Bullis Community Update: October 4, 2024

Dear Bullis Community,

The sun came out for Coach Ray’s memorial service last Saturday morning here at school. The service, while incredibly sad, was also a happy celebration of the life of Coach Ray. The sunshine Ray brought–his joy, his humor, and his care for his players and the Bullis community–was portrayed by the speakers with authenticity and love. While this service may have brought a measure of closure, Ray’s memory will be a blessing forever.

Dr. Marilyn Moreno

Last September, Dr. Marilyn Moreno let me know that the year commencing (’23-’24 school year) would be her last before retiring. I implored her to stay for one more year, and she graciously acquiesced. This September however, Marilyn let me know that this, her 13th year as head of our Middle School, will definitely be her last.

While Marilyn has had a substantial Bullis career, her achievements in education before this were many. She was a long-time principal and, for 8 years as Assistant Superintendent in Prince George’s County, oversaw 46 elementary and middle schools. Additionally, as a teacher of teachers at the college level, Marilyn has had an impact not only on students but on teachers and administrators too. In the coming months, we will have the opportunity to thank Marilyn for her service to education and to the Bullis community. In the meantime, she will be driving the Middle School forward with as much gusto as ever and is excited for the coming year.

I have engaged Educators Collaborative to assist us in the search for Marilyn’s replacement. Associate Head of School, Dr. Tanya Salewski, and Dean of Faculty, Faith Darling, will be leading the search committee. Faculty, parents, and students will be involved in the process, and I hope to name a successor shortly after the winter break.

Jewish Affinity Group - Gathering on October 7

Jewish members of the Upper School community and their families are invited to gather for a dinner on Monday, October 7, at 6:30 pm in the Blair lobby. We will be commemorating the one-year anniversary of the attack on Israel, remembering those who lost their lives and those still living in captivity, and building community in the face of rising antisemitism. There will be no formal programming; rather, the purpose of this gathering is to support one another through togetherness, remembrance, and hope.

If you’re able to join us, please RSVP by tomorrow. For those students who cannot attend the October 7 dinner but are interested in joining the Jewish Student Affinity Group, please reach out to faculty advisors Harriet Polun or Philip Weisgold.

Director of Community Culture

As I mentioned in an earlier letter, we commenced a process in September to hire a Director of Community Culture, a position that would be charged with providing vision and leadership to advance the school’s ongoing efforts to sustain a diverse, caring, and inclusive educational environment. We have concluded interviewing two excellent internal candidates, and the process itself has been illuminating. Indeed, my colleagues and I–and the candidates themselves–have wondered whether it is possible for the myriad responsibilities of this position to be successfully handled by one person.

For many years, the work of this position has been performed by a committee comprised of a faculty member in each division, but the committee members have not had sufficient time outside of their teaching responsibilities to fully engage in this work. Among other possibilities, we are now considering whether continuing this committee structure, with a teaching-time release to allow the committee members to dedicate even more to this work, might be the best plan moving forward. To further shed light on what is best for Bullis, I have engaged Dr. Percy Abram, Head at the Bush School in Seattle, to give some external perspective. Full disclosure–Percy is a good friend and served on my board of trustees when I was head at Annie Wright schools. He is an extraordinary educational leader, and will give us his frank analysis.

A Joyful School Experience

I am quite self-conscious when I describe the importance of Bullis being a joyful school and community; I fear that this sentiment can sound twee or even false. Nevertheless, I believe that it is crucial for the Bullis education to be joyful and, for the most part, it really is. Nothing can be perfect, but we strive to ensure that our people–principally, of course, our students–lead fulfilling, happy lives. Indeed, we intentionally called this out as a key characteristic of a Bullis education in the 2021-2026 strategic plan.

And now, UNESCO, in its 2024 report on schools, has declared, “As a direct response to the Transforming Education Summit in 2022, UNESCO’s global Happy Schools Initiative advocates for a transformative reform of education and a paradigm shift to put happiness at the core of education policy and practice. Grounded in both science and philosophy, it recognizes happiness as both a means to and a goal of quality learning. Academic excellence and happiness are not mutually exclusive. Happiness can be a key lever for enhancing learning experiences and outcomes.”

The report identifies the nexus of happiness and learning (sound familiar?), and states that there are four key pillars that are crucial for happy learning environments:

People

• supportive and collaborative relationships
• physical and social-emotional well-being
• positive attitudes and attributes of the actors within school communities: students, parents, teachers, school leaders, support staff, central managers and community members

Process

• balanced curricula
• joyful and engaging pedagogies
• holistic and flexible assessments to ensure a manageable workload, culturally relevant and interdisciplinary content, active learning experiences, and flexible pathways to assess learning

Place

• safe, healthy, accessible, and sustainable infrastructure and facilities
• functional and inclusive spatial designs
• the use of school as a social hub for community learning and engagement to make both physical and virtual infrastructure fit for purpose

Principles

• trust
• inclusion
• empowerment

Frankly, I didn’t need a report from UNESCO to convince me that our approach is the right thing to do. While this has been part of my educational approach for a long time, it is the case that since the pandemic, it has become a core tenet of our work at Bullis and is being deliberately implemented. It is not always easy. That nexus of happiness and learning can create tensions–rigor, high expectations, desired outcomes, and social pressures can all lead to stress and can be the antithesis of happiness. How we strive for successful outcomes but within a healthy, happy environment is the key. There is no one explicit right answer. Rather, we must inculcate a culture where that is central to our approach, and every adult buys into the goals–everyone must be on the bus! It is satisfying to know that there is a research-based, academic underpinning to what we know is the right thing to do for our students.

And perhaps on a related note… We are able to track our applications by the day, and measure them against previous years. Today, October 4, 2023, we have 28% more applications than this day last year. We have 60% more applications than this day two years ago and 114 % (i.e. more than double) more applications than this day three years ago. I believe these numbers are a reflection, not of the new buildings and our campus, but rather our goal of being student-centered in what we desire for young people. While most in the community (and prospective families) may not express it this way, the notion of the nexus between happiness and learning resonates because it is the right thing to do.

And finally….

We remain on schedule to complete all the construction work ahead of the beginning of school next year. I know we will be overjoyed, not only with the new facilities, but also with the disruption to campus life being in the rearview mirror.

I wish our Jewish families Shana Tovah, and after weeks of unrelenting inclement weather, hope everyone is able to enjoy the beautiful weather this weekend.

Warmly,

Christian G. Sullivan
Head of School