Issue link: http://latinschool.uberflip.com/i/246730
Expectations of Excellence 1980s "Latin is a good school with all the potential for being a great school." – Jonathan Slater (Annual Meeting speech, May 1982.) When Headmaster Jonathan Slater arrived at Latin School in the fall of 1981, he saw great potential and a community ready to embrace growth and change to make the school the best it could be. Slater's expectations for Latin, its faculty and its students were high, and during the '80s, the depth and sophistication of Latin's academic and extracurricular programs reached new levels. Always identifying himself primarily as a teacher, Slater came to Latin with the conviction that teachers are at the root of any school's success. Over the next eight years, he made it a priority to hire and retain truly outstanding teachers. "The faculty is the heart and mind of any school," Slater told parents and trustees at Latin's Annual Meeting in May 1982. "The major task of a headmaster is, simply, to bring together the most gifted, exciting congregation of men and women imaginable and put them to work with our students." By the time he announced his intention to leave Latin six years later, 70 percent of the school's teachers had been hired by Slater. "Jonathan empowered teachers," said former Middle and Lower School Director Linda Hennelly." He told them, 'You are the experts in pedagogy, curriculum and child development, and I trust you to do a good job.' That made a huge difference." To support the work going on in the classroom, the school developed an extensive Background: Latin's French club professional development program, and by 1988 was spending more than $1,000 per teacher per year on faculty development, a significant amount for an independent school at the time. Slater also introduced sabbaticals and travel grants and gave faculty a voice on board committees and in building a faculty council and writing a faculty constitution. While a number of these developments were controversial and Slater's approach was not universally appreciated by parents and the board of trustees, the positive impact on teachers was significant. In turn, Slater was able to ask much of his faculty. He intensified the teacher evaluation process and held teachers Latin School was ahead of its time, investing significant resources in professional development for teachers of the '80s. An upper school classroom. LATI N SCHOOL OF CHI CA GO 93