Every Student Is Everyone’s Student

“One school, three divisions” is a phrase we use a lot at MMFS. It describes both our primary aspiration and, often, our primary challenge: How do we cultivate a sense of being one school while meeting the specific developmental needs in the three divisions? And what are the common threads that bind the divisions together?

This fall’s Professional Development Days explore how we are both one school and three divisions. Each division is closing for one day (the lower school closed yesterday, the middle school is closed today, and the upper school will close next Tuesday) so that faculty and staff can visit classes in one of the other buildings, tour the facilities, and engage in a panel discussion with fellow faculty members.

Teachers were thrilled when they got to see their old students, and students reacted to their former teachers as if they were seeing old friends.

During the panel discussions, teachers, therapists, deans, and administrators shared several key insights about the common threads shared by the three divisions, focusing on our mission, anti-racism work, advocacy, commitment to fun, and even our trip program.

At the close of one of the panels, a teacher described working collaboratively with their colleagues to bring MMFS’s mission to life. “Every student is everyone’s student,” they said, getting to the heart of what all faculty and staff believe. By the time students graduate, they are truly everyone’s students.

That quote sums up the idea of “one school, three divisions.” As different as our divisions are, they all share the same goal: to help students with learning disabilities become confident, successful learners, building a foundation that will support them long after they’ve left here.