Dear Friends, Welcome to the final Wednesday Notice of the 2017-18 school year. Both our students and faculty have taken their leave of campus for the summer. The building is quiet and the pace has slowed, but the work goes on for those of us who will spend the summer months preparing for the year to come. Here are a few...

Dear Friends, Sunday afternoon, we celebrated the 36th graduating class of Crossroads College Preparatory School. As I told them during the ceremony, I believe that the class of 2018 will represent our mission and their experiences at Crossroads well in the communities they join after graduation. I believe in their effort, their excellence, and their willingness to engage with others and with learning,...

To commemorate Business Manager Sara Chrisler’s three decades of service to Crossroads, Head of School, Dr. Jason Heisserer, asked her to reflect on her experiences as the longest-serving member of our faculty, staff, or board.   Jason: So you’ve been here 30 years. How did you come to work at Crossroads? Sara: I got a call from an old friend...

I believe that the class of 2018 will represent our mission and their experiences at Crossroads well in the communities they join after graduation. I believe in their effort, their excellence, and their willingness to engage with others and with learning, justice, and equity. I believe that the class of 2018’s college and university communities, their friends and developing professional...

This year, Crossroads received a gift dedicated to supporting mental health education. With those funds, Counselor Gina Watkins and Learning Specialist Carrie Shaughnessy attended an intensive, weeklong course called Mental Health First Aid. Through seminars, projects, and presentations, they learned methods to identify students in mental health crisis, approaches to calming the immediate situation, and guidelines for finding appropriate help....

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Dear Friends, “Learning on the job, day after day, is the work,” writes Michael Fullan, one of my favorite writers on educational reform. I repeat a version of this often, reminding our students, faculty and staff, parents, and board members that learning is the work for all of us in a school community. The expectation is that we’re learning every...

Dear Friends, Leadership and learning happen best in relationship. To be an exemplary and engaging learning community requires us to build ongoing relationships both within and beyond Crossroads. Learning in relationship deepens our engagement with ideas and extends the reach of our work. For example, last week, students from the Theater for Social Change elective performed a short original play...

Dear Friends, When we returned from spring break on Monday, I noticed how tall our students are getting. This always catches my attention at this time of year; in both the physical and metaphorical senses, they have grown and we can see the evidence. The end of the school year can challenge our focus, but as I moved through the...

Dear Friends, March is Women’s History Month, and this month, I have marveled at the leadership of the young women at Crossroads. In this Wednesday Notice, you will find stories about our students participating in the inaugural Teen Advocacy Day with Planned Parenthood in Jefferson City, attending a leadership conference, and organizing and leading the National School Walkout event for Crossroads. In...