A few nights ago, I entered Belmont Chapel at St. Mark's School in Southborough to light candles for an evening chapel service. A group of theater students were in the chapel rehearsing a performance that they were going to be giving that night. One of the theater students — a tall, wiry kid with the energy of a thousand suns — immediately dropped character and asked if he could help. Read More »

With a growing need to find ways in our society to have thoughtful and respectful conversations about difficult issues, I look right to our middle school students for inspiration and some guiding... Read More »

I was privileged recently to hear Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks speak at Trinity School here in New York. The former Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, Sacks is a major thought-leader who speaks and writes about religion, ethics, and society. Read More »

Last month, I announced to my school community that I would retire at the end of the 2018-19 academic year. Articulating this long-anticipated intention in public fashion elicited a range of... Read More »

Each Olympics abounds with stories of individual triumph, fierce determination, and voracious wills to succeed. And then I read about the hugely successful Norwegian men’s Alpine team, a small... Read More »

I have never been so happy to be head of an Episcopal School. Our school, in the tradition of Episcopal Schools, articulates that tradition through three key ideas: inquiry, the basis of our program;... Read More »

I have been in education for over 30 years. I’ve been fortunate because I have worked with great students and wonderful colleagues: ambitious, caring, grateful, and generous. To give you an... Read More »

Saint James School in St. James, Maryland, is celebrating its 175th Anniversary. It is a model Episcopal boarding school operating at full capacity. Though the school located sixty-five minutes... Read More »

December’s winter solstice ushers in longer days and welcome light. But in schools, February is darkest month. Even as we celebrate the coming of the Magi, teachers are bracing for that long... Read More »

As I commented to the parents of Saint Mary’s School a few weeks ago, this time of year is all about preparation. There’s shopping, cooking, packing, wrapping, writing, singing, decorating, calling, cleaning, visiting, and baking. If you’re somehow involved in the school community, add more performances, exam writing, exam taking, studying, grading, and more to the ever-growing list. All this preparation, and all this talk about preparation, is in many ways well placed for a number of reasons. Few things happen overnight. Learning how to prepare for a big task by breaking it down in to small steps is an invaluable life skill that we hope to teach the young people in our care. Read More »