Mattering through Relationships
A community connected by care, belonging, and purpose.
Our connections with one another create a web of support among students, between students and teachers, teachers and parents, and parents with one another, and extend to our alumnae, who, long after graduation, remain connected to Burke's. Through these relationships of mutual care and positive regard, where we can imagine and be called into our future positive selves, we know that we matter.
Recent educational and workplace research highlights the essential role of mattering for children and adults. We all need to be seen and recognized for who we are in our community, and we need to know that our contributions are valued. Jennifer Wallace, author of Never Enough, has published a new book titled Mattering and is featured in this NAIS podcast episode. Although this research is new, the practices described for building a culture of mattering have long been part of Burke’s DNA.
Mattering in Lower School and K-8
In our Lower School, we cultivate mattering when our fourth graders greet kindergarten students by name every morning and walk them to class. We cultivate a sense of mattering in our classroom closing meetings at the end of every day, when students listen to one another reflect on how they learned and grew that day. We cultivate mattering during author parties where our 2nd graders read their original nonfiction books and answer audience questions as experts in their chosen field of study.
When our K-8 students work on a monthly rotation at the Richmond Neighborhood Center as part of our strategic civic engagement initiative, they experience a key aspect of mattering: knowing their efforts make a difference in our community.
Mattering in Upper School
In the Upper School, opportunities for students to feel they matter are built into the day's structures. From the Morning Meeting greeting, to SEL lessons on active listening or conflict resolution, to the presence of affinity groups, we take time to let students know they are seen and appreciated, and to teach them how to reciprocate those practices with their peers and loved ones. In classes and clubs, students are given a sense of agency that enables them to take a project's objective or a club's purpose and run with it in a way that is both powerful and their own.
Lastly, in Upper School, we give students responsibilities. Whether it is cleaning up materials in the art room or science lab, pulling out and putting away snack bins, or participating in Lunch Bunch, students are expected to help care for our community and understand their role in its daily functioning. From these experiences and many more, we hope students feel seen and appreciated, and that they know they have something to contribute.
Burke's mission is to educate, encourage and empower girls. Our school combines academic excellence with an appreciation for childhood so that students thrive as learners, develop a strong sense of self, contribute to community, and fulfill their potential, now and throughout life.
Burke's admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.