F
C O N F E R E N C E
at Trevor
e
Lisa Alberti
Associate Head of School and
Interim Director of the Lower School
with contributions by
Jenny Golanka
Pre-Kindergarten Head Teacher
and Cassandra Leon '16
irty-one years ago, Trevor decided to change the way we conduct parent-teacher conferences. is was an important
development in a school-wide effort to create a paradigm shift—we aspired to break the traditional adversarial or disengaged
relationship between parent and school that was then standard. We sought a deeper, more collaborative partnership with
families. A hallmark of the school already was—and remains—the respectful, reflective, and cooperative relationship between
student and teacher. We wanted these characteristics to extend to the school's relationship with parents as well.
e conference needed to evolve from the standard scenario (in which the teacher simply informed the parent of a student's
progress) to a synergistic conversation involving all of the stakeholders. We realized that in order to fulfill our mission and best
support our unique learning community, the students also needed to take part. With their participation the conference could
become an influential tool to celebrate the student's work, reflect on progress and challenges, look for themes from which
important goals emerge, and develop a mutually agreed upon plan to realize these goals.
THE TRIANGLE
THE IMPETUS
amily
