Why a campus matters

As a community we should fully appreciate the remarkable campus our students enjoy on this Hilltop in comparison to the K-12 day schools across the country. In our national INDEX comparison group, there are many metrics in which we hope to improve, but one area in which we perennially lead the pack is “square footage per student.” It always strikes me that in October, when the leaves finally pop into electric shades of orange and yellow, our campus is at its best. In particular, the early sunsets light this place up in particular hues that strike me as other-worldly.

Over the past few years, the Board of Trustees has certainly placed an emphasis on improving the curb appeal of this Hilltop. While we have always enjoyed a beautiful quad during my tenure, the gateways and entrances to campus have perhaps been a bit rough around the edges. With the support of BPC, our donors, and the hiring of new Director of Facilities Jason Murray last spring, I believe our attention to detail continues to improve. It has been so heartening to have dozens of parents comment to me at fall games just how great the campus looks this year. People seem to be noticing our collective efforts.

Physical space catalyzes great learning. Separate from its impact on admissions and general campus morale, educational philosopher John Dewey believed strongly that environment was everything in education. This includes the concept of campus as well as the types of environments our teachers create in their classrooms. The particular flow of our campus, for which I can take absolutely no credit, allows Berwick’s environment to feel both historic and homey. Certainly our mission’s notion of “one school with three divisions” is visible in the physical spaces our students enjoy. So as I have the good fortune to write this entry as a spectacular sunrise illuminates our quad for another day of learning, it is a moment for me to thank Jason and our Buildings and Grounds crew for all that they do to make this environment special. And as we approach our 225^th anniversary next year, I also thank the generations of donors who helped create this learning environment that our children are now so lucky to enjoy.

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Piercing the Bubble

This week we were so fortunate to have former NH Senator Kelly Ayotte address grades 7 – 11 in our theater about Civil Discourse in a time of Political Polarization. Senator Ayotte spoke to the need to take the high road in tough conversations and put an incredible primacy on building relationships with people who hold different opinions. She was able to speak to some of her own successes in working across the aisle to develop legislation to address the opioid crisis in New Hampshire as one powerful example of how this can be possible. Additionally, Senator Ayotte offered a strong reminder to our students of the need for more women in positions of leadership within our government, citing that she had only been the 53rd woman to serve in the US senate during her tenure. With a down-to-earth style and but an appropriately impassioned call to action, she challenged our students to become the leaders that they could be. Her call to action and example of service were powerful reminder...

Arts Underground

One of Berwick’s great strengths is its arts culture, and I have always felt that there is both a public and private face of this culture. The public face includes our amazing concerts, our ambitious productions, and the various art shows we produce throughout the year. The private face tends to include things like private lessons, coffeehouses, assembly performances, murals painted on walls, and unexpected artistic expressions that emerge on campus throughout the year. One of the great traditions I will miss at Berwick will be the annual recital week in April. So many of our students hone their craft on private music lessons throughout the year in the hopes of having a public performance at this time. Simultaneously, we have a week of performances in the theater and in Chip Harding’s coffeehouse lair – the space he likes to refer to as his “smoldering ruins,” referring to the carnage left there after every Middle School electric guitar class. This year, for my second and final time, I...

Behind the scenes

I often like to use the word authenticity when talking about Berwick Academy. I have said that I feel more able to be myself at Berwick than any place I have worked to date; it truly is a gift to feel that way. For parents, we usually focus on the teachers and coaches who make our kids’ lives so dynamic, and we forget the people behind the scenes who make the Berwick experience possible: maintenance, custodial, food, transportation, and support staff, etc. Berwick could not deliver the program it delivers without such high quality yet largely unheralded work. The same could be said of the Head of School. I am quick to point out that being a father is far more humbling than being a Head of School. There is no way on earth that I could have possibly moved this school forward without the unquestioned support of my wife, Amy. I often marvel that, in addition to dealing with a husband who can be tired and grumpy at the end of long days, she somehow has managed to catalyze the amazing...

Berwick Academy Head of School

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