Gilda Selchau. Doug was a member of the Caltech team that participated in an international genetic engineering competition at iGem this past summer. The team, which took third place in the competition, engineered E. coli bacteria to mimic white blood cells actively attack infections and cancer cells.

Bringing speakers into the classroom provides an opportunity for Bay students to question scientists who work directly in the field, as well as exposing students to potential career paths.

I feel fortunate to teach Bioethics to such a great group of students. They constantly surprise and inspire me with their innovative and thoughtful ideas. The debates in the class are the most fun to watch in that students piece out complex case studies, express their ideas clearly and persuasively, and really take these opportunities to shine. I hope my students will leave Bioethics with a greater understanding of key biological issues, as well as a stronger sense of their own moral code.

Presidio Panoramas

Students in Karen Hellyer’s first trimester Digital Imaging 1B course expanded their visual and technical horizons while working on their final project—a panoramic photograph of a location in the Presidio of San Francisco. The project introduced students to the process of merging several photos into one unified landscape image. They started by choosing three outdoor locations where the horizon line was visible. Then, using a tripod or by bracing their arms and pivoting at the waist, they panned in a horizontal direction approximately 180 degrees taking overlapping photos. Care needed to be taken to keep the horizon line in the same general area of the composition in each photo.

Image files were then uploaded and placed in separate folders for each landscape. In Photoshop CS3, they used the Automate>Photomerge function and selected their target folders. That’s when the magic happened. With no hands on the computer, students watched as Photoshop automatically opened each image and blended it with the other photos. The result was a rather large, wide landscape photo comprised of many layers (each layer used to be an individual photo.) Files were then flattened, a process that merges all the layers into a single one. This allows for easier editing, smaller file size, and warping, which can be used to stretch parts of the image out to fill the whole rectangular picture plane.

Notes from Digital Media teacher Karen Hellyer:
There are several resources I recommend for further exploration of the art of panoramic photography. http://www.360icon.com is done by a man named Kent Durk from Columbia Missouri (who I’m trying to bring to Bay as a visiting artist.) His work explores rural and urban decay in a way that I’ve never seen before. Flickr also has some groups where panorama photos are shared: 

http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=panorama&w=all

Continuing to Grow as Educators

Bay School teachers actively practice the school’s mission of being lifelong learners by engaging in professional development on a continuing basis–through regular faculty and discipline team meetings, in daily collaboration with colleagues in lesson planning and course development, and as participants in workshops along with fellow teachers in local schools. Bay is dedicated to providing teachers the time and resources to renew themselves and grow as professionals. Last summer teachers took advantage of the opportunity to attend professional enrichment programs across the world and in the U.S. Following are three examples of their studies:

Ellen Greenblatt, Literature and Writing Teacher Attended Writing Workshop in Italy

With the help of a generous professional development grant from Bay, I was able to attend a week-long writing workshop in Assisi, Italy. The workshop instructor, Rosellen Brown, is both author of ten novels and a first-rate teacher, so, as I worked on my own writing, I learned strategies that I can use in classes here at Bay. One of the most interesting aspects of the workshop was exploring the slippery boundary between fiction and memoir, and, with the help of my fellow participants and Rosellen Brown, I began to reconsider in which form I wanted to write. Participating in a writing workshop in such a beautiful location was an opportunity for which I am deeply grateful.

Craig Miller, U.S. History Teacher Examined the History of Race
In the U.S. and the Internet Publication of Oral Histories

I attended two conferences during the summer, both of which treated topics directly related to the United States History curriculum. An organization called Facing History and Ourselves (FHAO) hosted the first conference, a week-long examination of the history of race and membership in the United States. FHAO has devoted itself for the past thirty years or so to developing and disseminating curriculum focused on the complex history of race, over which time it has gained a national reputation for its efforts to help history teachers help their students come to terms with the difficult legacy of racism in the United States. My reasons for attending the Race and Membership workshop were several. First, I hoped to make connections with the widely respected facilitators of FHAO as well as other teachers addressing race in their courses. Second, I looked forward to learning more about the eugenics movement, one of the focuses of the week.  Finally, I hoped that the workshop would affirm that our treatment of race in the U.S. History curriculum at Bay is in line with experts specializing in its study. The workshop fulfilled all three of these objectives.

The second conference that I attended was hosted by Howard Levin of the Urban School and sought in one week to expose participants to the basics of preparing, conducting, filming, recording, editing, and publishing oral histories on the Internet. Howard managed to accomplish this ambitious agenda by having us do each of the steps as we interviewed a survivor and a witness of the Holocaust. I signed on for this intense week as part of my exploration of alternatives to our trimester-long research project in U.S. History. We were a small group from around the country and the project-based approach encouraged quick friendships. I look forward to implementing a scaled-down version of Urban’s Telling Their Stories project some time in the near future. Perhaps, that U.S. History based project will plant the seed for a trimester-long oral history elective of the kind Howard has successfully implemented to national acclaim.

Humanities Teacher Holly Hirschfield Studied Fiction and Memoir

Last summer, I attended a week-long writing workshop led by author Joyce Maynard, who has been a reporter for the New York Times, a magazine journalist, radio commentator, and syndicated columnist, as well as the author of five novels, at her writing retreat in Lake Atitlan, Guatemala. The workshop focused on fiction and memoir and emphasized elements of craft such as conceptualization and character development. As a Humanities and history teacher at Bay I’ve focused a great deal on expository essay and research-based writing. So it’s important for me to revisit and learn other styles to keep my instruction fresh and innovative. There happened to be several other teachers from around the U.S. who attended this workshop. We were all interested in brainstorming about ways to apply what we learned to our classrooms so we held informal discussion groups, sometimes sitting with pen in hand, sometimes during a short hike around Lake Atitlan’s shoreline trails.

Winter Athletics at Bay

It's hard to believe that we are more than ¾ of the way through our basketball season! So many great things have taken place so far. Some of the highlights include watching the Breakers basketball teams play in our newly renovated Letterman Gym. Having the opportunity to practice and play home games in a beautiful newly renovated gym that we call our own has made a world of difference for both players and fans. 

Another early season highlight was our experience at the Hoop Dreams Basketball Tournament in early December which featured eight girls’ teams and eight boys’ teams hosted by Pescadero High School. For the fourth year in a row our girls' and boys' varsity basketball teams traveled to Pescadero on December 4th-6th accompanied by many Bay families and friends to cheer them on. This year, for the first time, both our varsity teams brought back the first place trophies. Senior, Amelia Mostovoy and junior, Stephen Meier were both honored by being placed on the All-Tournament teams. The two first place trophies were presented to Father Malcolm by coaches Larry Minnich and Dennis Hartzell. Congratulations to both our varsity teams for such an amazing accomplishment. Currently, our varsity boys' basketball team has an overall record of eight wins and eight losses and is 1-4 in league play.  Our girls' varsity team is 12-7 overall and 6-0 in the BCL-Central.  Both teams are working hard to secure spots in the league playoffs.

Our girls' JV basketball team is 1-9, but has been showing vast improvement. This is a team that is comprised of eight freshmen and one sophomore, several of whom have never played basketball. Coach Barhydt has been very pleased with how hard the girls play and how much progress they've made so far this season. Our JV boys' team has an overall record of 7-5.  Coaches Pete Overfelt and Terry Gomes have done a great job developing this very promising group of young Breakers. Our boys' basketball program has a very promising future with this squad of 10 freshmen and 2 sophomores. 


The winter activity program has been a huge success this year. The winter trimester hosts the largest number of activity students of the year, and Bay staff, faculty, off-campus instructors, as well as the Presidio YMCA, and Planet Granite have stepped up to the plate to make the program shine. We are currently offering yoga with teacher Katy Cryer, YMCA fitness with teachers Meisa Salaita and Jean Menapace, advanced conditioning for spring sports led by certified personal trainer, Candace Younghans, freshman dean, Matt Hannibal, and teacher Nic Fiszman, walking in the Presidio with teacher Richard Piccioni, and our first-ever rock climbing program with Paul Laurey. The addition of a rock climbing program in collaboration with Planet Granite here in the Presidio has proved to be enormously popular and we plan to offer rock climbing again this spring.

The advanced conditioning class has a whopping 36 students enrolled who are hurdling, sprinting, stretching, and strengthening their way to the start of their spring sports seasons. Our YMCA fitness class is providing its students with a variety of activities at the YMCA including cardio, cycling, stretching, conditioning, group games, and weight-lifting. Katy Cryer's yoga program offers our young yogis a chance to learn Hatha yoga, focusing on an active Vinyasa Flow sequence, also taking time each week for restorative poses, meditation and breathing exercises. The program seeks to keep students active while also inviting them to turn inward, feel their bodies and take time to relax. The Presidio walking group offers students a chance to see the different sites in the Presidio, get to know one another, and explore the SF Bay terrain—all while exercising.

Although we still have much to look forward to in our basketball season and winter activity program, spring sports are just around the corner. Spring 2009 sports teams will include softball, baseball, girls' JV and varsity soccer, boys' volleyball, co-ed sailing, boys' golf, and our first-ever boys' tennis team.  Practices begin soon and our first competitions start in late February. We will keep you posted on their progress! GO BREAKERS!!

Steve Glass, Athletic Director
Stephanie Hamilton, Assistant Athletic Director

Join us to cheer the Bay Breakers to victory! View athletic schedules.

Bay School Students and Advisors Attend People of Color Conference in New Orleans


I became interested in learning more about diversity issues in independent schools after a few of our students of color spoke with me about their personal experiences. Some of these experiences included white students and teachers relating to them through racial stereotypes that made assumptions on the basis of their skin color. During the fall of 2008 the Unity Club was formed to offer an opportunity to discuss issues and experiences of race, class, stereotypes, and assumptions—both at Bay and in the world that surrounds us.

Many students of color feel isolated in predominately white independent schools which is why the People of Color Conference (POCC) for faculty and staff, and the Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC) for students exist. These yearly conferences have been organized by the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) since 1988, and provide people of color in independent schools a sanctuary and a “voice”, a means for support and networking, and a chance to celebrate their roles and contributions to their independent schools. 

The 2008 POCC and SDLC took place in New Orleans on December 5th-7th.  Dean of students, Shelton Shepherd and I attended along with students Ashley Terry (’11), Tahirah Skolnik (’10) and Lauren Ritzer (’10) representing the Bay School. I feel it is my responsibility as a white person to educate myself about institutional racism and white privilege. Racism is a problem for all races to investigate, not just people of color. My experience at POCC was mixed. I enjoyed the two workshops I attended: one about a student-directed documentary from the Drew School called “Just Ask” and one entitled “Inciting Passion in the Privileged to Eradicate Social Injustice.” The affinity groups, an opportunity for people of the same race or ethnicity get to know each other and discuss their issues, was not as in-depth as I had hoped. The real joy of the conference for me was being around 1,300 teenagers who were excited to be learning about themselves and learning about each other.

Student Diversity Leadership Conference Reflections

From Ashley Terry (’11)
SDLC was the most open and accepting diversity conference I have been to. Hearing stories of students’ experiences at their schools made me think about how fortunate we at Bay are. Other experiences made me wonder how Bay could possibly create an environment where all races and different backgrounds of people can feel comfortable in their skin without having to change to satisfy someone but themselves. Going to SDLC in New Orleans, Louisiana was the opportunity of a lifetime. I find it amazing but not surprising that the rules at SLDC relate to Bay’s precepts- Be fully present (SDLC) and We value a clear mind… (Bay); Experiment with new behaviors in order to expand your range of response (SDLC) and We value the richness of difference in diversity; we don’t praise ourselves at the expense of another (Bay); Take risks, be raggedy, make mistakes then let it go (SDLC) and We care about our growth and maturity. We want our school to be a safe, kind, and respectful environment, a place where we make mistakes, learn from them and grow (Bay); Suspend judgment of yourself and others (SDLC) and We value patience with ourselves and others; we don’t rush to judgment (Bay).

The connections between Bay and SDLC are there, we just need to take advantage of the sources around us and use them to learn from.

From Tahira Skolnick (’10)
Speakers this year included Sidney Portier and Wendell Pierce. One session that stood out and helped me to understand more about why we are slow to change and accept new ideas in our society was titled the ‘Cycle of Oppression.’ We learned how institutional oppression breeds racism, self hate, and the manipulation of people to conform to certain standards and beliefs. It is amazing that even our schools and communities participate in this cycle of oppression without knowing that they are part of the problem. We spent time looking at how to recognize forms of oppression, how to understand it and eventually overcome the cycle. The ‘take home’ was that we student leaders in independent schools have to begin bringing our peers into new learning environments that discuss the value of diversity. If we continue to think like the masses and accept stereotypes and images of what is the norm then we become what the society wants us to be. We have to create independent minds that relish unity in diversity and open up the doors to new thinking. I am interested in continuing the learning form SDLC at Bay and initiating a program explores how we at The Bay School can build a prejudice free community.

  “Oh so that’s how it works, I thought the doohickey went into the thingamajig the other way” – Stephen Meier (’10)

Each year students choose a cause to support and host a benefit concert to raise needed funds. Last year they organized their first concert which raised $750 that was donated to the organization “Save the Bay” to help with the oil spill clean up in San Francisco Bay. This year our club raised $850 that we hope to put towards starting an organic garden here at Bay. The concert was entirely organized by the student members of the Eco Club. Parents and teachers volunteered to chaperone and many parents as well as students came out to support the student bands that performed.

Performers included our own Bay School Bindy Hayashi, Jake Holtzman, Max Schrader, Christian Brown, Jake Haigh, Elliot Kaplan, Harley Grandin, Canek Martinez, former student Olivia Gibson, as well as off-campus performers. Bay School librarian Rachel Shaw’s husband, Eli, donated a PA, set up the sound, and then performed with his band, Colossal Yes. It was a great volunteer effort put on by our community and a wonderful opportunity to showcase our musical talent at Bay.

The money raised will go towards the Eco Club’s goal of starting an organic garden at Bay. We are hopeful that in the future Bay students will be able to participate in planting and growing food that will end up on their plates, helping us to put our mission of sustainability into practice. The Eco Club will continue to work towards this goal by raising money, working to establish a location, and collaborating with others in the community. --Magaly Coronado (’09)

On January 7th approximately thirty members of the Class of 2008, twenty-six of their parents, and twenty-five teachers and staff members gathered in the penthouse on campus for the Bay School’s first-ever alumni and alumni parent reunion.

The party’s attendance reflects the strong ties that our founding class and their families have to the Bay School. The event is destined to be an annual gathering of recent alumni and their parents.

Thank you to event Co-Chairs Jan Vennari and Sarah Hoffman (and their team of indefatigable volunteers) for making this such a special occasion for everyone!

For more information about Bay Splash and how you can support our school, contact Janette Englert, jenglert@bayschoolsf.org or go to the Bay School website, http://home.bayschoolsf.org and click on the Bay Splash link.

Bay Honors

Congratulations to the following members of the Bay School community for their recent achievements and accolades:

The Bay School has been awarded a “Promising Practices Award” from The Character Education Partnership recognizing our Ethics Through Mindfulness Meditation Program. We appreciate this acknowledgement and encouragement to continue building our program supporting the ethical development of students through daily, conscious attention to reflection and to training the mind to be able to pay attention through all the distractions of daily life in school and at home.

Congratulations go to Ariella Mostov (’11) for winning the 2009annual essay contest sponsored by The Foundation for the Pure Spanish Horse. In her essay, Ariella wrote of a Pura Raza Espanola (P.R.E.) mare that was noble and compassionate, showing with her love how people should be treated. Ariella wrote: “A P.R.E. is not just a breed of horse: it’s the example of what a horse should be. Ariella has been awarded a Pure Spanish mare as her prize. Read more at: http://www.equestrianmag.com/news/pure-spanish-horses-essay-winners-12-08.html and http://prehorse.org/

Applause goes to Bay Humanities and music teacher Darrick Broudy. In December his group, Blaktroniks, headlined the first annual Afrotek Festival at Club 6 in San Francisco. The festival highlighted African American artists in the Bay Area that create electronic music. Darrick has been one of the group’s emcees (rappers) since its founding in 1996.

Math teacher Katy Cryer will be opening The Square One Yoga Collective, a low cost yoga center in the East Bay on March 1st.

February Events Calendar