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SPRING
2000 Drew Smith
Associate Head of School
One of the long-range goals of Friends School is to ensure that our own decision-making process appropriately reflects the nature and mission of our school. More specifically, that the school strive to conduct all of its business in the manner of Friends, be it the business of the faculty or the students. As a member of the Society of Friends, I have witnessed and been part of committees and monthly business meetings on countless occasions, and consequently can not only describe Quaker decision-making process, but can also testify to how that process "feels" when I have been just one part of a united whole. My experience, however, is not the experience of every member of our faculty, and it seemed important to try to find ways that this process could become an integral part of the life experience of every member of our faculty.
Recently, Teachers Glenn Parker, Chris Mahon, Peter Manzelmann, and I visited the Westtown Friends School to learn how that school uses the Quaker decision-making process in its meetings among faculty, staff, and students. At Westtown School a Faculty Clerk is nominated for each division of the school (Lower, Middle, and Upper). That clerk and the division principals plan an agenda with the faculty for weekly meetings. Using the planned agenda, the faculty then conducts its meetings using the formal structure of a Friends Meeting for Business. Faculty and staff at Westtown reported to us that implementing these practices has helped immeasurably in helping faculty members "feel" Friends process and practice in a way that mission statements cannot.
Our visiting group reported to the full faculty here at Mullica Hill upon our return and members of the faculty are now working to define the role and selection process of a faculty clerk for each of our two divisions. Our group is also working to educate the faculty in Quaker decision-making and it is our hope that when school opens in the fall, we here at Friends School, Mullica Hill, will have two new faculty clerks who will help guide us through the important agenda of educating children in the manner of Friends.
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Last modified:
Wednesday, February 18, 2004 at 08:19 AM
