Each day, teachers find new ways to inspire, guide, and support their students.
Recruited from all over the country and trained in some of the nation’s best schools, Seven Hills’ teachers are experts not only in their subjects, but in connecting with young people.
They know developmental milestones and different styles of learning.
Guided by our Educational Philosophy, teachers know how to motivate and inspire students and how to build close, supportive relationships, offer guidance, and foster confidence. Free from the constraints of state-mandated testing, they design engaging, student-centered activities that capture the imagination of each individual student.
And Seven Hills teachers are, themselves, lifelong learners. Supported by a generous continuing education program and curriculum renewal grants, each year they refine their courses and develop new units or approaches to reflect best practices.
TeacherS in their own words
Here’s a sample of how some of our teachers define their goals and the impact they hope to make on their students’ lives.
|
Melissa KhooUpper School Math Teacher “I encourage students to keep trying different things, and have faith in themselves. I say it doesn’t matter how anyone else views you, so long as you feel good about the effort you’ve exerted.”
|
Joan ClaybournDoherty Unit I Teacher “My goal is to create a space where each student feels valued, respected, and encouraged to explore their unique abilities and perspectives,” |
|
Sarah GauntLotspeich Third Grade Teacher “My students are excited to learn, explore new content and ideas, and are always eager for more information. Working with kind and curious Seven Hills students has made teaching here an amazing and rewarding experience.” |
Marcus MillerUpper School English Teacher “It’s important for my students to be able to not only provide an answer to a question they’re asked but explain how they arrived at it. I’m less interested in whether they’ve given the correct answer, but more in their reasoning and evidence for the answer.” |
Faculty Professional Development
Great teachers are lifelong learners. They thrive on the lively exchange of ideas and researching the latest developments in their fields. Each year, our teachers attend national conferences and workshops and visit exemplary schools across the country to learn and share best practices. They devote considerable time developing new approaches to facilitate learning, and keep their teaching fresh.
Teachers eagerly devote time to exploring the educational world for new ideas. They bring back an infusion of new ideas along with the inspiration to innovate in the classroom, continue researching best practices, and rethink their courses to prepare students as critical thinkers and responsible problem-solvers.
Curriculum Development
Seven Hills offers a unique curriculum renewal program that incentivizes teachers to spend the summer refreshing their curriculum in light of new educational research and findings. Since the inception of this program, we have funded more than 250 grants in pre-kindergarten through grade 12.
A few examples include:
- The introduction of a computational thinking and digital literacy curriculum at both Doherty and Lotspeich.
- The spiraling curriculum developed by our sixth- and eighth-grade English teachers, who used a curriculum-development grant to ensure that students absorb essential reading and writing skills as they progress from grade to grade through our Middle School.
- The development of our Upper School May Intensive course on The Innocence Project.
This program ensures that teachers continually refine their approach to curriculum, in light of research-based best practice.