LIFE VALUES We aim for students to, on a daily basis, be working on developing the following values internally. We hope that these values go on to help them throughout their freshman year, their schooling career in general, and their lives beyond school walls. We find these attributes valuable in our own practices as teachers, and our lives as parents, friends, family members, artists, and creators, and we hope that students and parents can have conversations about these values at home the way we do at school in order to more fully and explicitly instill these values in the hearts of our students.
GRIT Perseverance. Trying, trying, trying again. Overcoming challenges. Finding solutions. Approaching problems with new and innovative ways. Risk-Taking. If you first don’t succeed, find a different path. Work on the task at hand until the last moment possible, and see what you can achieve.
EMPATHY Remember that everyone has a life full of hopes, dreams, failures, successes, and fears, a life just as full and real as your own. Step into other people’s shoes and take a walk for a while. Consider other perspectives. Approach situations, especially conflicts, with love.
INTEGRITY Honesty. Valuing truth with others, but most of all valuing truth within yourself. Do the right thing, even when no one is watching. Develop a strong moral compass, and always aim to do what is best, and morally just, in each situation.
RESPECT Respect yourself. Respect the space. Respect others. Be honest with yourself about where you are, and what you need. Clean our shared space, even if the mess is not yours. When there are disagreements, engage in civil discourse, not in arguments. Be solution oriented. Complaints should also come with solutions and ideas for change--otherwise, it’s just noise you’re adding to the problem.
RESPONSIBILITY Own up to your actions. Take ownership of your education and all the choices that you make, both academically and socially. Realize your role in each scenario, whether you are an upstander or a bystander. Always aim to take responsibility for what part you play in both good and bad situations.
BRAVERY Have courage to stand up for yourself, our class values, and our community. Be brave when thinking about projects, even if it means you are dreaming up something you do not know is possible yet. Be ambitious about the work you do, about the standard with which you treat others and yourself, and about the future life you are beginning to build. Go above and beyond. Have confidence in yourself. Push yourself outside of your comfort zone to experience new and unfamiliar territory that can help you grow.