The Anthony School’s Head of School Shana Nolen shares her firsthand experience.
Has your view on curriculum – specifically what students need to learn – changed since the pandemic?
SN: It has certainly broadened. It became startlingly clear that we are educating our students for a future we cannot even begin to imagine. That is equal parts terrifying and exciting.
While whole-child education has always been important to our school, the sheer value and significance of it was on full display during COVID. We placed the utmost importance upon teaching critical thinking skills and helping students find new depths of self-awareness. Perseverance was found in the corners of every classroom. Students showed us the importance of a strong community that they singlehandedly forged themselves. There are no state standards for those soft skills; yet our school witnessed firsthand the impact they had on the social, emotional and academic well-being of our students. Because of this, we vowed to continue to focus on those skills in addition to — what might be referred to as — our traditionally advanced curriculum.
7700 Ohio St.
Little Rock
501.225.6629
anthonyschool.org
