Berwick Academy Head of School

Yesterday, the Board of Trustees gathered for its annual retreat. It was a powerful day focused upon the purposes and goals of our new cultural competency efforts. As you might imagine, it was a topic that afforded us to think deeply about Berwick’s culture while also considering important strategic initiatives for the future. There were many powerful moments throughout the day, including presentations from Berwick faculty and our Director of Cultural Competency, Michael Buensuceso. With all of that said, I found the most impactful part of the day to be listening to three of our Upper School students who spoke to their experiences of traveling to the Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC) this past year. All of us, in the audience, were struck by their openness, honesty, and courage in sharing their experiences talking about hard issues around identity as well as their experience on our campus. In some cases, this came from the perspective of what it can be like to be a st...

For the better part of the last two months, the independent schools in New England have been bracing for the release of a series of articles that are forthcoming from the Boston Globe Spotlight department. On the heels of an Academy award effort in exposing the tragic sins of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, private schools in New England appear to be the next topic. As the Head of such a school, and as a board member of our New England regional association, it is hard not to experience some anxiety about this news. I have spent the past week at a series of meetings with colleagues, and I have never seen such uniform concern about what could be headed our way as an industry. While I continue to suspect that some of the more challenging stories might emerge from boarding schools, Berwick has certainly had to deal with employee misconduct in recent years. It is quite possible that we will be mentioned in some capacity given this reality. At recent meetings, I have heard Heads of...

            Excitement has been mounting in my household for the Lower School production this week. We have been stockpiling leggings and finishing up puppets for quite some time. There are many great lessons my girls learn from the build up to this production each spring. There is no doubt in my mind that this particular performance brings out their sense of pride in not just being Berwick Academy students – but being members of our Lower School. It is such a powerful community moment for them and it is a chance for them to share their work with the broader community that they love so dearly.             It needs to be said that pulling off a full-division production with such young students is unlike any other pedagogical challenge on this campus. As you might imagine, simply monitoring the kids through this atypical process is enough to exhaust a normal adult. However, ...

Each year in late March, most of our seniors start to hear from colleges about their options for the future. As with most years, we already know of some truly amazing outcomes but there have been some disappointments as well. It certainly can be hard for me to keep perspective during this stretch, as I feel like each of our seniors deserves the outcome they are seeking; they all work so very hard on this Hilltop. I also think of our senior parents at this time, as they are also working so hard to keep the college process in perspective but can’t help but want to see their children have lots of options and see all of their dreams fulfilled. Often this time of year forces me to reflect on my own college experience as well. I think to myself how glad I am not to be applying to college now, when the population has grown exponentially and the amount of top-tier colleges is the same as it always has been. Yet I am also reminded that in hindsight, my path for success was determined for m...