Our Core Teachers
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Marilyn Englander, PhDEast coast-raised, Harvard-educated, with a PhD from UC Santa Barbara. Her academic expertise spans writing, literature, anthropology, history, art history, French, Spanish and outdoor education. Marilyn is a wilderness enthusiast and an award-winning runner and cyclist. She has more than 30 years of teaching experience and two college-age children. |
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Mark Biglieri, MSNorthern California native, world traveler, scientist, mathematician, biological and geographical illustrator, desert explorer and inveterate prankster. Mark has more than 30 years teaching under his belt, including 13 years collaborating with Marilyn. |
| Ancillary staff provide support in library science, technology, art, and backup in case of the illness of a core teacher. |
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How We Teach at RSM
RSM's core values are solid rules that guide us every day:- We maintain a relaxed atmosphere with an emphasis on kindness, politeness, sportsmanship, honesty and a generous effort on everyone's part
- Students clean and maintain the school, promoting ownership and the development of life skills
- As teachers, we show our own humanity as people who happen to be adults
- We use laughter --- embracing adolescent humor and joking to form a bridge between adults and kids
- We give rewards including lunches out, special short trips, little prizes, "passes" for some work in exchange for doing extraordinarily well on a test or etc., T-shirts, lollipops, trophies and so on.
- We use competitions such as Jeopardy games that involve prizes
- We take trips that include silly fun alongside intellectual exploration
- We use logical consequences
- We promote authentic social interactions and manage the day to day of school through Council
- We hold strong boundaries about behavior, effort, manners and intellectual honesty
- We expect and demand accountability every day
- We maintain email contact with students past and present
- We emphasize civic responsibility
- We promote "tough love" and discourage parents from "rescuing" their students
- We post quiz and test scores
- Words we live by: "Learn to make it in this group and you will succeed anywhere, with anyone all your life."
- We believe 50% of what kids say about their parents, and expect parents to do the same with the tales that students bring home from school!