A Busy Summer at MKA Paves the Way for an Exciting New School Year
While students may have enjoyed the slower pace of summer, life for MKA faculty, staff and administrators continued at a brisk pace.
Over 80% of the teaching faculty took advantage of MKA’s numerous summer professional development opportunities that focused on the question “How can we best help students take responsibility for their learning?” Offerings included a formal Tech Institute and open tech days for faculty to continue to develop ways to integrate technology into the curriculum; academic workshops on distraction and multi-tasking and practical strategies for skills for skillful teaching and learning, and an Ethics Institute that considered how to create a sustainable school culture. Prior to the start of school, all faculty and staff also attended workshops on harassment and reporting suspected abuse, and on understanding, preventing and addressing bullying.
Meanwhile, MKA’s physical plant department worked overtime to complete a remarkable list of projects that included a new dining hall, common room and renovated playground at the Middle School; a new trainer’s room, bathrooms and refurbished dining hall at the Upper School; pool, lighting and air conditioning upgrades at the Primary School, and painting throughout the three campuses.
In addition to greatly enhanced surroundings, the MKA community has much to look forward to for the 2012-13 school year. In addition to welcoming 1030 students, new families and new faculty members, MKA will be celebrating the 125th anniversary of Montclair Academy, one of its three ‘ancestor’ schools, and special events in honor of this milestone in school history will take place throughout the year. Sustainability will be another focus, as will new initiatives in diversity and inclusion.
“This is a particularly exciting time for MKA,” notes Headmaster Thomas W. Nammack. “Our school is one of the oldest independent schools in the country to remain in its original location and we continue to be proud of our association with the town of Montclair. Our remarkable facilities upgrades continue to enhance and support our programmatic offerings and our new faculty and families will bring new energy to our community.“