Communications from the Director

Goals and Objectives
2007-2008

In so many ways, it has been a very good year. The work accomplished to meet our Goals and Objectives, even though some have not been fully completed, has addressed a number of long-standing concerns needing attention. We have learned in the process and, as a result, Lab will become a better place. I look forward to concluding this work, fine-tuning modifications that have already been initiated, and moving forward with our plans for the future. Joining me in completing this end of the year status report were

Board Members: Emily Buss, Sonya Malunda, and Andy Neal
Principals: Matt Horvat and Amani Reed
Director of Business Affairs: Christopher Jones
Executive Director of Development and Alumni Relations: Sarai Hoffman
Co-Chairs of the ISACS Evaluation: Paul Gunty and Allison Jones

David W. Magill
Director

Goal I-To Improve the Educational Program
Objectives:
A. Review Services for Children with Learning Differences

In response to questions raised by a number of parents about the Laboratory Schools' approach to educating students with learning differences, the Board of Directors formed an ad hoc committee, chaired by Emily Buss, to learn more about Lab's current policies and practices and to make recommendations for possible improvements. During the 2007-2008 school year, the committee met with parents (at LD@Lab meetings as well as individually), all four principals, all of the Lab's Learning Consultants and Learning Specialists, and one graduating senior with learning differences. The committee plans to meet with Lab teachers as well and is continuing its discussions with specialists outside the school to get a better sense of how our peer schools approach learning differences and to get a better understanding of Lab's approach. Some of the issues that have been raised frequently in discussions are the importance of

• The development of a clear, broadly supported, understanding of Lab's approach to educating students with learning differences and the communication of that approach to all constituencies;
• Coordination among teachers and other Lab personnel working with students throughout the school year and then from one grade to the next;
• Clear communication and collaboration between school personnel and parents at all stages of the evaluation and implementation processes;
• Adequate personnel with appropriate expertise to meet the educational and administrative demands associated with all children enrolled;
• Recognition that every child's learning style is unique, and that all students benefit from an education designed to address a broad range of approaches to learning.

The committee expects to formulate recommendations for consideration of the full Lab Schools Board later this year, and it continues to welcome the comments of all members of the Lab community. Recently hired for a July 1, 2008 start date is Kenneth James, a PhD in Learning Disabilities, to fill a newly created position of Director of Student Services.

B. Complete Self-Evaluation for Accreditation

As part of the Laboratory Schools' ISACS (The Independent Schools Association of the Central States) accreditation, all departments and grade levels have completed their self-studies. These reports will become the heart of the "Program" section of the self-study report presented to ISACS' Visiting Team before they arrive in October 2008.

Further, as part of the self-study, several subcommittees met over the course of the year to consider the strengths, challenges, and plans for several other areas that are important to the Schools. All faculty members and administrators were members of a subcommittee. Some subcommittees also included parents, alumni, and Board members. These subcommittees review the following: school climate, school community, plant and facilities, administration and governance, advisory, personnel, other programs, and the like. The Steering Committee (made up of members of Lab's All-Schools Council Steering Committee) of the ISACS Evaluation Self-Study reported on the purpose and mission of the Schools and reviewed all of the subcommittee reports that were submitted.

This complete report gives an overview of the entire school including its strengths, challenges, and plans as seen by the school community members. It will be available mid-summer for review by Lab's administration, then by ISACS, and then by the Visiting Team members in preparation for their visit in October.

During their evaluation in October, the Visiting Team will consider our report (and all of the additional materials that need to be assembled for them to review) in order to determine whether what we say we are, is accurate. The team looks for congruence between what we say and what they see. The Visiting Team will report back to Lab and to ISACS with their recommendations for accreditation.

C. Recommend Improved Schedules for Student Learning

University High School
The High School Scheduling Committee spent the first quarter of the year reviewing all information provided by faculty, students, and departments on scheduling. From this information, the committee created the following criteria for a new schedule:

• Increase the contact time between faculty and students;
• Create at least one long period a week for each class (e.g., one double period);
• Maintain a start and end time of the school day similar to what is currently scheduled;
• Allow for cross-divisional teaching, and maintain nine periods a day for scheduling.

The committee then reviewed the schedules of many public and independent schools in order to see if any of these schedules would meet the above criteria. Using information from these schedules, the committee designed several possible models then ran the models with our current class offerings. After several revisions the committee presented a nine-day model to the Curriculum Committee and then to Faculty IV (composed mostly of high school teachers).

The nine-day model met many of the criteria. The issue that was seen consistently as a problem with this model was the frequency of meetings. The frequency problem in the nine-day model stems from classes meeting only three out of every four days. With feedback from the Curriculum Committee and Faculty IV, the Scheduling Committee will now produce several revised versions of the nine-day schedule and present these to Faculty IV early in the Fall quarter. The end goal of this process is to present a recommendation to the Director for a new High School schedule.

In considering changes to the High School schedule, the Scheduling Committee has worked with the Middle School Scheduling Committee and with the Lower School Scheduler to ensure that any change to the High School schedule could be implemented without causing disruption to the other Schools' programs.

Middle School
During the 2007-2008 school year, the Middle School scheduling committee met regularly, establishing priorities for a new schedule. The priorities identified for the Middle School schedule are as follows:

• Flexibility for staffing teachers across schools;
• Ability to have classes meet in different periods different days;
• Community time for the school to get together.

The committee has worked with the Faculty IV Scheduling Committee and independently to explore a variety of schedule models. The models have included a three-day rotating schedule, six-day rotating schedule, and a nine-day rotating schedule. Each of these schedules meets the identified priorities and allows for scheduling across Schools. These schedules were presented to Faculty III (composed mostly of Middle School teachers).

After a presentation to Faculty III, concerns were raised and the committee identified an additional priority. Concerns included the amount of change the campus will be going through over the next few years with improvements to the physical plant, the difficulty of a rotating schedule for families, and varying class-period lengths. The additional priority identified is to maximize frequency of class meetings. The current models offer some solutions; however, in the opinion of Faculty III, the concerns outweigh the advantages.

The scheduling committee's charge for the 2008-2009 school year will be to continue to examine models. It plans to make a decision by the beginning of the second semester in order to adopt a new schedule for the 2009-2010 school year. The committee should make a decision by the beginning of the second semester if its choice is to adopt a new schedule for the 2009-2010 school year.

D. Conduct Activities Developed by the Diversity Task Force

Although the Diversity Task Force has not yet finalized and presented its formal recommendations, the Schools have been working on several issues and areas of concern identified by the Task Force:

First and foremost, as discussed below in connection with Objective IIC, the Schools have been working with the University to develop a plan for increasing the number of students, in significant part to ensure that the Schools can maintain their longstanding commitment to having a diverse student body. This addresses perhaps the most important concern identified by the Task Force.

The Diversity Task Force's Retention Committee has developed, and the Schools are beginning to implement, means for attempting to assess the reasons why some students and their families consider transferring to other schools for high school.

The Task Force's Learning and Education Committee and the Schools' administration have been examining ways to ensure that the Schools' curricula reflect the values of the Schools' diverse community. This Committee is also exploring ways in which the various Schools constituencies, including students, parents, and faculty, can participate in programs and/or activities designed to identify and strengthen the shared values of our diverse community and to ensure that we maintain an environment in which those values can flourish.

The Diversity Task Force expects to submit a set of recommendations to the Lab Schools' Board of Directors for their consideration in the first quarter of the 2008-2009 school year.

Goal II-To Improve Related Services
Objectives:
A. Negotiate a New Contract with the Faculty Association

At the conclusion of the 2007-2008 school year, the administration and Faculty Association were unable to reach agreement on a new multi-year contract. Ten negotiating sessions were held beginning on February 11 and concluding on June 9. Considerable progress was made on all matters with the exception of salary. Both parties agreed to meet during the third week of August and attempt to reach a conclusion by the beginning of the 2008-2009 school year.

B. Implement a New Food Service Program

A new food service provider, ARAMARK, began offering services at Lab this past September in the newly envisioned Café Lab. The café's look was upgraded with new paint, proper trashcans, and a renewed effort to maintain the tidiness of the facility for the many student and adult patrons who frequent the café throughout the day. In addition, new cafeteria equipment was procured in order to improve the quality and methods of delivering tasty and nutritious food to our community.

Along with these improvements, Lab's partnership this first year has generated a number of opportunities to deliver better service in the coming years. A new bag lunch program offered this year for Lower School students will need to be revamped if it is to meet the needs of Lower School families even better. Plans are already being made to improve ARAMARK's in-house catering service for next year. Finally, ARAMARK is seeking out new ways to invite feedback from our community in hopes of better meeting the food service needs of the Laboratory Schools.

C. Develop Architectural Design with Project Timelines for Facility Improvements

At the time that this objective was written, the scope of the proposed Master Plan was much smaller and did not include an Early Childhood Center. Due to the increasing trend of student admission demand, the administration from the University and the Laboratory Schools developed statistical models to project future growth. As a result, the scope of the Master Plan was increased to accommodate two hundred additional students. New class sections are planned beginning with our three-year-old Nursery students and will continue through grade eight.

The change in the scope of the Master Plan delayed the architect selection process and required further approvals from the University Trustees. On June 6, 2008, the University of Chicago Board of Trustees approved the new Master Plan and business model. Since we have over 25 percent of the required funds raised, we may proceed to select an architect for the purpose of designing the project. The process will begin immediately, and we expect the selection will occur during the summer months.

This objective will be repeated for the 2008-2009 school year.

D. Create Improved Communication Means for the Schools Community

A new cross-functional administrative team was assembled to review and update Lab's parent and alumni publications. This team included administrative staff from the Director's Office, the Office of Development and Alumni Relations, and Information Technology, and was led by communications consultant Catherine Braendel. The team's solution was to create a new magazine, LabLife, that serves both parents and alumni, and to retire Lab Notes and Lab Directions. An associated parent e-newsletter was also created, Lab E-News, so that parents could have more timely updates on events at the Schools; an alumni e-newsletter is in the works. With the combined budgets of the two former publications, we were able to create a much more attractive publication and also streamline staff time for writing and production. An editorial committee that includes key content owners throughout the Schools ensures that quality content is being generated for each issue. As an added benefit, we've found that including alumni- and school-oriented stories in the same publication has fostered an enhanced sense of community between both constituencies. A new support relationship with the University's Development Communications team, though not without its challenges, rounds out the team with production management and writing expertise.

Lab's first full-time webmaster, Joe Kallo, brings much-needed expertise and focus to our electronic communications. He has made significant inroads in cleaning up out-of-date material on our website. In collaboration with the University's Development Communications team and Lab's Office of Development and Alumni Relations, the first phase of improvements to our alumni web pages was launched and has been very popular among this year's reunion classes. We've solicited and received a proposal to work with the University's consultant to add portal technology and interactive functionality to Lab's website for both alumni and parents, which is ready for administrative discussion and review.

New "friend-raising" events have also enhanced lines of communication with previously under-reached parents, alumni, and friends. For alumni, those included a gathering of Lab alumni from the 1960s in Chicago, and cross-decade gatherings in New York and Boston. Parents associated with the Biological Sciences enjoyed a special gathering at the Smart Museum, and a very successful Grandparents/Grandfriends Day was established in conjunction with the Nursery and Lower Schools.

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