School Leadership

Charles and Helene Debelak
Founders-in-Residence

There was more behind the inception of Birchwood School of Hawken than the establishment of another elementary and middle school. Our aspiration was to create an educational institution that could mirror our values about achievement, character, and responsibility. We drew upon our Western heritage (rooted in early Greek philosophy), Judeo-Christian ethics, strands of a classical liberal education, and biographical histories. This informs our view of human nature and human development and shapes our vision for the education of children and how that vision is supported.

 

Our beliefs animate our educational decisions in curriculum and administration. Our school embraces a culturally diverse population, and we have found that many of our beliefs have corollaries among a wide range of cultures. 

 

We hold that each child intrinsically possesses two potentialities: one to do what is good and one to do what is bad. Education cultivates the good and mitigates the bad. It plays a part in forming good habits and minimizing bad habits. We define “good” by using the ancient Greek notion of virtue, specifically the cardinal virtues. Bad behavior is in contrast to good. We contend the cultivation of virtue ought to commence at the “dawning of reason,” an age that can vary from three to seven years old, when children are most formative, and instruction and training have their most profound effect. 

 

Early cultivation of virtue has a cumulative effect. The benefits of good habits, formed early, unfold year-after-year, accumulating to a child’s profit. On the contrary, bad habits and bad attitudes can also form early. Their effects also accumulate, not only to the detriment of the child but also as a barrier to developing good habits. We recognize that anyone, at any point in life, can commit themselves to establishing habits of virtue. However, we also believe that delaying this effort creates additional challenges. Often bad habits have to be undone before good habits can be formed. The task is twice as hard.

 

We know our aspiration to shape children’s character is daunting. Parents need commitment and patience. They impose expectations and limitations necessary to create good habits and define children’s character. We know intuitively we need to double our efforts of love and support. High expectations require an environment of understanding and compassion. If we hope to push children to reach their highest potential, we need to provide them with extraordinary support. We hold that expectations, whether for academics or character, are not only challenging but also intimidating. Sometimes children will not succeed. They may grow weary and want to quit. An environment expecting high academic expectations and demanding discipline can foster psychological hesitation and fear because there is risk. This psychological insecurity must be met with love, kindness, support, and encouragement.

 

We understand that in order to maintain some of the highest academic standards in Ohio, and be a place to learn good habits, we must also provide a family-like atmosphere. Children and their parents will come to discover that their teachers not only expect superior performance, but also love them, care for them, and will do whatever is necessary to ensure their progress.

Dr. Ryan Wooley
Head of School

I grew up in a town called Mogadore, Ohio, located roughly between Akron and Kent. It was – and is – the smallest public school system in Summit County. 

I graduated in a class of 64 students. Of the roughly 125 boys in the high school, to this day 80 some join the school’s football team each year. Most of my class sizes were probably in the range of 12 to 15 students. There were no cuts in sports, theatre, or any other activity, which was great for a dilettante like me who wanted to do everything.

There are pros and cons to being in a small place but one thing is for sure, you cannot be anonymous. Everyone gets personal attention. Everyone matters.

Combined with the loving family home environment I had with my parents and two sisters, the formative years of my life instilled in me a tacit understanding that, not only did my life matter, but so did everyone else’s.

I graduated high school with an assumption that life was precious and that it was upon me to, borrowing the words of Henry Thoreau, “live deliberately [and] deep and suck out all the marrow of life.” 

The next stop on my journey was a seven-campus university system with over 35,000 students. I was reminded of this recently when, during a parent coffee chat with Head of School Charles Debelak, one of our parents asked if Birchwood students had a hard time adjusting to “bigger” environments after leaving Birchwood. 

In my head, I was remembering the immediate comfort I had at the university and the seamless transition it was. It was the first of four degrees I would earn, all while working full-time jobs—selling shoes at Stride Rite, carving tires in my father’s tire-carving shop, or working as an administrator at Kent State University. 

The transition from a class of 64 to a class of 8,000 was easy because my primary and secondary education years set me up well for collegiate and professional life. I was prepared academically. I had a work ethic and a good moral compass from my family. I was engaged by my world. I had what Mr. and Mrs. Debelak would call “agency,” which I would owe to the nurturing of my great teachers and proud parents. 

Thirty to 40 years before I would meet the Debelaks, I had experienced something similar to what they would come to call the “Success Cycle.” My school being small was part of it, but more than that, there was intention on the part of my teachers and parents to foster a life of engagement and purpose.

Believing that you and those around you matter, feeling confident in your ability to learn, seeing opportunity and possibility in your world are precious gifts that travel with you wherever you go.

So, when the question came up about Birchwood graduates navigating “bigger” environments, I thought of how well prepared they are for such transitions.

Our academic program has endowed them with strong habits, skills, and agency. Our teachers have been modeling engagement with the world. Our character education program has called them to grow their virtues and consider ways they can make the world better while living their best lives.