RE Log Spring 2018

SPRING 2018 Ransom Everglades LOG 29 of a STEM Center on the Upper School campus as the school gradually incorpo- rates its plan for the La Brisa land – which won City of Miami approval in January 2018 (see page 30). The La Brisa prop- erty will eventually include a new student commons that will replace the current dining hall, and the La Brisa home will be repurposed for academic and administra- tive uses. Robinson, the author of Creative Schools: The Grassroots Revolution That’s Transforming Education , met with RE’s faculty in a private reception that lasted more than an hour before his evening appearance. He touched on a range of topics, including the testing mindset in education that he described as a “toxic culture,” and the necessity of replacing outmoded ways of teaching with more effective strategies and approaches. “The system is changing – and it has to,” he said. Robinson’s provocative message and the night’s campaign launch left the RE community abuzz and excited. Townsend reaffirmed her commitment to the path of innovation described by Robinson in a letter to the RE commu- nity the next day. She wrote that the talk by Robinson “was not a wake-up call so much as affirmation that we are on the right path – and a reminder that we need to be constantly vigilant about staying there. Being an innovator is not a passive proposition. We need to continue to think outside the box, continue to innovate and continue to reach the whole student.” For more information about supporting REinventing Excellence , contact Director of Advancement Greg Pollard at gpollard@ransomeverglades.org. Rudy Prio Touzet ’76 , Sir Ken Robinson, Penny Townsend (photographs by Jenny Abreu and Suzanne Kores)