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The Fine Print

I am fond of saying there are two compelling responsibilities that are in the fine print of my Head of School contract: wearing a costume for the parade on Halloween and sitting in the dunk tank on Blue and White Day. 


Those items were conveniently not highlighted on my search visit in 2007. However, as we came back to school this past Monday, I found myself with a new addition to the “fine print” list. While I don’t know if any pictures went viral on Instagram, I found myself physically pushing student cars up a slippery Fogg Hill on a tough Monday morning filled with black ice. Upper School Director Shiela Esten was by my side – in the fox hole with me as per usual.

I must admit that it was not the way I wanted our return to school to start. I sent an email to our parent community with an apology for the condition of campus, and expected to field a few unhappy phone calls and emails throughout the day. Instead, two things happened. One parent emailed me to say the fact that the Head of School and Upper School Head were on the hill pushing cars was about the best advertisement he had seen for the value of the Berwick experience. The second was that a parent stopped me in the quad and responded to my obvious stress by offering to buy the school an additional sander so we could do better in the future.


I talk a great deal about the value of the school/parent partnership as part of the value of a day school experience. This week I experienced this in a new and very personal way. This school is only as strong as the families who make the sacrifice to be here. As we kick off 2015, I am feeling very lucky indeed.

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