On June 20, Montrose School’s
LifeCompass Institute hosted
New York Times bestselling author Dr. Angela Duckworth -- in partnership with Boston University's Center for Character and Social Responsibility and with generous funding from the Kern Family Foundation
Duckworth is the author of
Grit and the founder and CEO of CharacterLab. Her speech on “What Builds Character” kicked off a year-long national
convening on how to prepare school leaders to integrate and assess character education initiatives.
Thought leaders from around the country gathered to engage in these powerful conversations -- including representatives from Harvard University’s Human Flourishing Program, Wake Forest University, the University of Oklahoma, Arizona State University, and Common Sense Education.
These convenings are jointly lead by Dr. Hardin Coleman (Dean Emeritus and Director of BU’s Center for Character & Social Responsibility); Dr. Karen Bohlin (Head of Montrose School and the LifeCompass Institute); and Dr. Ariel Tichnor-Wagner (Assistant Research Professor in the Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development). Participants will utilize improvement science to pilot, test, and iterate best practices, culminating in a publication that shares these promising practices for educational leadership and principal training programs. This group of educational leaders will gather again in January and June 2020 and conclude their work that summer.
In addition to Dr. Bohlin, four Montrose leaders are assisting with these convenings: Associate Head of School Katie Elrod; Associate Head for Faculty & Academics Mary Jo White; Dean of Students Lisa Derendorf; and Associate Director of the LifeCompass Institute Deborah Farmer Kris.