Head of School Blog: Let’s Educate the Whole Child – and Parents Too!

From the Desk of Mr. Noone

Let’s Educate the Whole Child – and Parents Too!

In my first year as Head of School, I thought it was important to look at all aspects of the school and, after observation and evaluation, make some changes to what we do. Last year, many of these dealt with academics, and the changes reflect my belief in providing more opportunities for our students to pursue their passions, gain leadership, and take more personal responsibility for their education. To that end, we have added more offerings, enhanced use of technology, and required students to think more and exert more control over their studies and extracurricular participation. I strongly believe these will result in our students being better prepared, more self-reliant, and more successful in their academic pursuits upon graduation.

Academics, however, is only part of what education should encompass, and only part of what we say we do at Donoho. We say we educate the whole child, so we also need to educate our students on how to be physically and emotionally happy, how to be knowledgeable about understanding and dealing with social pressure, and how to cope with the internal stresses and anxieties common in all adolescents and young adults. I also feel it is important to help our whole community, including our parents, become better versed in these issues. To that end, I am pleased to announce that beginning this year we will begin two initiatives: The Donoho Student Health and Wellness Series, and the Health and Wellness Parent University. These programs are designed to provide students and parents with usable information to improve the overall health and wellness of their child(ren).
The topics below will be covered:

  • Coping with Stress and Anxiety
  • Healthy Use of Social Media
  • Drug and Alcohol Awareness in Teens
  • Bullying Awareness and Prevention
  • Diet and Exercise for Adolescents

For each topic, we envision a presentation and question and answer session with the students (The Donoho Student Health and Wellness Series), followed by an after-school presentation to our parents (Health and Wellness Parent University). Our goal is to help our whole community become more aware, better educated, and better equipped with the tools needed to address and cope with these very important issues.

We are in the early stages of organizing these initiatives, but we hope to present a few sessions this school year. Be ready to hit the ground running with a full slate of sessions during the 2019-2020 school year. We are very excited about the positive effects these programs can have on the Donoho community, and we are hopeful that everyone will participate and benefit. We have a duty to educate the whole child. This is another step in doing just that.
Go Falcons!
David J. Noone