Dear Community,
When you’re next at WIS, have a pause and look around at the faces of our WIS Kids. They’re smiling. They’re physically active. They’re presenting ideas. They’re performing. They’re treating one another with trust, inclusion, and respect. They’re happy. At WIS, we believe that rigorous learning objectives and excellent work can co-exist with joy and excitement. Indeed, we believe that the two are mutually reinforcing!
As we come to the end of this semester and the end of 2024, I wanted to share this report from UNESCO about what they view as the key to transforming school communities around the world: happy schools.
The kind of happiness we seek here at WIS is not shallow. It is the result of hard work, resilience in the face of adversity, and the satisfaction of a job well done. This report defines eudaimonic happiness as “a sustained sense of fulfilment and satisfaction derived from living a meaningful and purposeful life”.
So UNESCO has identified happiness as a powerful driver for transformational change, but here at WIS we know that eudaimonic happiness is something which isn’t scalable and isn’t the easy path. Instead, it is accomplished by working each day, individually and with each and every student at WIS. Through one-on-one interactions, we are cultivating a sense of purpose. We are striving for excellence, growing in knowledge, and cultivating a strong sense of self. We are trying to live creatively and sustainably. We increasingly practice both empathy and resilience. These are not incidentally the key outcomes of our new WIS Strategic Plan - From WIS to the World: Putting our Principles into Practice (the long version is here).
This semester has been full of challenges, service, and learning. I wish your family a holiday full of eudaimonic happiness. We will welcome you back to our happy school in 2025!
Sincerely,
Ethan
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