By: Dr. Jeff London (Professor and Parent of a D’Evelyn Student)
Ever since my daughter began attending D’Evelyn Jr./Sr. High, I have tried to better understand the school, faculty, staff, students, and parents. To understand the people and the institution itself, I have read and reread the D’Evelyn Founding Document, as well as interacted with the very curriculum that my child is experiencing every day of the school year. Over time, I have also tried to better understand how the outside world views D’Evelyn and the students who attend this institution. I often hear D’Evelyn described as an “option school” and I like that status. For me the word “option” implies choice. If I am forced to live without individual choices, I am forced to live without individual freedom. Living without individual freedom sounds absolutely unamerican. The very notion that parents have the “power of choice” implies that they have the authority to make their own decisions about what is best for their own children. In summation, parents have the choice to send their children to D’Evelyn or not to send their children to D’Evelyn. From the beginning of the “school choice” process, parents recognize that adult individuals (i.e., parents) can make their own well-informed decisions. If a parent chooses to not become well informed before making an important choice, the parent can always change their mind and make a different choice. Adults are empowered by information. Regrettably, adults who do not become well informed sometimes become strangers to their own agency. A lack of information may result in adults failing to exercise their own freedom responsibly. Adults exercising their freedoms (without first doing their homework and reading the D’Evelyn Founding Document) may make regrettable choices. Adults who make uninformed choices sometimes suffer the consequences of their own uninformed designs. By making responsible and well-informed choices, adults can leverage institutional support and technical know-how to assure that their children receive a rigorous and traditional liberal arts education. D’Evelyn is an extremely challenging environment for students and a high GPA is hard-earned. Today, the stakes are as high as they ever were, as parents seek to support their students. Students, understandably, desire to attend more prestigious colleges and universities. Parents and students often believe that the college or university that the student attends has far-reaching and profound implications for their future career trajectories. Because the stakes are so high, it is important that parents make well informed decisions about what school their child will attend. Understanding the rigorous and demanding curriculum of D’Evelyn and reading the D’Evelyn Founding Document must be the primary undertaking of any parent considering sending their child here. To attend or not attend D’Evelyn is a choice. Before deciding, parents should be encouraged to read the D’Evelyn Founding Document. Consequently, all members of our rigorous educational community will understand who they are: social actors exercising their freedom of choice, responsibly or not.
Kenneth
9/27/2021 08:46:09 am
Thanks for reminding me to read it. Comments are closed.
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The Steering Committee is the governing board of the school and establishes policies designed to maintain and enhance its liberal arts philosophy. The Steering Committee appoints Directors to the Board of the D'Evelyn Education Foundation. Archives
March 2023
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