Sixth-grade teacher Sally Muschamp talks about the annual Christmas Party hosted by Middle School students each year for the children of the Rebecca Blaylock Child Development Centers, who provide low-cost daycare services to the community of Rome. Middle School students and their new friends enjoyed food, fun, gifts and lots of holiday spirit!
Darlington student nearing victory in cancer battle
October 4, 2010
Read the Oct. 3 Rome News-Tribune article about Jordan Muschamp's ('13) courageous battle with acute myelogenous leukemia. Darlington School will host a blood drive in his honor on Oct. 7.
Darlington's Middle School students provided Christmas gifts to over 100 children from the Rebecca Blaylock Child Development Center on Dec. 8. Read the <i>Rome News-Tribune's</i> coverage.
Hutchins named associate director of Middle School
March 25, 2009
James Hutchins has been named the associate director of Darlington’s Middle School effective June 2009, announced Division Director Jim Van Es during a Middle School faculty meeting today.
Gail Langer Karwoski, Georgia children’s author and former public school teacher, was on campus Friday, Aug. 31 for the first-ever Middle School author visit. She conducted writing workshops with each grade and discussed her book, “The Tree that Owns Itself; and Other Adventure Tales from Georgia’s Past,” the required summer reading book for the Middle School this year.<br /><br />
“We chose this particular book because we thought all Middle School students could understand and appreciate the Georgia history that is reflected in it,” said Sally Muschamp, sixth-grade English teacher. “We are really excited that we were able to bring Gail to Darlington so that our students could meet her. In her writing workshops, she showed them how to take a primary source and turn it into historical fiction.”<br /><br />
After spending 13 years teaching high school, middle school, and elementary school in Clarke and Oconee counties, Karwoski decided to become a full-time author. She frequently returns to schools as a visiting author, and is a regular speaker at various conferences throughout the country.<br /><br />
A graduate of the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Karwoski has authored seven award-winning children’s books during the past 10 years. Her most recent, “Tsunami: The True Story of an April Fool’s Day Disaster,” a non-fiction narrative about the 1946 tsunami that hit a school and town in Hawaii, was named a 2007 Notable Book by the National Council of Social Studies. <br /><br />
She has also received the Colonial Williamsburg & Williamsburg Library Beacon of Freedom Award, the <i>Learning Magazine</i> Teacher’s Choice Award, the Just for Moms Foundation Most Outstanding Author of the Year Award, and the Georgia Writers Association Children’s/Young Adult Author of the Year Award, among others.<br /><br />
Karwoski currently resides in Watkinsville, Ga., with her husband, Chester. They have two grown daughters.<br /><br />
According to Muschamp, the Middle School plans to make this an annual event, with a different visiting author each year. This year’s visit is possible thanks to the generous support of Darlington’s Parents Association.
In March of 2007, the Darlington Parents Association awarded Faculty Development Grants to 13 deserving faculty members. Grants ranged up to $2,000.<br /><br />
Each year, teaching faculty who have made a commitment to return to Darlington in the fall are invited to apply for Faculty Development Grants funded by the School’s Parents Association. This program is designed to enhance faculty effectiveness in the classroom, in campus activities and in the community; to encourage faculty to plan creatively for their own continuing professional development; to provide an incentive to aid in the retention of excellent faculty; and to involve department chairs in enhancing the faculty members’ enthusiasm in their particular area of education and involvement.<br /><br />
Several faculty members will use their grants to attend educational seminars in preparation for the 2007-08 school year.<br /><br />
Melinda Holmes, Upper School librarian, will attend a workshop titled “Planning Libraries in the 21st Century” at The Taft School in Watertown, Conn., in late July. “In order to better equip the computer needs of library patrons presently and to prepare for new technologies, the McCallie-Kennedy Library needs to be redesigned,” said Holmes. “I believe I will greatly benefit from the total immersion that this week-long workshop will afford me. Not only will I gain instructional and textbook knowledge, but I will also make contacts and have the opportunity to visit other libraries where technology has been successfully integrated.”<br /><br />
Libbie Zimmer, director of the Learning Center, will attend a workshop titled “Power and Influence: The Effective Female Leader” July 15-18 in Philadelphia. “I think a lot of leadership is intrinsic, but there are many important things that can be taught. At this session, I hope to learn skills that will help me move the Learning Center program forward,” said Zimmer. “At Darlington, our parents are keenly aware of the need for professional development. It’s a win-win. By supporting our teachers, they are improving the quality of their child’s education.”<br /><br />
Zimmer’s Learning Center staffers Jean Bonnyman and Keith Trotter will use their grants to visit Boston’s Landmark School in September. “Landmark is the leader for working with students who have language-based differences; they have been working with these kids since the early 1970’s,” said Bonnyman. “I know Keith and I will learn all kinds of techniques and systems, plus tools we can use with our students in the Learning Center. I already use their system for note-taking, and I will be using their notebook system for our students this fall.”<br /><br />
Others like James Hutchins use their Faculty Grants to further their education. Hutchins, dean of studies at the Middle School, has used his grants to aid in paying tuition for his coursework at the University of Alabama, where he is finishing up his Doctorate in Educational Administration. <br /><br />
“Darlington is a community of learners,” said Hutchins. “If you’re not learning, you’re not growing. Every member of an organization should continue to develop his or her craft. If you don’t, you can rest assure another organization is not far behind. As a beneficiary of their generosity, I would like to thank the Parents Association for helping my dream come true. Without this financial assistance, I don’t know whether it would have been possible.”<br /><br />
Other faculty members who received DPA Faculty Development Grants for use this year include Eva Marie Burns (’79), William Camp, Clara Hoellerbauer, Gwen Gibbes, Jamie Jackson, Kila McCann and Sally Muschamp.<br /><br />
Grants must be for projects beginning on or after May 1 of the granting year and completed by May 1 of the following year. The maximum award available is $2,000, paying up to 50 percent of any required tuition and the cost of travel, boarding expense, supplies, etc. within reason.<br /><br />
“Having been an active member of the Parents Association, and serving as the faculty grant coordinator with Denise Tillman, I know that Darlington parents are a tremendous resource for Darlington School,” said Bonnyman. “Both the School and its students stand to gain a great deal from this generous effort. Personally, I think Faculty Grants are the most important thing the Parents Association does, and I am grateful to be on the other end of it this year.”<br /><br />
All applications should be turned into Lynda Miller, executive assistant to the assistant headmaster and director of Upper School, before spring break of the granting year. All grants, including those for graduate study requiring several summers, will be evaluated each year. Applicants will be notified by late March of the DPA Grant Committee’s decision.<br /><br />
The Parents Association strives to enhance student life and supports faculty, staff and administrative efforts to assure Darlington students the best education possible. The association sponsors a variety of School functions, including the Back-to-School Bash, Pigskin Picnic, Upper and Middle School Christmas dances, Appreciation Week, Junior-Senior Prom and Used Book Sale. All Darlington families are invited to join.
