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Meet Betsy Fitch, Ed.D Head of School

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Welcome Dr. Betsy Fitch as our Head of School at Virginia Chance School, effective June 7, 2021. Betsy will succeed Interim Head Stephanie Mutchnick, who will continue her current role through the end of the school year. Betsy has already immersed herself in Virginia Chance School, meeting with Teachers, Directors, and Staff, observing and planning for a great year ahead.

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some parents have missed the interviews could you please share your background and what Drew you to Virginia chance school on the new head of school thank you and me being here today I really appreciate it and I'm excited that with everybody today I would like to ask that say when you said this is more like a conversation that a monologues we take a minute if you have access to the chat box just introduce yourself if it's your first year at chance definitely let us know that and anything else you want us to know 71 cute story before started if you need information about what you might put in a chat box I got an email from one of the teachers this morning and she said a few years ago she had a little  her class and every chart the little girl climbing stairs she would get to the top she would say I do and she said that was her sort of monster for this year so maybe I should introduce yourself if you had a hashtag Ramada or anything you want to share my love. Read those later so bring me to chance I thought that I would share maybe I'm more personal story about what your me the chance and if it resonates with anybody if you could put that in the shop box I would really I was just really love to I think what your me to chance and what is draw me to Progressive education my entire life is that chance has exactly the opposite of what I experienced as a child when I was in school I experienced a lot of worksheets in compliance and behavior was punished not dinner discussed and so when I come to chance and I see Progressive education and action I really believe that it is what's best for children it's what I would have wanted for myself it's what I want for your children it's what I want for my niece is my nephew's it's what I believe if we all had them opportunity to go to chance the world would be a much different place so that's what your me to chance because I just I would have I want it for everyone and I would have wanted it for myself so then that takes me to my background of my journey and some of you heard muster before so I can tell it from a little bit more personal narrative this morning but Ernie started in Kentucky I went to Murray I was born here and it's been a little bit of time business and I always wanted to teach since that day and like fourth grade when I decided school is not need to be this way it needs to be better for kids I really want to teach but I'm sure you all know like me under the beds and Wesson until I move California. I thought I just can't work in business anymore I have to teach and so I wanted to create this magical chance blank experience with one person in a room adjoining kindergarteners you can imagine what that was like being in a 20 kindergarteners trying to do a chance to experience it was crazy I tried but it was the really naughty seeing every day at the same time I was through dissatisfied with the traditional version of classic my Matt's mom to work driving forever to a progressive education School in Northern California traffic we had a really wonderful superintendent who allowed us to start a school and it was facing all the progressive. 10 + 3 and I stay with that program until we built it to a K-8 everything we had social emotional learning parents were highly involved we collaborated it was magical wonderful experience for children I loved it the one thing that was missing a little bit was more logistically than philosophically with the the eyepiece with a lid integrate so we were going to start another program on a middle school campus and I was one of the founding teachers for that program and again a lot of tenants in Progressive it and I saw the kids driving it's all the teachers thriving when we loved so much but at the end of that year they were four principal openings in my dessert which never happens and so I applied I've never been a school administrator before but I'll ask my principal of the largest ostrich high-performing School in the district which would have been scary except for one thing it's right at the beginning of common core standard in-person public education worse than we don't know what to do with this what are these common core standards read those and I said to myself this is Progressive education 21st century skills collaboration we are trying to replicate Progressive practices and so while everybody was saying we don't know what to do I said is that the school bus go on field trips let's go visit Progressive at schools all over Northern California that go back into that at Taylor and here's the thing that surprised me most about that experience and you know that children Thrive under Progressive Ed scenario what brought me so much joy was the teachers the teachers who had been doing these really traditional practices for so many years once they were given the opportunity and the freedom to be creative and to do the things that they knew in their hearts were best for kids they were so joyful which is now they were living their passions they were on the they were doing what they knew what was best for children text Justin Choi you get a chance right it's the progressive education you see it there and again if this resonates with you drop this in the chat for me please even though I saw this joy in the teachers and I'll destroy and students and I felt in my heart that we were doing the right thing with Progressive Ed there was this little voice in the back of my head is dead what if you're wrong what if you're wrong because so many people are not doing it this way I can all these people be wrong and I'm and I feel so strongly so at that time San Jose State start offering a doctor criminal signed up and I went deep crazy nerd out on Progressive education and studied Horace Mann and John Dewey and Paulo Freire and everything and visited schools and really learned like why does this happen that the magic that we see a chance is called magical and not normal and super short it's just about resources does efficiency it's really hard to replicate this model is not that it's not best for kids it's just really hard to do it's really hard to do when you have millions of children they need to come to school it's free it's extremely difficult and sometimes it can get a little bit low did you see and then people really get scared and they don't feel like that's going to be best for their children because we need to get jobs and move forward with our lives is your next question Olivia is going to ask me tell us about your time on chance chance School can I see the little star preschool children outside playing and I see that makes flooring and I see them learning I know that they're developing really solid conceptual Foundation I know that's what's best for those Littles and I had a chance to go into the K-12 classrooms and to the two three and I saw the same love the same Joy the same Explorer but now you really starting to see teachers doing small group instruction on literacy and numeracy and really engaging small group and kids are really fat neck spacer procedural knowledge they are getting it okay then I went up to the Treehouse saw some of the older children and now they've got these Concepts they know the literacy they're really critical thinkers they were asking me some tough questions and their little class meeting and you can see the application on their learning and their projects and Ann Curry still the joy still everything they are but now they're able to pull it together and really do some interesting work so when I say I love Progressive ad and I love what I see a chance it's not because for any specific reason it's because I've millions of reasons it's been the experience that I've lived in the research that I've done and it's been what I see chance and son I did work internationally and there was less of that there but I think moving forward in the world we have to know how to be culturally and linguistically able to work with lots of folks and bring that type of instruction into the school and that is something that I think definitely chances doing and some of that I could help expand with so that's the short story long my experiences with chance so far and miss my background and I would like to say thank you because I have an on-campus a lot and Stephanie has given of her time so many hours to meet with me Aaron has been extremely generous just shout out to Stephanie and Aaron in the chat box they have been amazing and so patient with all of my questions and I've met with all the teacher thank you for your time with Erin we met with almost all the executive board members lots of people have given so much of their time to meet with me and make sure that this transition is smooth so thank you thank you very much text Olivia so just on a couple of the points about Progressive bed and really like looking into what next year how do you feel next year will look like with a Chance what are the most interesting questions I got when I was interviewing with chance and it just it has just stay with my heart was was just come out of a pandemic and although we're all really excited to run into some she wanted to know how it's going to help the school through his transition post-pandemic get us back into through engagement with a focus on wellness and so unlike a lot of schools that say over doing a c l a c l a really such a how much of what we do the thing just kind of how like that aspect of the work if we return to the fall and really focus on belonging and connection and re-engage how do we start to come together again as a community what did we may be to learn through covid that wasn't all bad that we want to keep one of my favorite songs me quotes as you know I'm going to mess this up so that somebody has it better than the job but she said she don't learning is sent to 6 reflecting on it so I think taking the fall to reflect on the past and what do we want to preserve and where do we maybe want to move forward I think that Paws in the fall to really research and just rain gauge is going to be important and we're calling it an annual plant or a bridge plan and at the same time we will start to look into the Strategic plan for moving forward but initially I think it's going to be important to pause and honor that were in transition and people will have had many different experiences this past year and returning my be easy for some of us that it might be a challenge for others so I will look like a lot of connection and I will be visible at the drop drop off then I can pick up some Olivia I think we'll get into some of that later so I'm interested in your interviews you talked about the importance of diversity inclusion work at chance and also in how will this look like for our school next year thank you for the question so again I want to thank Stephanie and cream they invited me to participate in one of the last two days of the year and the focus was on leave the focus specifically on stereotype threat and we did a podcast and that's a conversation I was able to be part of that and Corrine has done a wonderful job so I'm just going to continue to support her as she moves forward she's at work I got it team of teachers and a police and parents have reached out to her to say we'd like to help be part of it to ETI committee what can we do she's giving out some summer homework with her with reading and with podcast and that's all I can do and in the spirit common language which is been so beneficial to chance her first step in the follow me to develop a Common Language it's really scary to talk about diversity equity and inclusion rate if you don't have the common language and know what those words mean so that's going to be her just left crown and do we have a language do we have the tools and then she'll start to we together will start to look turn all of the school how we need to change our think that we need to tweak and just really hearing from different people's experiences but Kris done a wonderful job she'll continue to lie that Mom and I will follow her lead and we'll start immediately with a common language so what can parents expect as far as communication from you in this new year well think it's really effective is just invisible being outside send the drop off in the morning or in the afternoon or just walking around campus I really like face-to-face or phone calls a little bit more than email but I know Olivia does a newsletter will continue with that Worldstar can I use some of the things like the dunes virtual meetings to make it more accessible for people so we can have conversations think that was one of the pluses of covid 4/2 in with frequency but what I what happened frequency 1/3 of a cup with brevity with bullet points and shorter statements so you can give me some feedback on what's working and what's not working I'm a learner too and if I'm if you're not getting what you need please just let me know we can certainly easy to make adjustments disability in connection to the foundation of trust I think can you share a quick summary of your goals for this next year my first goal for next year as it's really relationships build relationships getting to know everybody I'll be there this summer her summer camp memorizing names and meeting people so the relationship building because once you have that then you have trust and then you can move forward together so that is by far my first goal clear funication and effective process is used for communication and feedback is really important so I'll continue with what's worked in the past and then if we found new things through covet that we want to include that will be really important the bridge plan focusing on Wellness is obviously a really important connecting with crane the community on moving forward with the D E I work so we truly can how diverse Equitable inclusive community and then just now and that was a covid year so I've been involved in some of the leadership I've been doing some things that I say I think Stephanie will transition to The Independent Schools Network so those are just really foundational goals for the year and in through the Strategic plan will get a little bit more into the nitty-gritty of moving we're together well thank you very much for this introduction welcome Betsy to our school there's just a couple of things for our parents are on today that I'd like to remind you of weed and out last week of parent survey that will want everyone to complete so that we have a great insights going into the summer and into next year that we can use to craft an awesome year for 4 2122 South that would be great and also to Betsy will be doing follow-up walk and talks so the week of June 14th everyone here in the next day or so I will get a calendar invite similar to this today that is a that is age and Stage appropriate so if you're in the twos and threes you'll have your own walk and talk with that see if you're in pre-k you'll have your own walk and talk with that see all the way up through so we wanted to devote a day and a space to get you guys out on the campus some of you have not been deep into our campus and have seen the pictures and now it's your time to get that experience as well and ask those of those questions that you have for Betsy one-on-one and get those answers directly so we appreciate everyone for signing on today and we look forward to seeing you at the walk and talk and if you have any other questions you can certainly put those in the and will follow up with you to thank you very much for your time and thank you so much Betsy we look forward to a great year thanks

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Meet Betsy Fitch, Ed.D Head of School

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