Andrea Stringer: #EdVentures Part 5: It's about the people.

Saturday, 20 June 2015

#EdVentures Part 5: It's about the people.

Alile & me

Earlier this year, Gina Parker Collins from RIISE contacted me through LinkedIn. She was wanting to introduce Alile Eldridge to me before she arrived in Australia. Alile kindly requested to visit Wenona. This year Wenona welcomed Lindall Watson to her new role of the Inclusive Education Coordinator. Lindall thoroughly enjoyed speaking with Alile, as one of her roles is Director of Community Life and Diversity. As I was visiting New York, I thought it would be great to meet up with Alile and visit Chapin. I have provided some background information taken from their website http://www.chapin.edu/

Chapin

Chapin School

K-12 with 755 students.
Located at 100 East End Avenue
49 classrooms
2-story library with a multimedia room and a video-editing room
8 science laboratories
4 art studios including a photography darkroom 7 ceramics studio
2 music studios, a black box theatre, a dance studio,
2 computer laboratories
4 gymnasiums
a greenhouse
Students come from Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and New Jersey
Student-to-teacher ratio is 7 to 1
2014-2015 tuition $39,300 +

When I visited the Chapin School, it was under reconstruction and while students are out for the summer, Alile took me on a tour. She thought I would like to spend some time with Kelly. She believed we would connect as we both have a strong interest in education and technology. Kelly Hammond, has been the Middle School Director of Academic Technology for the last three years. She is an incredible educator who is very inspiring. We talked about how we are both willing to ask questions, to try new things and be ok with making mistakes. We both said at the same time- 'Mistakes help you learn!' While Chapin has many facilities and an unbelievable view, I believe it's the people who make the school. By meeting Kelly and Alile, I could see what a great school Chapin is.