Lise's Lens: May 8, 2025

This week is National Teacher Appreciation Week. Whether you follow these sorts of events or not, if you are reading this, I invite you to take this opportunity to show gratitude to an important teacher in your life, whether it’s your own teacher, one of your children’s teachers, or someone from your past. Here at CSW, we have some of the best teachers in the world, and I hope they know just how impactful their work is. I got to hear about it firsthand from our alumni at Reunion this past weekend!

WHAT I’M READING
 
  • I have been reading The Wives by Simone Gorrindo. In my reading, I generally tend to gravitate toward non-fiction, historical fiction, and biographies, so this book about the lives of military wives fit the bill. The book jacket described the book as an invitation “into the inner lives of a remarkable group of women…” and called the story, a “bracingly honest interrogation of Gorrindo’s inherited biases and beliefs.” Before she became a military wife herself, Gorrindo carried a lot of assumptions about them, which I think is common in this country. In the book, Gorrindo says, “My time in the Army community had shown me that powerful, invisible networks create, support, and run so much of what is meaningful in this world,” and I thought that was a really astute observation. This was a good, balanced read if you are looking for one!

WHAT I’M THINKING/TALKING ABOUT
 
  • This week, in particular, I have so much gratitude for CSW — our teachers and staff, past and present, and all of the students who have come through this campus. Last weekend was our reunion weekend, and the joy emanating from our alumni was evident. As we gave them a taste of the CSW of today — the class offerings, the campus, and the values we hold dear — I could tell they were all impressed and proud to be part of this community. So many of them explicitly expressed how much they had been shaped for the better by their time here, and they continue to carry the values they developed here. I learned that while they appreciated the larger community, our alumni always felt that they were seen and heard as individuals here, and this is a balance that we continue to strive for today. I want to thank everyone who stepped up over the Mod Break to make this weekend possible — from facilities, to the dining hall staff, to our student and faculty volunteers and all of our support staff. Thank you!
 
WHAT I'M WATCHING/LISTENING TO
 
  • I am watching spring unfold here in New England. This is my favorite time of year. I could literally spend hours with my head down hunting for buds barely peeping out of the ground, and going to the same spots day after day until they have fully developed. I also marvel at the trees (when I manage to look up) and how the leaves slowly uncurl… And the CSW campus is filled with such opportunities this time of year!
     
WHAT CAUGHT MY EYE
 
There’s something so special about seeing alums from different generations, who did not overlap, connecting over a shared experience. I love this photo from the head's house of some alums and current students.
 
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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.