Wednesday, March 14

10:00 am · National School Walkout · Roycemore School, Beacon Academy, and Chiaravalle Montessori School are joining together to protest gun violence.

5:00 pm · Yoga Class · Phoenix Yoga Project · Library

PALIO — Friday, March 16

On Friday, March 16, students in Grades 1 through 12 will present Palio. One of Roycemore’s longest running traditions, Palio is our annual showcase of physical education, athletic, tumbling, and dance skills. There will be a ½ day of school, with all students leaving Roycemore at 11:30 am and returning for the performances in the evening. Please mark your calendars now and join us for this long-standing annual event.

Check the online calendar at roycemoreschool.org/calendar for more information. Athletic practices are on the school calendar page.

Give and Take

Last week I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the NAIS Annual Conference in Atlanta. It was part two for me in a program I started with them last July which is to support new Heads of Schools. I have been to the Annual Conference many times but this year was the first year I attended as a Head of School. It felt great to represent Roycemore School. I had the opportunity to re-connect with colleagues from throughout my career in independent schools as well as colleagues who had participated in the July program with me— the NAIS Institute for New Heads, and meet new independent school people from around the country.

There were over 4,500 individuals attending the conference and workshops were presented by teachers, administrators and outside professionals on all aspects of school life, from legal issues, to the classroom experience, to marketing and enrollment, and leadership. One of the keynote speakers was Dr. Adam Grant, author of three New York Times best-selling books. He spoke specifically about the research in one of those books, Give and Take.

Grant spoke about the topic of this book— the value of “givers” in the workplace and explained the difference among givers, matchers, and takers. He describes givers as individuals who give more than they take. Matchers are those individuals who try to act with reciprocity. Takers are those individuals who tend to be more self-oriented and take more than they give. Grant asked those in the audience to vote on who we believed tend to be the most successful in business. Many people believe that the takers fit this category, however they tend to rise quickly and also fall quickly. They tend to fall at the hands of the matchers who will tell others, “don’t trust that person, he/she is selfish.” Givers can be both the least successful and the most successful people. The key for givers to be more successful is for them to:

• Know when to help— set boundaries on time. Individuals who “chunk” their giving into blocks of time and protect some time for themselves tend to be happier because they protect some of their calendar for their own needs.
• Know how to help— Givers who can offer specific help rather than trying to be generalists are also happier and make a bigger impact. When they know their strengths of where they can help, and who to connect someone to if they don’t have the particular expertise being sought, everyone wins.
• Who to help— Grant suggests that people are careful with takers. Giving to takers over time drains even the most positive individuals.
• Why to help— Grant promotes the idea of “reinforcing generosity,” especially with young children. When one praises the behavior versus the person, one reinforces the behavior. For example, saying, “Will you be a helper?” vs. “Will you help?” results in a 22-29% increase in helpful behaviors among preschool children.
• Ask for help—  It is important to create psychological safety for people to help. 75-90% of all giving in workplaces results from asking for help. Sadly many leaders say, “Don’t bring me problems, bring me solutions.” This shuts down help seeking and people will never come forward with the really big problems that they or the organization needs help solving.

When givers follow these five rules, they will consistently be more successful than matchers or takers.

As I listened to Grant speak, I thought of how relevant his lessons were for our own children, and remembered an activity that our middle school students participated in last fall during their overnight. The students were blindfolded and put into a “maze.” The maze involved them holding onto a rope and working their way out of the maze. As the students progressed, periodically a student would escape the maze and the instructor whispered into their ear to let them know how they escaped. When there was just one frustrated student left, the instructor told the others who had escaped to let the remaining student know how to get out of the maze. They yelled, “ask for help!” It was a powerful lesson that the students learned authentically, and we have tried to remind them of the value of asking for help throughout the year.

As Grant finished his talk, he said, “the most meaningful way to succeed is to help others succeed.” This is the culture of the giver. It is also the theory behind “think win-win” a philosophy we continue to cultivate year-round at Roycemore.

In partnership for our students,

Adrianne Finley Odell
Head of School

Parents, as we look ahead to the future of Roycemore School, we are dedicated to continuing to provide your children with excellent opportunities to succeed. The deadline for re-enrollment was February 28th. If you have not yet re-enrolled for 2018/19 please do so as soon as possible, as you will not only be securing your child's spot in their class, but also assisting the School in preparations for next school year. Roycemore now requires that all custodial parents submit an enrollment packet for their child. In many cases where two parents are responsible for a child, this will mean submitting both a primary and a secondary packet for the child in order for them to be considered 100% enrolled. (The completion of the "secondary packet" must be done through the ParentsWeb login for that parent and takes less than 3 minutes to complete.) This requirement aligns with best practices in independent schools and we appreciate your flexibility as we continue to take steps to strengthen our process.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Heather Lucey.

“A Night To Remember” is Only 7 weeks away!

On Saturday, April 28, 2018, Roycemore's long-standing tradition continues with the Annual Dinner and Auction. Tickets are going fast, and we hope you will consider joining current Parents and Grandparents, Alumni and leaders from our community. Our silent auction is shaping up to include some incredible offerings from local businesses, Chicago specials, and teacher talents. Wouldn’t you love a class with Ruth Hecht to learn handbuilding? How about a bike tour of local breweries with the incredible Howard Stanley? The live auction will have opportunities for trips to Florida, Santa Fe and Africa! Don’t miss out. For more information contact Sara McGuire.

Spring Break Camp will take place the first week of Spring Break, March 26–30. We will be open our usual hours from 7:30 am–6:00 pm. There will be some field trips, and also a wide variety of interesting daily recreational activities planned in and around the School. A hot meal will be provided on all days. You received a separate email with the flyer a few days ago.

Roycemore School's Two Excellent Summer Programs, Inspiration Factory (IF) and Camp Griffin information is on our website!
Also this year, Inspiration Factory will have an Extended Day Option to 6:00 pm. Registration is open!

Wednesdays from 5:00–6:00 pm in the library—Classes are FREE and open to the public. To receive sign-up information before each class, visit phoenixyogaproject.org and sign up for emails under “Join the movement today!”

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