As a school administrator, I always found it amusing when parents threw out these words as the school year came to a close: “So, I guess you look forward to three months of vacation!”... Read More »

Forget your perfect offering Your bell is cracked It still can ring That is how the light gets in. — Leonard Cohen Sometimes it can feel as though school life is all about the “perfect... Read More »

The search for meaning remains at the heart of the soul’s journey, and at the heart of meaning-making is relationship—with God, self, others, the world. But as new ways to connect... Read More »

Recently I had the opportunity of reading Laurence Gonzales’ book, Deep Survival, recommended to me by Richard Stark, Head of St. Stephen’s Episcopal School in Wimberly Texas. Gonzales... Read More »

At the recent NAES Leadership & Governance Institute in Los Angeles, one session was entitled “Talking about Your Episcopal Identity.” While the head of school, chaplain, and, in a... Read More »

At the recent NAES Head’s Retreat in Chicago, facilitator and former school head Fran Scoble led the group through a series of powerful reflections and engaging questions. Sitting together... Read More »

What is working in your church and school? Effective governance of Episcopal day schools in the parish setting is an on-going process. While parish day school governance brings challenges, it also... Read More »

At our recent conference for school chaplains, one of the concerns raised by this group was the degree to which the trend toward specialization is forcing many chaplains to re-think or re-clarify... Read More »

In his re-telling of the familiar story of the loaves and fishes at Biennial Conference 2008 in Tampa, Parker Palmer challenged us to re-think the role of leaders and our assumptions about scarcity... Read More »

Welcome to The Commons, NAES’ sort-of-a-blog for its members. We look forward to bringing you timely, sometimes tough, questions, insights, and feedback from NAES and Episcopal school leaders... Read More »