From Our Head of School
Special Message
Since 1982, Almaden Country Day School has shaped confident, balanced, enthusiastic learners. Across four decades, our objectives as a school remain steady and robust: to challenge, stimulate, and care for every student, every day; to balance character development with academic rigor and joyful learning; and as our mission promises, to discover the gifts in every child.
By every measure, from our academics to joyful student culture to our placement results in the area’s private high schools, we are succeeding; talk with an ACDS parent, and you’ll hear the stories firsthand. We’re determined to continue meeting these goals, and then some.
This school year, we move forward with hope and purpose as we enjoy familiar and cherished ACDS practices and traditions, welcome and onboard dozens of new families in what is the largest opening enrollment in the history of the school, and celebrate the warm and caring community interactions that have defined our school since its founding.
What’s more, this year our students will enjoy our new Speech and Music Center, renovated maker space and library, and the spectacular 15,000 square foot Fisher Event Center. We have so much to be grateful for at ACDS, on many fronts, and it’s a very exciting time to join the Cougar Nation.
I thank you for your interest in Almaden Country Day School. If you’d like to learn more about the ACDS experience, or to arrange an on-campus tour, please contact Mary Jo Heindel, Director of Admissions and Outreach. Meanwhile, please consult our FAQ page for more information, and enjoy exploring our website!
Featured Book
Raising Kids: Your Essential Guide to Everyday Parenting is written by a unique team: popular San Francisco Bay Area family therapist and parenting consultant, Sheri Glucoft Wong, and Almaden Country Day School head, Dr. Olaf Jorgenson.
These authors offer parents upbeat, empowering guidance that covers the what, why, and how of effective parenting, providing easy-to-grasp tools and language that have already benefited thousands of parents.
Sheri and Dr. J would appreciate your book review once you’re done reading – please consider leaving a review for Raising Kids on Amazon.com or GoodReads.com.
Publications and Interviews
Dr. Olaf Jorgenson — a leader in the educational community — is actively involved in the education field. From speaking at conferences and publishing journal articles and books to serving as a Klingenstein field instructor, he's on the cutting edge of what's happening in education.
A decade ago, Google launched a study to determine the key qualities of its top managers, gathering and analyzing a huge volume of survey feedback from their workforce. Their goal was to use the expansive data to identify those characteristics that consistently define star leaders, using the data to help design a new Google management training program.
What do Leonardo Di Vinci, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Agatha Christie, Steven Spielberg, Cher, Pablo Picasso, Charles Schwab, Octavia Spencer, and Walt Disney have in common? Besides their extraordinary imagination, drive, creativity, talent, and entrepreneurism, they are all dyslexic.
As school leaders, we often tell parents that where they enroll their children is one of the most important decisions they will ever make. That reality is no different for parents who are heads of school. Often for heads, there is one obvious choice: to send your child(ren) to your own school.
Can you define "21st century skills?" Simply put, 21st century skills are attributes beyond academics that are deemed important, and perhaps critical, for children to acquire if they are to be effective in the global workforce: creativity, curiosity, teamwork, resilience, problem solving, and more.
Interviews
- Podcast: Cougar Byte Podcast, Raising Kids (Syma Latif and Cathy Shin)
- Podcast: The Dark Side of Rigor (Steve Barkley)
- Podcast: 12 Growth Mindsets for the Enrollment Crisis (Rob Norman, InspirED)
- Video: 12 Growth Mindsets for the Enrollment Crisis (Dr. Rick Newbury, Enrollment Catalyst)
Special Letters
Dr. J's Recommendations
This list of recommendations is for parents, students and community members who are passionate about education. The list will evolve and grow over time and be a resource for those who want to learn more. Explore, reflect and enjoy …