Beth Carmody: Working together to honor the Whole Child
In this episode, Dave and Beth Carmody discuss:
The transformative power of the progressive education model in Winnetka Public Schools
How individualized support can cater to each student's unique needs for success
Uncovering the significance of an inclusive learning environment and its role in promoting social-emotional learning
The common misconceptions surrounding school rankings and the need to prioritize a holistic education
Exploring firsthand experiences of visiting schools and the dedication of passionate educators in District 36
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How did you get to this point in your career? My younger brother had some learning disabilities, and both my parents worked. I was the one home with him after school. So, that started my passion. I followed that path with camp counseling up through working in childcare centers in college. I was a kindergarten and first-grade teacher while pursuing my master’s in educational leadership. That took me to Hong Kong as a principal for a few years. Then I came back, raised my family, worked part-time while my kids were younger, and started back full-time ten years ago. I’ve been an instructional coach and a principal in several different school districts, and I’m thrilled to be in Winnetka.
What do you like most about District 36? It’s everyone’s growth mindset. It’s in our families, students, and staff. It’s part of that progressive model. We’re always looking for the latest research and how to incorporate it. There are tremendous professional learning opportunities in the district. We send people to national conferences, and they bring back the best information. It’s the passion we share to educate our next generation of leaders.
What aspects of the school’s history are you proud of? The school is over 100 years old, and they celebrated that anniversary right when I was first hired. Honestly, that was my first time meeting the community because the celebration was in the spring. To see the passion, the excitement, and the rich history - it was amazing. We’ve honored and respected children over the years, and that’s such a huge piece. That comes through in many ways. We had a school song that we loved - peppy and fun - but the students felt like it didn’t say enough about who we were, so they created a new school song.
Is the school working on anything new? The biggest thing right now is the referendum that passed. We’ll be getting a multipurpose space, which will serve as our lunch room. Right now our lunch room is in our auditorium so that will free up the auditorium space to be really purposeful. We have some safety improvements that are coming as well. I think that will also help everyone feel safer at school. I feel pretty safe now, but if there’s anything we can do, we want to be able to do it.
How does the Hubbard Woods measure student progress? Different information comes from qualitative as well as quantitative data. We check in formally three times a year as a staff. We bring all our great partners together in the school to look at benchmark data to see how our students are doing, and weave it all together with what we see in the classroom. It’s whole-child focused. It isn’t just academic; it’s also asking “are they making friends?”. When we think of our portrait of the graduate, we need a lot more than just the academic pieces. So we really reflect on those and talk as a team about who might need what kind of support.
Today’s Guest, Beth Carmody:
Quotable: “Making mistakes is valued. Getting the right answer isn't the game. It's your thinking route to how this looks? What does this mean? And then I'm going to talk about how I thought about it, another student is going to talk about how they thought about it, and we're going to value each other's process.” — Beth Carmody
Connect with Beth:
Website: https://hubbardwoods.winnetka36.org/
Email: bethcarmody@winnetka36.org
your host, dave nimick:
Thought Leader & Chicago REALTOR® with Keller Williams Realty
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