Approach & Philosophy
Learn Well, Live Well, Lead Well: A Comprehensive, Multi-dimensional Philosophy of Education
To cultivate the unique potential of today’s girls to become change agents we believe their education needs to be one in which they are given the tools to learn well, live well, and lead well.
As our mission states, we do this through “the education not only of the mind, but the soul and spirit.” Programmatically, Learn Well, Live Well, Lead Well (LW3) is the framework for building Holton’s curriculum. It allows us to stretch the work we do with students beyond traditional academics and builds essential competencies needed for future leaders.
Our LW3 competencies rest on three pillars:
- Diversity Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging
- Health and Wellbeing
- Global Competence
When approaching curricular design, we focus on eight goals:
- Physical and Emotional Health: evaluate and care for our physical, mental, and emotional health.
- Self Knowledge and Identity: know the dimensions of our own identity and how it intersects with the identity of others.
- Open-mindedness and Perspective Taking: embrace diverse perspectives.
- Communication and Collaboration: connect across differences, develop healthy relationships, and collaborate with one another.
- Creative and Critical Thinking: use critical thinking skills to creatively solve problems.
- Curiosity and Discernment: cultivate curiosity, leverage knowledge, and exercise discernment.
- Local, National, and Global Engagement: investigate the world and engage actively with local, national, and global communities.
- Social Justice: lead with empathy, courage, and integrity to promote social justice.
Student learning is at the core of this approach. Each goal contains competencies which are woven into all courses and programs. Faculty organize and deliver course materials around students’ knowledge, skills and abilities. Explore departmental goals and competencies.