Mission
Heads' Corner
Heads' Corner
“My Name is Red”
Posted by Jane Moulding on 11/17/08
I just finished Orhan Pamuk’s book, "My Name is Red." It was not easy reading; his style is unusual and the subject matter is quite dense, yet he truly pulled me into this intriguing novel set in the sixteenth century in Istanbul. He shifts the point of view of the narrator in each chapter, and the chapter told by the color, red, will perhaps give you some idea of how unusual this book is.
Red writes: “I hear the question upon your lips. What is it to be a color?”
He answers: “Color is the touch of the eye, music to the deaf, a word out of darkness. Because I’ve listened to souls whispering—like the susurrus of the wind—from book to book and object to object for tens of thousands of years, allow me to say that my touch resembles the touch of angels…I’m so fortunate to be red! I’m fiery. I’m strong.”
Pamuk’s story contains mystery of the highest degree, violent deaths, fear and love. It also leads us, perhaps in the way "The Da Vinci Code" did, but at a far more complex level, to see once again the power of art. Art is a matter of life and death, no question.
As you know art is pretty important at CSW. When I was reading this book, I could not believe how many layers existed to tell this story. At one level, the fear of the Ottoman “establishment,” that more realistic representation of humans and more attention to perspective in paintings would signal the end of the culture of the day and deeply question human’s allegiance to God, stunned me. As I understood the layers and levels of the story, however, I understood the radical nature of the change that threatened the status quo. I certainly finished Pamuk’s novel with a renewed understanding of how important art is to all cultures. How great to be at an institution where that fundamental importance is never questioned, only deepened.
Team Pride
Posted by Jane Moulding on 11/14/08
Recently, our girls and boys varsity soccer teams reached the playoffs in their respective leagues: the Independent Girls Conference and the Mass Bay Independent League. The girls lost to Waring, the boys beat Waring and moved onto the final against Gann Academy, losing 1-0 in a hard-fought game. Two of our players, Hannah Forrester '09 and Yi-Ming Wei '09 were selected as all-stars to represent their leagues in a game the following weekend.
It's not just the final records or the winning games that make us proud—even though they always make us feel good. What brings me sustainable, daily pride is watching how these teams come together and form a special community within our school. We see this in assemblies, posters around the school and the supporters at the games. In an e-mail to the community before the Gann game, varsity captain Yi-Ming Wei wrote: "…guess what, we have an amazing team…I cannot tell you how special each individual is on this team." He e-mailed everyone after the loss in the final, naming each team member and ending his message: "I cannot tell you how touched I am by this caring community." He was speaking for all of us; and I know he brought tears to many eyes.
I saw this same spirit on a recent Friday afternoon as I watched JV girls' and boys' soccer and girls' field hockey games. I chatted with parents and students, as my husband, Linton, and I enjoyed seeing three good games and many great smiles, but also hearing the screams of joy and support (Go field hockey. What a win!).
Congratulations to all our players, their coaches and the CSW athletic department led by Rich Bird—these are great days for CSW sports.
Mission Statement discussion
Posted by Jane Moulding on 11/12/08
Recently in one of our discussion assemblies, student trustees, Amara Davila '09 and Jesse McGleughlin '10, asked the students and faculty to talk about CSW’s mission statement. Amara and Jesse are both members of a newly formed board of trustees committee called the CSW narrative team, and they have been charged with developing a process for both reviewing our mission statement (last revised in 2001) and gathering the stories that form the narrative that is our school. Jesse and Amara put the statement up on the screen in front of us and the discussion began:
We attract intellectually and creatively talented students and faculty. Our students work to master essential academic skills, and move beyond, pursuing personal levels of excellence. They achieve genuine engagement in the educational process by taking an active role in their learning and meeting authentic challenges, both artistic and intellectual.
We embrace the process of enriching our diverse school population. We welcome the perspectives of different ethnicities, races, classes, religions and sexual orientations that enhance our mutual understanding. Our respect for the unique gifts of each community member provides a safe environment where all can grow.
We seek to balance the needs of the individual with those of the community. Within the framework of a caring, ethical school, we encourage constructive contribution beyond our campus. Students take an active role in decision-making, acquiring the tools to participate in a democratic society.
Our core mission is to enable our students to become thoughtful, creative, socially responsible, healthy adults. That, we believe, is the best preparation for college - and for life.
Jane: There were two or three areas of the mission statement that we kept coming back to that seemed important to the students. Several pointed us toward the last line of the statement, and questioned whether our mission should aim the school toward "preparation for college." Can't we cut that part out, they wondered. Isn't it all about preparation for life? We might not choose to go to college—even though most of us do; does that actually need to be highlighted in the mission statement?
Dan: That was one of my favorite moments. I remember one student arguing that CSW shouldn't group itself among the "prep schools"—because we believe so strongly that the four years you spend in high school shouldn't be just a preparation for college. High school, he said, should be time you value for its own sake—a time that’s rich and rewarding in itself.
I think it's wonderful that our students want to keep us focused on the time inside high school. A lot of schools, nowadays, think so intently about where they want students to be after graduation that they pay too little attention to the path by which their students are going to get there. They look so hard at the end of school that they forget about the middle: what it's like for a student (or a teacher) to be in the middle of a classroom, or a semester, or a student body, where everyone is driving so hard to get to a predetermined outcome.
So, for me, the challenge is to make sure that the wonderful experience our students (and our teachers) have of being here, in the middle of CSW, is also an excellent preparation for college. And for the life which follows college. (But as soon as I write that last line I remember something just-right that another student said at assembly: "We shouldn’t think of CSW as a preparation for the life we'll live after college. College will be the next four years of our life. That will be our life, just like this isour life. We're in it already.")
Jane: One student actually stood up and said when she speaks to friends from other schools they keep talking about their weekends and their vacations, but she talks about school. "I actually want to be here, every day." The other topic the students focused on was "happiness" versus "success." School cannot guarantee success, they said, but if it aims to help you be happy—in yourself, with your friends and with your studies then that is very special. I guess the thing is a school cannot actually guarantee either, happiness or success, but what I heard our students say was happiness was really important and what attracted them to CSW was the sense of belonging, choice and ability to be “who they are."
Dan: Another section of the mission statement the students focused on was diversity. One student said we didn’t need to define it, another said that's what brought him to CSW, it sounded as if the school cared about all kinds of people. Another student said that we ought to say something about diversity of opinion. The students really wanted to discuss those sentences: We welcome the perspectives of different ethnicities, races, classes, religions and sexual orientations that enhance our mutual understanding. Our respect for the unique gifts of each community member provides a safe environment where all can grow. Some students really felt that it was not easy to have certain kinds of opinions here—conservative, for instance. I liked the way students challenged each other on this big topic.
Jane: There were so many times I wanted to join in the discussion, and it was great to see how many faculty did, but I just wanted to listen and learn. Each strong opinion was met by some kind of measured and careful disagreement—many students, for instance, were very comfortable with the idea that the school should be a place for success—and happiness! I guess after a discussion assembly like this, I once again am convinced of the power of a progressive and open education.
Coming Together
Posted by Jane Moulding on 11/3/08
What a wonderful couple of days we all get to participate in each October: Family Visit Days. There's a long list of interesting activities, and for me, as head, I get to watch and participate in so many different ways.
This year, our alumni assembly was all about curiosity. Dashka Slater '81, a writer, journalist and teacher urged us to keep our minds open to all possibilities. Her suggestion at the end of her talk that we "write about what we don't know," turned the usual maxim nicely on its head, but it tied in perfectly with her approach to life. She wants to know more, dig deeply and understand what is going on around her, a nice combination for a journalist and a writer of several successful children’s books.
Then there was my chance to meet with many families. Parents of students I taught in the "Beowulf and Grendel" class with whom I had slightly deeper conversations, and parents of other students who simply wanted to let me know how things were going or had questions. This is a great part of my job—I love the feedback we get from our families.
One family, with whom I spent a great deal of time on my recent visit to South Korea, came to visit their son and I met with them. I realized how much more helpful I felt because I understood just a little more about the culture and expectations of this wonderful couple. We spoke a little of politics—what was being reported in Seoul about the American election—and the economy, and we spoke a lot about college applications and next steps for their son who is a senior.
These days would not be complete for me without watching the students play some soccer and field hockey. The games, both against Brimmer and May--one win, one loss--were exciting to watch. As the sun went down on the fields I scanned the parents and friends standing around, chatting and cheering, and it felt good. Many of those same folks were seated in the theater later that evening watching the hilarious and provocative "Bathtub Plays." Where else but at CSW might the day begin with a serpent in the bath (Dashka's children's tale) and end with a tiger in the bath in Slawomir Mrozek’s play, "The Martyrdom of Peter Ohey"?
Thank you all for coming to participate in these events. We hope that they help you know more about CSW.
Lunch
Posted by Jane Moulding on 10/28/08
The lunch hour at CSW is always bursting with great activity.
I should start in the Cheek dining hall itself, where the choice of food is always spectacular. Something for everyone. Tom Holt and his staff (Rita, Bruno, Peter, Richard, Terry, Lap Soi, Dau, Alex and Pengfei) work really hard to create healthy, home-cooked meals with the best ingredients. They are always responsive to our needs and we tell them what we like! I think they know how much we value their work and the love they put in their creations. If there were one thing I wished for them, it’s that we tried harder to keep the dining room neat and cleaned up; it must be devastating some days after our hour to look at the mess on and around the tables and floor—maybe, just maybe, we will do better this year.
It's not just the food though, look around the main dining room and the Swope Room any day and you will see all kinds of deep conversations, lighthearted exchanges and simple sharings of a good meal. It’s the place to be; it's easy to find who you are looking for and it's easy to decide what kind of conversation you might like to join that day.
Then there's what happens outside the dining room—all over the campus groups meet: A-Board, J-Board, Arrested Development Club, Environmental Club, Diversity Committee, Community Service Club, Devil's Advocate Club, Flash Club, Girls, Girls, Girls—just a few I can name. Yes, this hour gives us 15 minutes to eat and 45 minutes to mix, solve problems, find support or simply share something and have a bit of fun.
It's a pretty special time. Not to be missed.
Labyrinths
Posted by Jane Moulding on 10/24/08
I first became interested in labyrinths a year or so ago when I read Daniel Pink's book, "A Whole New Mind." Pink writes: "A labyrinth is a spiral walking course. When you enter, your goal is to follow the path to the center, stop, turn around, and walk back out—all at whatever pace you choose." He compares mazes to labyrinths and concludes by saying: "Mazes engage the left brain, labyrinths the right brain." Apparently, there are over 4,000 public and private labyrinths all over the United States. I just returned from walking the double labyrinth at the Rolling Ridge Retreat in North Andover, Mass. Perhaps, you know of one or have a thought about their value?
It was a beautiful fall day, and the colors of our lovely part of the Northeast were on full display. The drive north of Boston was perfect, and Rolling Ridge is a gorgeous setting, an early 20th century rather run-down Italianate villa, originally built by Ethan Allan, within rustic grounds, and taken over by the United Methodist Church in recent years. The labyrinth is situated adjacent to Lake Cochichewick; a path gently marked with rocks. As I walked, I certainly tried to clear my mind of the daily details that bug us, and of the big news of the moment—the failing economy. Now I am home though, I am thinking more about left brain/right brain and CSW. Mazes engage the left brain because they are a problem to be solved; you are trapped until you free yourself. The labyrinth is much more about the journey, not the destination. It would be fun to construct and use a labyrinth at CSW; a place to retreat to, to meditate a little, a place to clear your mind. I would bet our labyrinth would be a pleasant walk, for we surely have a beautiful campus. I think, too, of our value, "a mindful community," and how we might work together to be that, more.
Trustees Gathering
Posted by Jane Moulding on 10/22/08
I am pretty fortunate to work with so many great groups of people: my faculty and staff colleagues, the students, CSW parents, and a very special group of alumni, parents of past and current students, faculty and friends of the school—the CSW board of trustees.
The first trustee meeting of the year took place on Sept. 16. It was a social gathering at the home of John and Nathalie Thompson (P’ Andrew '05 and Nina '07). The work of the board is mainly strategic: setting direction and upholding the mission. It is also fiduciary: responsibility for the financial well-being of the school through the annual budgeting process and fundraising, and, of course, the board’s primary role is hiring and supporting the head of school.
Our board is a little different from most. First, we have two faculty and two student members—all have full voting rights, and second, the board meetings are open (so check out the website for meeting dates and consider attending one, just let my assistant, Sherrill Bounnell, know and she will check in with board chair, John Butman.). Part of the special nature of our board continues in the way that the trustees engage with many different members of the CSW community. Two years ago, for example, as the trustees led our values and visions work, students, parents, faculty and alumni were welcomed into the process. Several years before that, when the building committee worked on the process to design and build the Garthwaite Center, students and faculty were involved in all aspects of the work with the trustee leadership.
This year, the board will continue its work on fiscal sustainability and dynamic programs—topics initiated last year. Using the lens of the school’s core values: spirited individuals, a mindful community and an eye to the world, the trustees will take this work to the next level by focusing on "affordability" and "evaluation." In addition, the agenda will focus on "telling the CSW story" and global connectedness. It’s going to be an exciting year, and we welcome new board chair, John Butman, to his leadership role.
Contact
Questions, comments or concerns e-mail
twocents@csw.org