Polishing the gem that is your school.

Facets was conceived when I heard that Steve Delapp was retiring after 20 years as principal of Clara Barton Open School in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I realized, at that point, that his unique perspective on education could now be shared with many school communities.  Kathy Scoggin, a teacher who had meant so much to my daughter and countless other kids, was also retiring after 28 years with Minneapolis Public Schools.  I knew the synergy that could be formed by combining their skills would be incredibly valuable to creating the same kind of school culture that I had the privilege to be a part of for more than a dozen years.

Watching my oldest daughter and her friends go off to high school and now college, I know that their years at Barton helped to form them into creative thinkers and active, engaged learners, ready to go out and accomplish great things.

I wanted to help to bring that culture -- what we call a “culture of joyful learning” -- to as many schools and school communities as possible.

What has made the experience so incredible for my family is seeing how parents, teachers and staff all work together for the common goal of educating the students. Not just my kids, but everyone’s kids.

So, with Steve and Kathy on board, we asked Jennifer Bennett who is a friend, colleague and writer to put our thoughts on paper. Thank you Jennifer, for helping us get started. You can take a look at all of our bios for more details on our paths to Facets. 

So with the team in place, it is now time for us to help bring that culture of joyful learning to your school.

Steve Richter