Our Responsibility to Our Graduates

Teachers are backward thinkers. We have to be. Our job is to consider all that has happened, all that has been imagined, and all that has been hypothesized. Into this murky abyss we dive, and when we surface, we should have a well-informed notion for what must be kept so the next generation will be prepared to make a positive difference in the world.

Teachers are also forward thinkers. We have to be. Our job is to consider all that is going to happen, all that will need to be imagined, and all that can be hypothesized. Into the murky abyss we dive, and when we surface, we should have a well-informed notion for what must be introduced so the next generation will be prepared to make a positive difference in the world.

That is a lot of ground to cover: a well-educated person in the 18th-century was exposed to less information in her lifetime than is the avid reader of the New York Times over a two-week span today. We believe at Nightingale that our liberal arts education still provides students with the best chance of confronting the dilemmas of the modern world. So the question becomes: how do we balance the natural tension between the past and the future within the context of what we know about educating girls? Are there needs that are particular to girls that need to be addressed? As importantly, are we fully taking advantage of all the opportunities that only a girls’ school can provide?

These are questions that a faculty committee on graduation requirements considered last year. We came to a few decisions that are being integrated into our program this year and next.

Already, we have replaced the fall semester of park period in the ninth grade with a seminar entitled Civic Engagement and Social Leadership. Once a week, Class IX students travel to Sisulu Walker Charter School in Harlem to tutor younger students; they also learn about the broader implications of service, as well as the historical differences and ties among neighboring New York communities. This year we also introduced computer science as a one-credit graduation requirement. Girls are challenged to see computers as tools for creation and formulation, not just communication and consumption. To provide time for this, students will take either Introduction to Art History or Music Appreciation instead of taking both, as is the case now.

When academic advising commences this spring, rising juniors and seniors will discover that next year’s change in graduation requirements will provide them with greater flexibility. Our math requirement is moving from four years to three. Importantly, this change in no way limits math opportunities. Students can pursue math as they always have, even to the highest levels of Advanced Placement calculus and statistics. An older student is now given more choice, however. She can continue her math study until graduation or can consider some new alternatives; for example, she can take two languages for four years or she can enroll in an additional elective in computer science, history, fine arts, performing arts, or science. Girls are more free to follow their interests, be they deeper study in an area of focus or exploration of something completely new.

Nightingale needs to be a thought leader in girls’ education. In order to do so, we will continue to consider how our past intersects with our present, and then use all we know about both to make decisions about our future. In the end, our responsibility to the Nightingale graduate obligates us to do so.

—Paul Burke, Head of Upper School