For the last 7 years IAA has had the day following MLK off for our mid year retreat. A powerful and enriching day for the staff and that ultimately makes the teaching environment stronger for students. This is definitely not your typical professional development.

Historically, from my experience, this stretch (January 1 until February break) of school is the most stressful of the year. I believe it's a combination of the weather, cabin fever and the longest amount of time between breaks. Whatever it is, it is hard for both students and teachers. In my tenure, IAA has often been described in terms of its warm and social emotional intelligent climate and culture. That is a direct result of these kinds of retreats and there importance for the entire community. I recently read an article, Teaching Is as Stressful as an ER. These Calming Strategies Can Help. I don't contend that what we do at school on a daily basis is on par with a Hospital or Emergency Room. However, this article does speak well to why we need days like this. Retreats are really a vital day for staff cohesion and school climate, two things that directly impact the environment we set and nurture for out students.

I recently lead a 90 minute Restorative Practice session with the Hunt Middle School Staff. I used the Meg Wheatley Poem below, as I have many time before in my career. It wholly reminds me of the work IAA consistently does as a community, the real purpose of our retreats, and how we strive to reflect and connect with each other, families and students. I hope you enjoy it.


Turning to One Another
There is no power greater than a community discovering what it cares about.
Ask: “What’s possible?” not “What’s wrong?” Keep asking.
Notice what you care about.
Assume that many others share your dreams.
Be brave enough to start a conversation that matters.
Talk to people you know.
Talk to people you don’t know.
Talk to people you never talk to.
Be intrigued by the differences you hear. Expect to be surprised.
Treasure curiosity more than certainty.
Invite in everybody who cares to work on what’s possible.
Acknowledge that everyone is an expert about something.
Know that creative solutions come from new connections.
Remember, you don’t fear people whose story you know.
Real listening always brings people closer together.
Trust that meaningful conversations can change your world.
Rely on human goodness.
Stay together.


Margaret Wheatley



Artfully and with Love,
Mr. Bobby

This past Friday, at Town Meeting, we talked about our New Year's Resolutions. Ms. Judy made a great video where students and staff alike, shared their goals, hopes and dreams for the new year. This is an excellent thing to discuss with your child. Also, don't only just ask them about themselves, but what the aspirations of their classmates are, and how they are going to help those around them meet those goals.

I was recently reading an article by Jay Williams, Duke University point guard from 1999-2002. He talked about how the team set individual and team goals and dreams each year. In 2001, Jay shared with his team that as the clock wound down and Duke was about to win the National Championship, he wanted to be the one to shoot the ball in the air in celebration in the closing seconds. As it turned out, 6 months after making this dream known to his teammates, Duke was in the National Championship game with a 10 point lead against Arizona with seconds left. As, the time began to expire and pandemonium was starting to ensue, Jay's teammate, Chris Duhan, started screaming his name as he was dribbling the ball on the opposite side of the court. Jay approached him and said, "What!?, What!?"
Duhan handed him the ball.
Jay looked at quizzically, and asked, "What you want me to do with this?"
Duhan responded, "Throw it up in the air!"
Duhan not only kept site on his goals as a player, but the hopes and dreams of his teammate. Jay Williams felt that gesture was as meaningful as being part of the National Championship team.

The lesson, from my perspective, is this. We may make individual resolutions, goals, hopes or dreams, but rarely do we accomplish those things in a vacuum and on our own. So its important to not only reflect on what we hope to accomplish, but think about who will help us get there and conversely, who we will help reach their goal. This is a powerful exercise. It teaches the true meaning of community and how we support and take care of one another. In this world we need to highlight this far more often.

Happy new year, may all your dreams and resolutions come true and may you help others reach their goals in the process.

On our first Monday Morning Meeting of October I read a book called, Talk and Work it Out by Cheri Meiners. The book outlines how we solve problems peacefully. At school we have so many students at different developmental levels with a variety of needs, its important for us to discuss many social situations and skills as often as possible at school.​The book talks about a 4-step process for solving problems:

1. Talk about the problem.
2. Listen to understand.
3. Think of ways to solve it.
4. Choose the best plan.

We encourage you to have those same conversations at home. Social Emotional learning is something we do our entire lives and a concentrated focus on social emotional skills at school benefits all students. Here are some guiding questions you can use at home to talk about problem solving and conflict with your children:

• Is there someone you often get along with? Why do you enjoy being together?
• How do you feel when something really bothers you? Whose feelings are you thinking about? Why is a good idea to try and work things out?
• Taking a slow deep breath can help you calm down.  What helps you calm down when you're upset by something or someone else?
• How do you work out problems?
• When you its hard to work out a problem what do you do?

We often think of school about an institution that focuses solely on math and literacy.  Be clear, these things are vitally important to the success of our children.  But equally, if not more important, is the basic understanding of social emotional wellbeing and needs.  Social and emotional learning is the process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.  These are the benchmarks of a successful human being and the hope we have for all our children so that they can find hope and joy in the world.  We can not make assumptions that our students are getting these skills and needs met outside of school, because the reality is, many are not.  As such, it behooves us to make it a priority in our schools and support families in addressing the needs in positive ways in the home.  

So if you have any questions or want to see it in action stop by IAA, especially every Monday Morning, when we focus on a social emotional message for our entire community, then honor our students of the week that have exemplified these principles.  If we remind students daily that this is important and acknowledge and recognize these actions in meaningful ways, it creates a whole school environment that is committed to social emotional learning, not only in school and not only during the school years, but in our communities and throughout life, for all students.  

I attended some professional development this week. But it wasn't your grandpa's PD.  George Couros is a principal and author I follow on social media and have read his books. I was psyched to spend the day with him. He said one thing, many things actually,  that resonated with me. But this one comment I found particularly impactful and reaffirming:

“If you want to inspire meaningful change you have to make a connection to the heart before you make a connection to the mind.”

I believe this is our biggest charge as a school and as teachers.  Ask your child how the school lives up to this ideal. Ask them about their relationships, how they feel they are treated, are they connected and do they feel nurtured and excited to come to school?  Teachers should ask the same of their students.  This is the data that we should look at. When the answers to these questions are positive, we are setting the environment to develop not only great learning opportunities, but amazing humans. So check in with your kiddos, ask the questions of both them and the educators that spend so much time with them, and make sure your school is meeting this goal and leading with the heart. ​

Reprinted from the Vermont Agency of Education Arts Newsletter with the Author's Permission. 

One School’s Journey The Integrated Arts Academy (IAA) will soon begin its 10th year. The journey to this moment has been remarkable in every way, certainly one to note and celebrate. Historically our diverse school was among the highest poverty schools in Burlington and had the poorest student achievement scores in the district. Change was necessary, but as most educators know, change is not easy. However, when the arts focus was firmly in place and strongly supported by the administration, change happened. This is the story of our failing public elementary school and the impact arts integration had on our educational success.

The conversation for school improvement began in 2008 with robust discourse within the Burlington School District and larger community. Passionate exchanges about how best to balance the socio-economic inequities within the district were explored. One that was heartily welcomed was a focus on learning through the arts, resulting in a magnet school that could attract children from across the district and provide them with a hands-on learning experience with the arts at the center. Not only do the arts cross cultural boundaries, but research provides plenty of evidence that an arts rich environment prepares students to be responsible, involved citizens who creatively solve problems. The vision was created and the IAA was launched. We embrace and maintain the belief that arts integration as a research based curricular strategy can have a profoundly positive affect on student achievement.

At the IAA, we define arts integration as the blend of one arts discipline (visual arts, dance, drama and music) and another academic subject (math, science, language arts, social studies), in which both disciplines lean on and support one another, deepening the learning for our students. This definition is our guide and touchstone. Arts enhancement and arts as curriculum are also valued, but the integration of the arts is the crux of our mission. Over the past nine years, professional development opportunities have raised teacher confidence and skill at using AI techniques. We created systems within our school that allow for the creation of carefully planned AI units that follow state and national learning standards. These systems include a block schedule with integrated arts classes, planning templates that help shape our units, arts integration rubrics that keep us sharp and aligned, and time (though never enough) where we (teachers and art specialists) can collaborate and work together. We bring in nationally and locally trained teaching artists to model excellence in arts integration. We visit outstanding schools that lead us further on our journey. We foster meaningful relationships with community partners that help us provide a rich integrated arts curriculum for our diverse group of learners, offering our students far more than we could hope to provide with a shrinking school budget. We expanded our programing to include a breadth of arts opportunities for our students: a drama program, strings program, and dance program to name a few. We increased our arts staff to include full time arts specialists, including a drama educator. We created a vigorous artist-inresidence program, calling in experts and professionals throughout the arts to help guide us in our learning opportunities. And we rely on each other- as partners, as educators, as artists, as change makers. All of this has taken time, one baby step after another. Slowly we have evolved.

We have learned a lot over the past nine years. Not all of it has been easy. We have had both failure and success, and have used our failures to push forward. School reform is difficult, but with a dedicated, devoted staff and administration, we believe it is possible to flourish. Our population has increased significantly and is now socioeconomically balanced to match the district average; our students and their families are deeply engaged with our school community; our school has been recognized by the Vermont Agency of Education as a top turnaround school in Vermont. We know that our devotion and commitment to learning through the arts is at the heart of this success. Arts Integration as an agent for school reform cannot be underestimated.

Judy Klima is the Arts Coach at the Integrated Arts Academy in Burlington, VT. 

Gun Violence and the general safety needs in our schools are an important issue to communities, school employees and families across this country.  As a result, a National Walkout has been called for Wednesday March 14, 2018, to demand our government work with communities to ensure safe schools, places of worship, homes and neighborhoods.  The national walkout will begin at 10:00 a.m. and continue for 17 minutes, honoring each of the fallen students in the Parkland, Florida school shooting.   The event has primarily been targeting walkouts at the middle and high school level.  However, the passion and concerns of those families supporting and nurturing our youngest students may want to make a statement as well.  That being the case; we felt it was important to discuss what a walkout, if interested students and families want to participate, looks and sounds like at the elementary level. 

1. This is primarily student led and we should follow the children's lead in terms of how they want to present their understanding and also honor their decision not to participate.  

2. While this walkout is being used as a vehicle to stop gun violence, we need to frame it for our youngest student's, as a way to advocate for safe schools.  How each family decides to broach the intense issue of gun violence with their children is a personal choice.  Delving deeply into the context with our youngest students has the potential to create more anxiety and fear.  As such, for those who ultimately participate, we are simply conveying a message of safety.  Those who choose to walkout, are asking that our government, our neighbors, our teachers and staff and our families, work hard at making schools the safest places in our community and to say that we support improving safety in schools.  Everyone has a right to safety and peace and this is a means to bringing awareness to that message. 

3. Remind students that our schools are safe.  We work hard to create safety in our schools and there are many measures this community takes to ensure that safety.  

4. If children want to learn more, teach in an age appropriate, non fearful way.  If you are struggling with this concept at hope, work with your child's school, law enforcement or local mental health agency for ideas how to best present it and make it a true learning opportunity.  If you specifically want to broach the issues of gun violence here is an age by age guide for children published in USA Today. 

Former US Attorney General, Loretta Lynch said, "No matter who we are or where we live, we all share a basic concern for the safety and well-being of our young people. Their welfare is the most telling measure of our nation's success - and their potential is the most promising element of its future. It is up to us - all of us - to safeguard that future."  For those who participate this Wednesday, that is the message I will share with them.  That we all are responsible for creating safe schools.  From our youngest student to our principal, we all play a role.  And while this protest is asking something very specific, the message we can send this Wednesday, is that we all can contribute to our community to make this a safer school.  When the 17 minutes have expired and students return to class,  what choices will they make to create that safe space?  That is the teaching we can and should do every day.  

At a recent staff retreat, I shared with my entire staff the things I struggle with.  In my interactions with parents, staff and students, I make mistakes and I shared that with my community.  You know what?  It didn't bother me at all.  I am, after all, human.  

I think vulnerability is missing, not only today's leadership, but generally in community life.  We too often put on airs, aren't reflective enough and lack a cohesion and trust, that allows us to be the truest form of ourselves in front of others. 

I get that being vulnerable is not easy.  Merriam-Webster defines vulnerable as; capable of being physically or emotionally wounded and  open to attack or damage : vulnerable to criticism   None of that sounds good.  However, when I avail myself to letting down my guard, it feels good. Its a relief and it releases a burden. 

This year, as a school administrator, has been a particularly challenging one.  Not since my first year have i had so much thrown at me and have I carried such a burdensome load.  It doesn't mean I don't love the work, I do.  But  it has prompted me to be more reflective on how to let folks know I need support in my duties of providing support and care to others. It is in this sharing that I help connect to, and build a more cohesive community.  More importantly I believe I am exhibiting confidence and role modeling skills that I'd like see reflected.  I can think of one national leader in particular, if not many, who would be served well by demonstrating a little vulnerability.  His inability to do so, many would contend, is detrimental in myriad ways. 

​The problem is, many would consider showing one's vulnerability as being weak or passive, demonstrating a lack of strength. I would contend it is a sign of courage.  As an arts school we extol the virtue of taking risks.  The risk of vulnerability can manifest in many ways.  As stated above, it can be sharing what is hard for you.  But it can also be asking for help, supporting a colleague through active listening (without offering judgement or advice), letting others take the lead or sharing personal stories or information about your life.  Really, the things that have the potential to make us vulnerable, are just things that make us human and connect us to others more deeply.  That sounds like a place I'd like to work.  Oh yeah, I do!