Restricted Giving
Innovation and Technology
Breck has been responding with flexibility and care to invest in resources for innovation. This investment includes new hardware and software for the hybrid classroom, support for additional professional development, and hiring two Innovation Specialists. Particularly critical to this work has been the organization of a design team, which has expanded the use of a design approach, as evidenced by the emphasis on flexibility, iterative and responsive change, and teacher and student involvement in innovation across all divisions.
Commitment to ongoing innovation sparks the need for a coordinated approach, such as building individual, departmental, and divisional capacities for design thinking, additional resources for program development, articulation of an approach to leadership through forming teams, and alignment of processes and practical measures.
The Design Team is assessing Breck’s
Toolset:
- Modernize a space for academic innovation to formalize and develop the role of innovation at Breck in teaching and learning and across the organization.
- Evaluate deployments to ensure we have the right device for every user, Pre- through grade 12 student, faculty, and staff.
- Connect students and faculty with the best digital and analog learning resources.
Skillset/Mindset:
- Personalize faculty opportunities to advance Breck’s teaching and learning.
- Launch and implementation of Innovation Coaching program.
- Support faculty in completing Google Educator certifications.
- Doing this will harness innovation at multiple levels across the school to continue to open up new ways of teaching and learning that promote deeper and more equitable learning for all students.
Peter Clark Center for Mind, Brain, and Education
Since 2016, the Peter Clark Center has been curating research in Mind, Brain, and Education (MBE), investing in professional development for faculty, and helping all Breck students understand how they learn. In four years, it has become clear that students who understand themselves as learners enjoy school more, perform better, and have a growth mindset about themselves as learners for life.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Breck is committing to specific actions that will build a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive community where all Breck students can bring their full selves, feel a strong sense of belonging, and thrive as learners. Investments in this initiative will allow Breck to promote and maintain a culture of social and racial justice throughout the school. Targeted strategies include:
- Ongoing training for our community members on anti-bias, anti-oppression, and anti-racism.
- DEI assessment and analysis, and co-creation of cultural change with consulting firm Design Impact, to build a more equitable culture.
- Review and assess our curriculum, policies and pedagogical practices, working closely with our academic leadership and faculty.
- Continue to increase faculty diversity and enhance faculty mentorship programs to strengthen retention of BIPOC and LGBTQ+ faculty.
- Program Directors will collaborate to ensure that DEI work is an integral part of Community Life and Episcopal Identity, the Melrose Center for Servant Leadership, and the Peter Clark Center for MBE.
- Formalize structures for student affinity groups and faculty/staff affinity groups.