February 5, 2018

Dear Tower School families,

Traditionally, the mid-winter provides the time to solidify our planning for the next school year. I'm pleased to provide this update on programmatic and staffing developments.

First, plans include an expansion of our current science curriculum. Students in grades 1-5 will meet for science more frequently each week, enabling our teachers to offer a more concentrated curriculum. The following staffing changes will be made to accommodate the expanded curriculum:

• Next fall, Deb Eames, who currently teaches grades 2-6, is delighted to move to a newly-created part-time position teaching science to students in grades 1-3. Mrs. Eames's students will meet two times per week.
• We will hire a full-time science teacher for students in grades 4-6; students in grade 4 will meet three times per week, and students in grade 5 will meet four times per week. 6th grade science will continue as it is currently—a core course in the Upper School, meeting four times per week. The expanded program allows teachers to build on the sequence of our science curriculum from grades 1-8 with a stronger bridge in the middle grades.
• These shifts provide the added benefit of allowing Jenn Suhr to spend all of her time in the Pre-K program as she transitions out of her current role of teaching science in grade 1.
  
  

Second, our goal of re-establishing Spanish or Latin as a core subject for every student in the upper school, while also requiring students to build a foundational understanding of coding, is progressing in phases. The following outlines the plan for next year:

• Students in grade 8 will continue through the current program, taking the next level of Spanish, Latin or coding, according to their choice from two years ago. Coding will also be offered as an optional club for those who wish for more coding practice and exploration.
• Students in grade 7 will build on the foundation created this year in both Spanish and coding. A language of their choice—Spanish or Latin—will be a full-year core subject. Coding will be required for one trimester, during the arts block, and offered as an optional club for those who wish for more practice and exploration.
• Students in grade 6 will be required to take both Spanish and coding. We continue to finalize the details of the 6th grade schedule in which both courses will receive equal time.

Third, after more than 40 years, our third grade teacher, Nancy McCarthy, has announced that she will retire in June of 2018. We'll have time to fête Nancy properly in the spring; suffice to say for now that throughout her career she has been trusted by parents, admired by colleagues and loved by students. While Nancy gives her warm attention to her final group of 3rd graders, we have initiated a search for her successor.

As always, I am grateful for your support of and trust in the Tower endeavor. Please reach out with questions and thoughts.

Best,

Tim Delehaunty
Head of School