On December 24, 2007, I posted a page that was particularly successful at telling the Proctor story. The idea was that a page dedicated to students was a holiday gift to the community. Today, during the slow days of early July, I am bringing it back, with all Comments included.

The Head of another school, visiting Proctor as a part of an NEASC evaluating team, observed, "Here, everyone seems to be heading in the same direction." He was speaking of the uniformity of purpose to which the adult community is commited. Here's a hint:

This--the mission that (in Taoist tradition) cannot be truly articulated--is all about students. For schools, claiming to be student centered is as tempting as experiential, but these realities are not attained through claims in mission statements.

Proctor's greatest asset is not its extraordinary property or prototypic programs. It is the adults' uniform commitment to our students and their success that distinguishes this school.

Now, I'll make a bold editorial comment. This student-centeredness is not why we have structured support services (Learning Skills and Learning Labs); it is, rather, because we have had structured support systems for seventy years.

I am claiming that the ethos of the community--often attributed to the openness of assemblies--is truly the product of an educational model born in the late 1930s, that provided students opportunities to succeed if they are willing to work for it.

For what else can one ask, but a level playing field, on which you take responsibility for your success?

Oral tradition tells us that Learning Skills began around kitchen tables in faculty apartments in 1937. Its evolution as an integral, organic part of a college preparatory school is wholly unique, and beyond true imitation. (I mentioned "prototypic" programs above; Learning Skills is our greatest prototype.)

None of this page's photographs feature a Learning Skills class. That will come another time. My point is that the program creates an environment that is witnessed everywhere, as long as you look at students.

This page is all about students, because that's the uniform focus of the faculty. It's a holiday card to you: pictures of Proctor kids.