Children need to be Known, Loved, and have Academic Press.

Marie Fay Evnochides always envisioned that The Fay School would be a place where "children come first," and your children benefit from that founding vision in myriad ways. All you have to do is drive onto our outdoor-oriented campus to see for yourself, read our blog posts that highlight their leadership development, or do a scan of our social media for a quick dose of this reality.

I proudly believe that my personal educational philosophy aligns and builds from Marie's founding vision. In any educational setting, and especially in an early childhood and elementary environment like Fay, I believe that children need to be known, children need to be loved, and children need an academic press.

Knowing children occurs in many forms and never ends because they continuously evolve and develop. In the beginning, it is as simple as knowing basic information about a student: name, parent names, siblings, grade level, co-curricular interests, etc. With this basic information, one has an entry point to learn even more: personal characteristics, personal values, family values, aspirations, likes and dislikes, motivations, areas of strength or need. When adults call children by name, engage them in conversation on topics unrelated to school, and intentionally build personal relationships with students, they begin to feel a sense of belonging.

Once children feel known and feel like they belong, a special foundation and space are created where they can feel loved. In this space, they feel safe and empowered. With safety and empowerment in place, human potential begins to unlock. The most effective educators show love for their students by being present in all aspects of their lives, having high expectations for them, holding them accountable, challenging them to advance on their personal and intellectual frontiers, and guiding them when they make mistakes. When children feel known and loved, a sense of self-confidence and individual purpose begins to emerge.

A sense of belonging, self-confidence, and personal purpose are all powerfully transformational. But, without academic press one's full potential is still left unmet. Children need the challenges provided by ambitious teaching and authentic learning to harness their full potential as leaders and learners. Children will begin to unlock their whole leadership and learning potential once they have had the opportunity to tackle the challenges provided by ambitious teaching and authentic learning.  

It's no surprise that the most important, fulfilling part of my day is greeting as many of your children as I can at "The Rock" each morning. I call out their names, share a fist-pound or thumbs up, listen to a quick knock-knock joke, field a Star Wars or unicorn update, share weekend plans, get sports updates, and more. Every moment that your child is on Fay's campus is the most important moment in their lives and that starts the moment they arrive.