In fulfillment of the 1A. Community Narrative initiative, Dr. Mora has finalized a draft Community Narrative. We are pleased to share this document with students and employees for your reading over winter break.
The 1A initiative called for “creating a concise and coherent document with our overarching cultural narrative (Ethos) and principles for action.” Work on this initiative dates back to September of last year with the formation of the the 1A cross-functional team (XFT). Between September and March the 1A XFT researched relevant UWC, IB, and UWC-USA documents; revisited the school’s community values discussion from the 2018-19 school year; explored models for community narrative statements; developed an original framework for our narrative; completed a first draft; and completed a second draft with Todd’s assistance. Thank you to the members of the 1A XFT for their many contributions to this initiative: Brett Gilland, Andy Gorvetzian, Nanette Phillips, Melinda Russial, Lorenzo Maggio Laquidara (UWC-USA ’20), and Sebastian Montes Reyes (UWC-USA ’20).
In the spring we shared this second draft with Victoria for a full round of review and feedback, then with the Strategic Planning Committee and the SLT. Where there was a clear consensus on major points of feedback (e.g., need for a stronger opening, less biography on key persons and more focus on influential ideas, more discussion of place and its significance, more emphasis on continuity with our school’s history, a shorter document if possible and definitely not a longer one, etc.), we began a series of major revisions which took us through the summer months. After one more round of review and feedback from the SLT early in the fall, Victoria and Todd have continued working on minor revisions in the document.
In the end, we think we’ve written a coherent community narrative but we’ve not forced concision. Such a statement requires a discussion of our identity, history, context, program and commitments and each of these topics deserves its due attention. We look forward to discussing this document with interested students and employees in January and adding their feedback to the mix.