Living Our Mission

BY JULIAN BULL
This summer, Campbell Hall received the coveted “7-Year Clear” status from the California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS) and the Western Association of Independent Schools and Colleges (WASC), accrediting the school for the maximum seven-year term with no qualifications or interim visits. The joint CAIS-WASC accreditation process confirms that Campbell Hall continues to meet its strategic objectives and educational goals in addition to satisfying the independent, high standards of CAIS-WASC.
The evaluation process takes into account the in-depth self-study that Campbell Hall drafted over the course of a two-year period as well as the report from the Visiting Committee, made up of Heads of Schools and administrators from peer schools across California. While we were thrilled with the ultimate accreditation status we received, especially heartwarming were the many and effusive “notable strengths” documented in the report, including:

  • “The school does a wonderful job of holding its traditional values, preserving its history, and simultaneously looking forward as it initiates change.”
  • “The entire Campbell Hall community has an incredible sense of teamwork for the benefit of the school. The commitment to the school, and to each other, is evident throughout the campus and is a strength.”
  • “Willingness to engage in the most relevant questions of the current state of independent schools is to be commended, [as is] the use of data in understanding and growing the program.”
  • “Students in K-12 attest to the relational element of the Campbell Hall program, reporting that they feel known by adults in the community, and a palpable sense of joy among students and the adult community permeates the classrooms and the campus.”
  • “The Committee commends the Parent Association for its remarkable dedication and ceaseless support of Campbell Hall creating positive morale among all school constituencies.”

I list here the Committee’s five major recommendations, which the school is required to address in its next self-study, in full and without comment:

  1. “The Committee recommends that the administration and faculty continue to explore the meaning of the phrase ‘community of inquiry’ across the curriculum and program, with particular attention to the balance between challenging academics and inquiry-based pedagogies. To this end the committee recommends that the school consider making the annual summer institute on inquiry a requirement in the three-year faculty evaluation cycle, in the interest of nurturing a more consistent classroom experience of, and engagement with, the community of inquiry model.”
  2. “The Committee recommends that the Administration, in conjunction with Operations, Finance and Advancement, continue to ensure the successful design, completion and funding of phase 2 of the Master Plan.”
  3. “The committee recommends that Administration continue to carefully consider how new facilities align with the school’s unique mission and educational vision.”
  4. “The Committee recommends that Campbell Hall continue to grow socioeconomic diversity K-12, and that in doing so the entire community consider how best to ensure equal access to the totality of the Campbell Hall experience for all students and families. In particular, the committee recommends additional attention to the total cost of a Campbell Hall education—both curricular (e.g. laptops) and co- curricular (e.g. class trips) programming—in admitting socioeconomically diverse students.”
  5. “The Committee recommends that the administration and faculty set aside substantive time to ensure that the incredibly thoughtful faculty evaluation and compensation processes and systems they have designed can be fully realized and executed.”

While these five recommendations are helpful and will add to the school’s strategic plan, Campbell Hall has always been and continues to be profoundly and intrinsically motivated to do the best for our students. Building on the strong foundation laid over the past 75 years, Campbell Hall is growing in every way, which should make the celebration of our next diamond jubilee even more exciting!


  Follow Julian on Twitter @cannonbull


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  • Head of School Julian Bull

    Follow on Twitter 
     @cannonbull


    Canon Bull earned his Bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College, his Master’s in Philosophy from Boston College, and his Master’s in Divinity from Virginia Theological Seminary. He is an ordained priest in the Episcopal Church. Prior to joining Campbell Hall in 2003, Canon Bull served as Head of Trinity Episcopal School in New Orleans and as the Assistant Dean for Academic and Student Affairs, Dean of Students, Chair of the Diversity Committee, and Director of the Senior Humanities Program at Albuquerque Academy. He has served on the Boards of the National Association of Episcopal Schools, the Independent School Association of the Southwest, St. James’ Episcopal School, the Louisiana Children’s Museum, the Steering Committee for the Los Angeles School Heads, the Studio City Neighborhood Council, and has chaired the last two search committees for bishops of Los Angeles. He currently serves as the Chair of the Commission on Schools of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles and the Board of the Council for Spiritual and Ethical Education. He and his wife Katie have enjoyed raising their two sons as 13-year Campbell Hall students. Canon Bull enjoys tennis, hiking, and playing bridge in his spare time.
4533 Laurel Canyon Blvd., Studio City, CA 91607
Phone 818.980.7280

Campbell Hall is an independent, Episcopal, K-12 all gender day school. We are a community of inquiry committed to academic excellence and to the nurturing of decent, loving, and responsible human beings.
Nondiscriminatory Policy as to Students
Campbell Hall admits students of any race, color, gender, sexual orientation, national, and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, sexual orientation, national, and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admission policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletics and other school-administered programs.
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