• Facilitating School Change

  • Aligning the school environment around the mission

  • Getting buy-in from stakeholders

  • Measuring effectiveness

• Immersion Programs

  • Balancing two languages

  • Culture in School

  • One program, two languages

  • Measuring effectiveness

• Rejuvenating a School to Meet Student and Parent Needs

  • Knowing the community

  • Addressing the weak spots

  • High Expectations

  • Measuring effectiveness

• Accreditation

  • Looking at specific programs in preparation for an accreditation

  • Responding to recommendations of a visiting committee

To request a proposal: Please contact us via email or call 802.348.1428. Include you name, contact information, and a brief description of the type of service you would like provided. We will schedule an informational meeting that will form the basis of a proposal. Proposals usually take about two weeks to develop. The initial meeting and the proposal are provided without cost.

About the Proposal: The proposal will include the following:

• A clear statement of purpose

• The process for information gathering

• Analysis

• Timeline (including estimated hours)

• How the final report will be presented and what it will include

• The Fee

Determining the Fee: The Fee will include the following:

• $55 per hour based on the estimated time in the proposal

• Anticipated expenses may include estimates for any travel, lodging and per diem for work of the island of Oahu listed in the proposal.

Payment Schedule: Checks made out to Banyan Tree Consulting for 10% upon acceptance, 45% at the midpoint and the remaining 45% upon completion prior to the submitting the final written and oral reports.

After six years in the army as an artillery officer, I headed back to Maryknoll High School, my old alma mater. I started off teaching math and mechanical drawing but soon expanded to history, economics, and Futuristics (The Nature of Change and the Next Fifty Years). Little did I realize that subtitle for Futuristics could have been a prediction of the career that was to follow.

Maryknoll gave me the opportunity to teach virtually every math class offered, from basic math to AP Calculus AB. I also taught World Histories, AP European History, and Economics. My first administration work was as director of summer school. Then came promotion to vice-principal and, after 10 years, principal

While I was principal we moved the school from a very traditional schedule and program to being an "Essential School" (the connection to Ted Sizer). By design, each Essential School is different, connected by the 9 (later 10) Common Principles . The Maryknoll faculty developed a unique trimester schedule with students taking two core classes and two electives for three 12 week trimesters. Graduation requirements included earning credits as well as preparing a graduation portfolio of collected works and completing a senior research project.

This process necessitated extensive faculty involvement in planning and preparation, board authorization, and parent acceptance. It all started with a seemingly simple question, "Is what we are doing the best way to accomplish what we want for our students?"

Maryknoll was followed by a completely different experience at Chinese American International School in San Francisco. CAIS was the first Mandarin immersion school in the United States. My decade as Head of School at this PreK to 8th grade school was filled with amazing opportunities and challenges.

Although the overwhelming majority of students spoke only English when they entered the school, all students attended half the day in classes where the language of instruction was in English and half the day where the language of instruction was in Chinese. Students were expected to meet English standards equivalent to students who spent the entire day in English while also becoming proficient in Chinese.

Some of the challenges included how to assess their Chinese proficiency, getting Chinese teachers comfortable with a more student focused teaching approach, navigating multiple cultures in the school, celebrating two cultures that were at the heart of the school, and supporting other schools that were starting to include Chinese immersion programs.

West Point

The Thayer Method: Part of what made West Point excellent preparation for becoming a teacher was in the way instruction was presented. The Thayer Method was vison of Sylvanus Thayer, West Point superintendent in the early 1800's and was still in place when I arrived in July 1964. Follow this link for a general description of the Thayer method. Briefly, it means being prepared before you walk into the classroom, expecting to discuss the material and work together with other cadets (students). It meant that "every cadet should expect to recite in every class every day." It was, in many ways, the Flipped Classroom, way ahead of its time. To this day I cannot recall sitting in a lecture hall or being lectured to in a small classroom. The only exceptions were when visiting dignitaries came.

Expect the Unexpected: No matter how well you plan, things will go wrong. The bulb in the projector goes out or the guest speaker fails to show up (or comes a day early). Or you may look at the students in front of you and realize what you planned will not work. It is more than having a plan B. It means being ready to adjust to meet the needs of the moment without losing sight of the overall objective.

Keep it Personal: No class was over 20 students and each cadet had his own blackboard directly behind his seat (this was in the '60's). There were times we worked together on a problem then went on the board then went to the board to present to out classmates. There were other times when we were directed to "take boards" for quiz, after which individual cadets would present on their solutions.

Demonstrate Your Understanding: Many of our "tests" were projects. We had to actually "do" what we were studying as much as possible. Summers were times for practical application for much of what we learned during the year.

Don't Forget the Small Stuff: Some of that "small stuff" was typical military, shoes shined, locker ready for inspection, rifle barrel dust free, etc. But we also learned how to use overhead projectors (remember, this was the '60's) and a pointer properly. We practiced projecting our voice so we could be heard in a field or a noisy room.

The Army

Planning and Evaluations: As training officers we learned to develop schedules, that included alternatives for "inclement weather." If you were an instructor you expected someone to visit your session and always had a lesson plan ready for the visitor. Evaluations were frequent and designed to help you know what you did well and where you needed to improvement.

Work with what you have, not what you wish you had: While this may seem self-evident, it is often overlooked in two ways. There are times when we don't act because we don't have all the materials we think we need. The flip side of that problem is that we often don't realize the useful materials we have available. It is important to think and look "outside the box."

In Summary: Although a career in the army like my father and brother was not for me, the education West Point gave me an important foundation for what became my chosen career, teaching. I see much of what Thayer brought to West Point two centuries ago in many fo the efforts to improve education to this day.

University of Hawaii, Manoa: MEd in Educational Foundations with a focus on Economics education.

Chaminade University: Enrolled in business administration courses including accounting, marketing, business management.

Columbia University (Sabbatical Year): Economics, international education, quantitative and qualitative evaluations, Chinese.

Global Children's Organization: Worked with Catholic, Orthodox and Muslim children in Croatia affected by the war and Protestant and Catholic children from "the Troubles."

Teachers Without Borders: Conducted workshops for teachers in South Africa and China.

Pan-Pacific Association of Private Education: US Representative and board member. Presented on US Education at annual conferences.