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Why Pronouns Matter

I want you to close your eyes and picture a stranger that you saw today. Maybe it’s someone you saw on the commute to work. Or someone you saw walking outside. Or maybe even it’s someone you saw as you dropped your student off at Shipley. Try and get a super clear image of that person in your mind.

How to Navigate Homework with Your Middle Schooler: The Transition from “Editor-in-Chief" to "Consultant”

I walked into preschool to pick up my 4-year old who proudly exclaimed, “Mommy! I have HOMEWORK tonight!” Indeed, it was our turn to take home the “Class Book” and design a page that described our family, complete with pictures. My frazzled “Mom-Brain” automatically translated his statement to...

Managing Screen Time: A Family and Student Partnership to Promote Positive Well-Being

A few weeks ago, my eight-year-old son asked when he would get his own smartphone. Given that he is making his way through Lower School, I feel I have a few years to go before making a final decision. As the Head of Shipley’s Middle School, I see families and students having a hard time with not...

Well-Being: The Heart of Education

Positive Education is based on science and research. It enhances resilience and positivity, core values, and creativity. It seeks to improve systems and processes, increase engagement and achievement, and enhance our interactions with others. Furthermore, at the heart of it, Positive Education is...

Latest Posts

DEI

Our Superpowers

860-496-2973. The phone number to my mom’s work is still ingrained in my mind. I had to dial this number from my neighbor’s house (pre-cell phones!), any time I got off the school bus and realized that I had forgotten or lost my key. Again.

DEI

Challenge the Argument, Not the Person

So, how’s everyone recovering from the wild ride that was 2020? A global pandemic and the resulting extended period of isolation, uncertainty, and widespread anxiety have worn us all down. To top it off, a schism has resurfaced in American society as an old wound was ripped open and escalated to...

The Importance of #OwnVoices in LGBTQ+ Literature

The #OwnVoices movement in literature was started as a hashtag movement on Twitter. In 2016, Corinne Duyvis coined the term to emphasize that “an author from a marginalized or under-represented group [should be] writing about their own experiences/from their own perspective, rather than someone...

Five Tips for Creating & Keeping New Habits

As we near the end of January, you may be feeling like a failure for having ditched your New Year’s resolutions last week. Don’t despair! Shipley SEED teacher and mindfulness coach Marc Balcer is here to help with these five tips to help you make good on your goals for the new year and beyond.

Lessons from an Underdog: A Q&A with Author Jesse Wang ’14

Jesse Wang ’14 transferred to Shipley from public school when he was in the tenth grade. Though he wasn’t always the best student in high school, he learned a lot about perseverance, grit, and how to be a good writer—skills that would prove useful after his less-than-stellar performance as a...