Berwick Academy Head of School

My former Head of School was fond of saying that late January, in the context of all enrollment and employment contracts being sent out, was the time when he suddenly found himself with no students and no employees. There is no denying the challenge that exists in sending out all kinds of offers to be a part of Berwick’s next journey and having to wait for seven or eight hundred different contracts to emerge in various ways. Some of those eight hundred stories will be straightforward, and some will take lots of follow up and persistence. There will be happy surprises and surprise disappointments along the way; there are every year. It is hard as a leader, and harder as a parent, to acknowledge that certain things are out of our control. I heard recently from a Berwick parent that their freshman in college was back in the house for the past month and how hard it was to figure out the proper parenting role. Mostly this person just hoped and prayed that good decisions would be made. W

We often lament in the Admission Office that we wish we could bottle up the Berwick spirit in our marketing efforts. Bringing clarity and data to all that makes Berwick unique is a difficult task. To some degree, one has to experience it to believe it.  In fact we just celebrated one of those nights last week at our Trustee/Faculty/Staff dinner. At that event, our guests from the Taktse School in Sikkim, India were in attendance as were their Berwick host families. One of the added bonuses of this arrangement was that a few of our Berwick parents caught a glimpse of this special event that is generally not open to our parent community. I hope my musings today might offer some of you a glimpse as well. It is a rare and special tradition that after our January Board meeting, our employee community sits down with trustees to share a meal and celebrate the school. January strikes me as a good time to do this, when we are in the thick of the year rather than the excitement of the begin

As we have all returned to the busy pace of Berwick life once again this week, I have been struck deeply by the rather insidious expectation and unquenchable thirst we seem to have for communication of all types. This is not to dismiss the need at schools for great communication. To the contrary, I would offer that most of my toughest and most important moments as a leader have revolved around challenges associated with communication – whether to our internal or external audiences. The need for transparency and informed expectations are essential component to running a solid school these days. I certainly know that I have plenty of room for growth in this area. But it is also true that I spent the majority of my time last week with my cell phone off, my computer gone, and in the presence of a roaring fire. Music, backgammon, cribbage, and conversations were ubiquitous. Without such immediate access to email or CNN, a rather cliché epiphany emerged: I had everything I needed right