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John Gulla, Head of School
For months I have found myself in the grips of an increasingly strong emotional tide. This has been a year marked by “lasts” — my last Convocation/Legacy Day, my last Middle School talent show, my last Classic and now this, my last column for the Blake Parent News. By my count, I’ve written well over a hundred such columns.
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Rand Harrington, Assistant Head of School
March/April 2012
New teaching methods, driven by a deeper understanding of learning and advancements in learning technologies, continue to transform our classrooms at all grade levels. Here is a sampling of some new methods currently being used in Blake classrooms:
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John C. Gulla, Head of School
January/February 2012
We all recognize the power of stories to entertain, to teach and to help us make meaning. As a child I loved stories of all sorts, from the ones my mother read to me before I could read for myself, to the Fractured Fairy Tales on the “Rocky and Bullwinkle” show to the parables from the church pulpit on Sunday.
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Rand Harrington, Assistant Head of School
November/December 2011
Although it is generally agreed to be a difficult task, the latest push toward performance-based compensation for teachers has pressed policy makers to better define “good teaching” and to find metrics to differentiate between “good” and “great.” Research supports what we have known for decades: great teachers matter.
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John C. Gulla, Head of School
September/October 2011
Loving, supporting and helping your child doesn’t mean making sure that he or she never stumbles or falls. If children are to learn how to regain their balance or get up after a fall, they need experience doing so. One of our jobs as a school is to challenge children, to encourage them to take risks, to try things here in school that might not come easily to them and, in the process, learn about themselves.
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JoHn C. Gulla, Head of School
May/June 2011
The recent announcement of my intention to step down from my role as Blake’s Head of School after the next (2011–12) academic year, has given me the opportunity to renew communication with many current and former Blake parents. Such connections remind me how fortunate I am to be part of such a committed and caring community.
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Lucretia Wells, Assistant Head of School
March 2011
This November, Blake welcomed a team of 26 independent school educators who came to observe our community in action. This Independent Schools Association of the Central States reaccreditation visiting team reviewed our self-study report and spent three days on all three campuses to find out, “Does Blake do what it says it does?”
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John C. Gulla, Head of School
February 2011
A recent casual conversation with a colleague here at school reminded me that not all members of the extended Blake School community fully understand the role of the Blake Board of Trustees. “You mean they do more than raise money?” he asked.Read More
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John C. Gulla, Head of School
December 2010/January 2011
Blake’s success is built on a foundation of trust and a presumption of good faith on the part of all who belong to this school community. In my 30 plus years of work in independent schools, I have come to see the fundamental importance of this trust and how critical the assumption of good faith is to the health of a community like ours.
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Beth Hower, Blake's ISACS Accreditation Chair
November 2010
Whereas public schools answer to state governments in terms of assessing their success, independent schools deliberately choose an alternate, more individualized path to demonstrate their educational excellence and sound governance.
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John C. Gulla, Head of School
October 2010
Many members of the extended Blake community have seen the article that appeared in the September issue of Mpls. St. Paul Magazine titled “Blake’s True Colors.” Journalist Marya Hornbacher writes about how the Blake of 2010 differs from the Blake she had known growing up in Edina 30 years ago.
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John C. Gulla, Head of School
September 2010
You almost never hear or read the word cerebration. Yet it is so apt a word for us at Blake.
•Parent Contributions Make the Difference, May/June 2010
•Courageous Conversations and Multiple Perspectives, April 2010
•Plus ça change …, March 2010
•Strengthening a 14-Year Curriculum, February 2010
•Student Assessment: Where Are We Now?, December 2009/January 2010
•Blake Campus Master Plan, November 2009
•Telling Blake's Story, October 2009
•One Size Never Fits All, September 2009
•Hear, Hear for Volunteers, May/June 2009
•Blake: A Strong School Growing Stronger, April 2009
•Assessing Student Progress, March 2009
•Blake and the Global Economic Crisis, February 2009
•Understanding Yourself to Understand Others, December 2008/January 2009
•'Who Are You For?', November 2008
•Admission to Blake, October 2008
•Our Children, Ourselves, September 2008
•Thank you Volunteers, May/June 2008
•Teacher Evaluation: More Than Just a Checkup, April 2008
•What Does 'Curriculum' Mean, Anyway?, March 2008
•Blake 2010: Good Work, Great Progress, February 2008
•Epistemological Underpinnings, December 2007/January 2008
•Moving In, Moving Forward, November 2007
•Risk of Failure, Sweetness of Success, October 2007
•To Bring Out, to Lead, September 2007
•Vital Volunteers, May/June 2007
•Five Years at Blake, April 2007
•The Trials and Tribulations (and Joys) of Parenthood, March 2007
•'Blake 2010': Progress Report, February 2007
•Curriculum Across Grades and Campuses, December 2006/January 2007
•Partnering to Foster Respectful Curiosity, November 2006
•Power of Word of Mouth, October 2006
•Private, Public and Independent Schools, September 2006
•Excellence at Blake, December 2003/January 2004
•The Arts at Blake, October 2002