News Detail
Lise's Lens: October 23, 2025
This week I am thinking about community and what it means to belong to one, to build one, and to sustain one. From our CulinArt team’s recent Compass Center for Excellence recognition to the joy of welcoming grandparents and special friends to campus, I’ve been reminded that community is nourished not just by what we do together, but by how we care for one another along the way.
WHAT I'M READING
No One Left Alone: A Story of How Community Helps Us Heal
Two weeks ago I talked about my “reader’s block” and my lack of capacity to “get into” any of the three books I had started. Apparently I wasn’t alone in having that experience. I’ve appreciated those who’ve taken the time to validate my struggles! One of you even generously gifted me a book, a beautiful signed copy of No One Left Alone: A Story of How Community Helps Us Heal. In case you aren’t familiar, Liz Walker was the first Black woman to anchor the evening news in Boston. In the book, she chronicles her evolution from journalist to minister, and the profound impact of building community through empathy and service.
WHAT I'M THINKING ABOUT
The CSW Dining Hall
Last week the community came together to celebrate our dining hall staff from CulinArt, as they were recently recognized as a Compass Center for Excellence. Not only am I incredibly proud of the team for earning this honor, but it’s gotten me thinking about the role and meaning of food in our community, and how important it is that our mission and values extend to the culinary realm. Whether it’s in offering a diversity of foods catering to different tastes and dietary needs, or engaging in sustainable production and processing practices, the team from CulinArt cares about who we are and what we stand for as a school and it really shows. Bravo to the team on this exciting, well-deserved honor.
WHAT I'M WATCHING/LISTENING TO
Grandparents and Grandfriends Day
I truly delighted in watching our students showing off our school to their grandparents on Tuesday for Grandparents and Grandfriends Day — the first in-person event of this kind since the pandemic! There’s just something so beautiful about intergenerational connection and the conversations that come up when folks of vastly different ages come together to discuss a particular issue or topic. And it warmed my heart to see our students taking such great care to make sure their grandparents were comfortable and attended to. What a great day!
WHAT CAUGHT MY EYE
We had so many grandparents and grandfriends on campus on Tuesday, that the entire Robin Wood Theatre was filled for our mini assembly! We are so pleased with this fantastic turnout.
CSW—a gender-inclusive day and boarding school for grades 9-12—is a national leader in progressive education. We live out our values of inquiry-based learning, student agency, and embracing diverse perspectives in every aspect of our student experience. Young people come to CSW to learn how to learn and then put what they learn into action—essential skills they carry into their futures as doers, makers, innovators, leaders, and exceptional humans who do meaningful work in the world.