Check out the Summer 2020 edition of The Current, Headwaters monthly newsletter.

Guide of the Year is a favorite student-led tradition on the River campus. Each year, students in Middle and High School vote for the guide that personifies teaching at Headwaters. With so many incredible candidates, this award is highly coveted. 

Congratulations to the winner for the 19-20 school year!

#TBT to the Class of 2020!

 

Today we celebrate Juneteenth.

Headwaters has earned the No Place for Hate designation for 19-20 from the Anti-Defamation League!

 

• Beyond the Golden Rule: A Teaching Tolerance Publication (Tolerance.org)
• 'Raising White Kids' Author On How White Parents Can Talk About Race (NPR)
• How to talk to your children about protests and racism (CNN)
• How to Talk to Kids about Race and Racism (Parent ToolKit)
• How to Teach Your Kids to Fight Hate: An Age-by-Age Guide (Parents.com)
• Raising Race Conscious Children (RaceConcious.org)
• This Book is Anti-Racist by Tiffany Jewell
• Talking with Children About Race Webinar (Katie Malinski, LCSW)

Further Resources from NAIS

• Talking to children after racial incidents (Penn GSE)
• “George Floyd. Ahmaud Arbery. Breonna Taylor. What do we tell our children?” (USA Today) 

• Talking About Race (National Museum of African American History & Culture)  
• Beyond the Golden Rule: A Parent’s Guide to Preventing and Responding to Prejudice (Teaching Tolerance) 
• Understanding Race and Privilege (National Association of School Psychologists)

Check out the Headwaters School 2020 Virtual Photography Gallery, a collection of works from all of Headwaters photography MS/HS students from the 2019-2020 school year. 

Share your Headwaters pride and support our families with a special edition t-shirt benefitting the Headwaters COVID Relief Fund.

Yesterday high schooler Berkeley directed a part of his "End of the World" music video set to REM's iconic song. This music video was done on Zoom for a group submission to Austin Youth Film Festival's new online contest and involved students, guides, and parents singing and acting along. We can't wait to see the finished product! #HeadwatersAtHome

Daily Class of 2020 features are being shared to celebrate Headwaters Class of 2020. These features also include each students' Headwaters Legacy, a statement that they want to leave behind for their peers and the future. Check out out social media every day for a new post as we lead up to Commencement on Friday, May 29.

I’m excited to announce that our school community will be participating in the OPEN National Field Day event on Friday, May 8th!

May 5, 2020 is Giving Tuesday Now

Headwaters Head of School Ted Graf is back with a video to share a video message. This week, Ted shared a letter to the Class of 2020 at this link.

Get a ticket to the next Friend of the FUNd event before it is too late. Get on the list for a SCOBY, receive a supply list, and join us on Zoom next Saturday, May 2 to learn how to make your own cultured beverages art home! Click here to sign-up today.

Check out the newest Ted Talks, a Video Message from Head of School Ted Graf!

Join Marc Lionetti, Headwaters Middle and High School Counselor, as he talks about centering practices and leads a guided metta meditation at this link. 

A big welcome to Alexandra Gantley, our new Learning Specialist on the Creek Campus who will work with our Elementary program.

When I was a sophomore in high school, my English teacher assigned us what would turn out to be the most rigorous assignment I had ever faced in school. I was to find a complete stranger, interview that person in depth, play the tape of the entire interview for my classmates, and then write a feature article on that person as if I were writing for the New York Times magazine. What made this particular assignment rigorous for me is that I had to identify and then introduce myself to a person I didn't know. I then had to research that person, so that I could ask thoughtful and insightful questions. Then I had to actually follow through on that and present it to an audience who mattered to me (my friends and classmates). My first attempt was a spectacular failure. I didn't prepare enough questions so the interview was completed in less than fifteen minutes; I became flustered during the interview and didn't ask any follow-up questions; I wasn't interested in the subject; I didn't check my tape recorder in advance, and I failed to capture anyone's voice--lots of white noise. And then my teacher expected me to present this string of failures to the class. Talk about adolescent humility.

The Friends of the FUNd are having a get-together and you're invited! Join us at Lantana Nails and Spa for a Mani-Pedi evening (and dinner afterwards at Carve!) next Wednesday (2/12) at 5:30 p.m. Reserve your spot today for a relaxing evening by visiting this link. 

Over the past two years, Headwaters has spent a lot of time and energy reflecting on where we've been, how we've gotten to this point, and where we're headed. As a summary, we completed our required self-study for TAAPS (Texas Alliance for Accredited Private Schools) last March and earned accreditation again; we completed our first ever self-study for the International Baccalaureate and learned a lot about the evolution of our Diploma Programme; we voluntarily completed the AIM (Assessment on Inclusivity and Multiculturalism) process and generated insights and recommendations about how we can more fully live into the part of our Purpose statement that reads, "embrace diversity to bring more peace to the world." And, we recently completed our first self-study for the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest (ISAS). The visiting team of 16 fellow educators from across the region were here this week exploring our delightful school.

Check out the January edition of The Current, Headwaters monthly newsletter.

Congratulations to our Early Childhood Dance/Movement Therapist Ms. Lea Comte (on the left of the image) for speaking at TEDx South Congress this Saturday! She will be spreading the word about the use of Dance & Movement Therapy tools for co-regulation to support early childhood mental health. Please help us congratulate Ms. Lea for this exciting accomplishment and wish her luck this weekend!