Skip to main content

The Final Blog

It is amazing to acknowledge that this will be my final Friday blog of the 2015-2016 school year. It is time for me to spend some time coming up with new material for the fall – I am quite sure the audience needs more of a break than I do. Earlier yesterday I participated once again in Young Author’s Day, watching as we pushed Lower School students out of their comfort zone to present their work in a public way. Simultaneously the push is on in the rest of the school to motor through exams and final assessments. There are final athletic and musical events, and awards ceremonies abound; there seems to be an infinite amount of activity on this campus right now. It is the time of year when schools want to see tangible evidence of progress as a validation of our collective work to date. Sometimes that evidence is a bit more qualitative than quantitative in nature.

Earlier this week, I was deeply touched by the number of parents who have approached me to indicate just how proud they are that we had a student successfully initiate a gender transition process in our Middle School. I want to tip my hat to the deep and thoughtful work done by Ryan Feely and Michael Buensuceso, among others, to bring us to this point. Much of the story is a personal one, and I want to respect that privacy in my comments today. However, I do think this event is something to celebrate as a school. For example, I know now that we had a Lower School student a number of years ago who did not feel able to transition in this community, and I continue to feel a sense of sadness that this was the case.


If we are searching for evidence of progress, surely the events in our Middle School this week are strong indicators of positive progress. We all can have different levels of worry or concern about Berwick’s policies on supporting transgender students, but I think it would be hard to argue the fact we have a student feeling safe enough to make this kind of change during the school year is a statement about our culture. So while I do not want to single out this student, I do want to single out a school community that has clearly grown in recent years. Through an increased willingness to engage in complex topics as a learning community, we are making headway. While the courage and the praise for this transition process belongs to one individual, I want you all to know that this has been a week when I have been particularly proud to call myself the Head of School at Berwick Academy.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

E.T.

I don’t think everyone is aware that for this period between Thanksgiving and Winter break, grade levels within the Middle School temporarily re-organize themselves to offer interdisciplinary learning experiences to break up the regular routine of class. This year, I was asked to participate in the “Machine Pilot” aspect of the seventh grade effort to explore the concept of extra-terrestrial life (E.T.). Seventh graders are asked to consider who, out of anyone on the planet, they would choose to send into outer space to interact with alien life forms and why. Our students are told they can literally choose any person on the planet, and the focus need not necessarily be someone with experience in space travel. In fact, they are asked to envision a pre-programmed ship with one seat, leaving them to consider not just technical skills but who would we want to represent human kind in this first interaction. They research, create resumes, write persuasive cover letters and are ultimately as
Post a Comment
Read more

The Campus as Mission

Yesterday, I was fortunate to spend an entire day with our board in retreat to discuss the future of Berwick Academy. The day included strategic conversations about the future of financial aid, innovation, and our amazing campus. In considering the strengths of the Berwick campus, almost everyone spoke to the remarkable quality of our main quad, the blend of old and new buildings, and the incredible open space we have to support our programs. There is an aura of learning and support on this campus that is clearly bolstered by the physical space and buildings. This sense will only be strengthened by the addition of the new Wellness Center next year. Looking ahead, there are still improvements to be made. Certainly parking is a concern, and we continue to dream about new facilities that might make the Berwick experience even more special for our students. One of the key insights that emerged from these conversations was the way in which the physical campus needs to reflect the
Post a Comment
Read more

Sugar Shack

Late April always brings the excitement of the BPC benefit, and I want to encourage the community to attend on April 28 at the Sheraton in Portsmouth. Certainly it is a fun way to gather and celebrate what makes BA so special, but it is also true that the funds raised through BPC help move our school forward in such compelling ways. Just this week I was reminded of this reality after I was invited to offer feedback to Krysta Ibsen’s eighth grade science project. As many of you know, Krysta has become famous for her Sugar Shack projects, which teach our kids aspects of science and entrepreneurship through the practice of making maple syrup. Clearly this is an example of student directed learning, where kids get to pursue individual interests within the broader educational construct. What I have always loved about the event is that it changes every year, and this year Krysta charged the kids to propose a real model for a permanent Sugar Shack we might build on campus someday. Kids
Post a Comment
Read more