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The Fessenden School – Head of School – Position Statement
Arts
Fessenden has complemented the boys’
academic and athletic experience with a
first-rate and modern arts program. The
offerings are extremely impressive and
begin with an excellent fine arts and
music program in the Lower School. All
fourth graders must take instrumental
music lessons and this lays the
foundation for strong band and ensemble
programs in the Middle and Upper
Schools. Musical theatre and drama are
especially popular among the older
students. Student art works are
displayed throughout the school.
Fessenden has been working for a
number of years on digital media with
students and has thriving photography,
videography, and television and film
production programs with excellent
facilities. These have worked their way
naturally into the iLab work and the arts
are increasingly integrated into the
academic project work.
The school’s arts facilities are strong, but
Fessenden, as is typical for the school, is
not resting on its laurels. There are plans
underway to add an arts center that
would include a permanent theatre/
auditorium. This will fill out the major
facilities needs for the near future.
Character Education
When asked what is special about the school,
the response across all constituencies is
immediate and universal: “Fessenden is about
building character and we help boys to
become good men.” The school has long been
dedicated to its credo: Honesty, Compassion,
and Respect. The character education
program has some formal elements with
community service projects and the
approaches in sportsmanship and in-class
collaboration and cooperation. But the real
power in the Fessenden approach is the
modeling that every adult in the community
demonstrates in the way the he or she treats
others and the boys in their charge. This is a
school that lives that mission in everything it
does.
Diversity and Inclusion
Fessenden is committed to creating and
sustaining a diverse and inclusive community.
Cultural competency, which the school defines
as appreciation, sensitivity and inclusion, is a
core value at the school. The community is
excellent at creating multicultural opportunities
for all students and adults, and has embraced
principles that have been successful in
attracting a diverse student body and an
increasingly diverse faculty and staff. These
are tenets in which the school firmly believes
as it continues to “walk the talk.”
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