From the Superintendent's Desk

Over the past several weeks I have thought a great deal about SAS core values - fairness, responsibility, honesty, compassion, and respect. I am reminded of its importance as the college admissions scandal plays itself out in the US news. This is tragic for the families involved, and goes to one of the most important parts of the SAS experience - the DSLO (desired student learning objective) of character. Character matters. Character counts. And character is part of what we expect of our students and hope to model each and every day.

Values such as honesty, fairness, and respect are easy to aspire to until the stakes are high and the pressure is mounting. Most people (students and adults alike) don't go into the world intending to take a short cut, but when they feel that there are no alternatives, or the stakes are just too high, they are tempted to compromise their values and ultimately, devalue themselves.

Seven years ago when we were developing our DSLO's I was struck by how strongly our community felt about imbedding these values into the work that we do. This is a curricular extension of what we aspire to with The Eagle Way in our sports and activities. We don't do this perfectly, and neither do our students or families, but we do have stated expectations and an ethos where this is what we normally expect in and out of the classroom.

A few weeks ago I met with a group of second graders who had made an appointment to talk to me about a very important issue to them - their playground. They called for the initial meeting to advocate for additional playground equipment to be installed near the fields where our elementary pool is located. They presented an impressive case and I asked them to collect data to support their request. They came back armed with data after surveying most of the second grade class. I was very proud of their work.

During our meeting the conversation shifted when one of the students identified an issue of fairness. The student realized that while an addition would make most of the second grade class happy, it would likely alienate first and third graders. They started talking about the core value of fairness, and how that fit into their request. They then started brainstorming alternative solutions that would better serve more students.

These students had a lot to lose, but in the end they landed on our core value as a priority. I am deeply proud of them. The SAS core values don't start in hard and high stake decisions. They start in the small decisions each day, at home, in the classroom, and on the playground or gym. When students practice our values in the small things, each day with adults and with each other, then when the hard decisions come, and they WILL come, they are better prepared to make a decision that is aligned with what we value most - our character.

I am proud that we have a community and staff that find our core values and DLSO of character important. Every one of us will likely stumble somewhere along the way. But so long as we continue to hold our community values at the center of what we do, our students will understand what character looks like and hopefully they will make value based choices when it is tough.

Fairness, responsibility, honesty, compassion, and respect. The Eagle Way. This is SAS at its best.

from Singapore American School http://bit.ly/2UHZU4H