Getting to know you, Overlake. Getting to know all about you.

It’s been four weeks since the start of school and Gretchen Warner, Overlake’s new Head Owl is digging in and learning as much about Overlake as she can. One way she is learning about the school is by taking time to observe classes. Her goal is to visit every single teacher’s class at least once in the beginning of the year.

To accomplish this, she is taking the first block of most days and visiting a few classes each day. The purpose of her visits is not to evaluate the teachers, but instead to become a student and learn about the school by observing firsthand the teaching environment that makes Overlake so special. 

“I think the connections we share with students is arguably the most important thing about this place, and the idea that our head wants to witness and participate in those connections is a great sign of things to come,” says Social Studies Faculty Connor Middleton. New fifth-grade Science teacher Imari Clinton agreed and says, “From Gretchen's actions and efforts, it seems to me that she is really diving in to get to know Overlake's culture as a whole and how can she add or build to that!”

Latin teacher Briana Titus appreciated the visit from Warner saying, “I liked that Gretchen came into my class to get to know my students and my teaching style a bit. It can be difficult for administrators to find time in their schedules for classroom visits, and I'm so pleased that she is making time to visit everyone to get a sense of the school as a whole.”

Before Titus’ Latin class began, some students had grabbed a few apples off one of the campus trees to snack on but wanted to cut into them to check for worms before eating. And, being a school, no one had a knife, so the students set out to problem-solve the situation. They ultimately decided to do a knife-hand strike to break the apple, sending chunks of the fruit everywhere and splattering many people, including Warner. But she, along with everyone in the class, took it in stride and laughed it off having a delicious snack and a great start to the day! 

One particularly fun way Warner is learning about daily life at Overlake is to walk in the footsteps of our students by shadowing a couple throughout their entire day and attending all their classes with them. This week, she shadowed seventh grader Amber J. During their Mandarin class, they leaned into the Chinese culture and made Snowy Mooncakes. Warner attended all of Amber’s classes, including homeroom and lunch. You can hear more about her experience in the accompanying video in this week’s Overlake News. Warner also plans on shadowing an Upper School student in the coming weeks.