Our Vision
Putnam Avenue Upper School provides inclusive, high-quality learning experiences to develop well-rounded citizens. Students journey towards becoming critical thinkers and independent learners. The Putnam Ave Community empowers all members to use their voices to promote social change and create more equitable communities. Through developing and modeling our core values of passion, pride, and ownership with balance and perseverance students prepare to make informed choices about their future.
Our Core Values
Passion
It is passion that drives our community towards excellence. More specifically, our passion is for the pursuit of academic excellence through effort and the pursuit of social justice through recognizing the different experiences that come with race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and religion. We believe it is our responsibility to use our knowledge to better the world we live in.
Pride
We take pride in our identities and the impact we have on both individuals and larger society. We think not only about the here and now, but about the future as well, considering carefully how each choice we make will impact the future of our own lives as individuals and the future of our collective community.
Ownership
A great school relies on a strong sense of ownership, and we demonstrate ownership through reflection and planning. By committing to goals, developing clear plans for achieving those goals, and regularly reflecting on the progress we have made towards reaching our goals, we are accountable to ourselves and to our community.
Balance
We believe that being well-rounded is essential to our overall success and quality of life. In addition to academic pursuits, we seek balance through participating in activities outside of school. We celebrate our academic and extracurricular interests and know that our school culture will be balanced and healthy only if it is made up of balanced and healthy individuals.
Perseverance
We recognize that our relentless quest toward excellence is full of obstacles and conflict. We turn stumbling blocks into stepping stones and demonstrate perseverance by identifying challenges and striving to overcome them. We choose not to see obstacles as moments of defeat but as moments to grow and make ourselves stronger.