Mission Statement

What Is Challenge Success?

Challenge Success is a national, non-profit organization affiliated with the Stanford University Graduate School of Education. Challenge Success partners with schools, families and communities to embrace a broad definition of success and to implement research-based strategies that promote student well-being and engagement with learning.

This 2018-2019 school year marks the initial partnership between Bedford and Challenge Success. During the weekend of September 2018, Bedford High School sent a team of administrators, teachers, parents and students to Stanford University to be trained in the Challenge Success philosophy, and the relationship and training will continue as we implement the Bedford-specific concepts that will serve to create an experience for our students based on emotional, academic, physical, and social well-being.

Over the past several years, the Challenge Success program has expanded its presence in the Northeast to include many other local school communities such as Dover-Sherborn, Wellesley, Weston, Westford, Medfield and Concord.

Being a Challenge Success school means that we are helping our students, and our community, to create better balance in their lives by:

1. 1. reducing unhealthy pressures and demands

   2. promoting a broader definition of "success"

   3. building resilience among our students

The creators of Challenge Success, Dr. Madeline Levine, Dr. Wendy Vogel, and Dr. Denise Pope, have summarized their mission:

“At Challenge Success, we believe that our society has become too focused on grades, test scores, and performance, leaving little time for kids to develop the necessary skills to become resilient, ethical, and motivated learners. We partner with schools, families, and communities to embrace a broad definition of success and to implement research-based strategies that promote student well-being and engagement with learning. After all, success is measured over the course of a lifetime, not at the end of a semester.”

The process of tailoring the Challenge Success philosophy to meet the specific needs of the Bedford Public Schools is one that is fluid and is evolving. We urge you to explore and examine the Challenge Success Website. Our sincere feeling mirrors the thoughts of Stanford University and of the 50 high achieving schools that attended training with us in September, in that the attention to each students overall health and academic, social, physical and emotional well-being will serve to not only prepare students for the academic rigors of college, but also for the successful navigation through the entire life cycle in regard to academic, social, emotional, physical and professional fulfillment.

Bedford Mission Statement

We envision a school culture in which a shared understanding exists that the balance of extracurricular activities, academics and well-being is supported by all constituents. Students are empowered to explore their interests.