Berwick Academy Head of School

While we won’t know for sure for a few more hours, Mr. Hawes tells me that this could be his first rainy Halloween of his entire Berwick career. It also happens to be the first year that our Community Circles celebration was rained out as well. Rest assured that back up plans are in place for the parade, and the ghosts and goblins will prance around the blue gym later today if needed. There is something particularly exhilarating for me in donning an absurd costume once a year and marching in the Halloween parade. I feel a bit like Max in Where the Wild Things Are, donning my wolf outfit and casting magical spells over all of the mystical creatures on the island we know as Berwick Academy. As Head of School, I have always loved these PK-12 moments, whether they are assemblies or parades. As administrators, we sometimes wonder whether they are meaningful to all of our students. I am quite sure some of them feel boring or staged, despite our most creative and authentic efforts. But...

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...

With all of the excitement for the new Inspiration Commons (we already have three schools coming to see it this fall), there was something so fulfilling in seeing our book fair set up in the new collaborative hub space. Our BPC volunteers each year find new twists and titles to make the experience so special. I say all of this as someone with three daughters in the Lower School. Within 24 hours of the first day, my girls had each filled out multi page lists of all the books they wanted. For my oldest - fantasy and science fiction, middle child focused on all things animals, and youngest just so proud to have a beginner chapter book (with pictures) so she might be like her older sisters, even though I know she can’t really read yet. My girls do love to read, and I thank the Berwick Lower School teachers, staff, and librarians for this reality. In fact, I really don’t thank them enough. Frequently my girls force us to shut off their lights multiple times in order to stop reading the...

I was eating lunch with a trustee yesterday unexpectedly after one of our scheduled meetings. I had asked if she wanted to grab a bite at the Commons after our business was done. Upon her enthusiastic acceptance of the invitation, I immediately began apologizing: you know, we are going at the busiest time….it might be pretty crazy in there... She reassured me by saying how much she wished she could go back to school, mentioning that she loved the energy of a full dining hall -with all of the conversation about ideas and plans. School always made her feel alive. With my disclaimer about crowds having been given, I playfully queried whether or not we should work on avoiding her teenage daughter on our lunch room adventure. Literally within a few seconds of my completing the sentence, our trustee was embraced in a mother/daughter bear hug in front of many friends. In fact, other students came up to hug the trustee as well – sincerely excited that she was in the dining hall for lunc...

Whenever a rare break in my schedule presents itself, I roam. On the heels of the amazing 225 th bash last weekend, I have actually found a few gaps in my schedule this week. Along with our department chairs and division directors, I am part of a shared google document, so that we can record feedback collaboratively on the kinds of classes we see in our travels. It is great to see themes emerge from multiple viewpoints around pedagogy and class culture on this document. These kinds of “drive-by” visits are among my favorites aspects of being a Head of School; I never know what is around the corner. The English Department knows I have a particular penchant for popping in during racy conversations about sexual references in Shakespeare. I also enjoy swinging by faculty rooms and touching base with employees – the conversations tend to be a bit more in the PG range. Today I noticed just how many students were reading intensely on the stairwells of Fogg, reminding me that ours is a cultu...