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Lise's Lens
Lise's Lens: September 4, 2025
Hello — and welcome to the first installment of Lise’s Lens of the 2025-26 school year! Lise’s Lens is my weekly blog, which is released every Thursday afternoon with the community newsletter. Take a look to find out what I’ve been reading, thinking about, and watching/listening to.
WHAT I'M READING
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s newest novel, Dream Count.As you may or may not know, CSW Faculty, staff and students engage in community reading that starts in the summer and runs the whole year. During opening faculty and staff meetings last week, our adult community reading groups met for lunch wherever we wanted to engage in discussion and fellowship. My group met to discuss Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s newest novel, Dream Count, and I absolutely loved this time we got to spend together. It felt incredible to connect with four other women of different background and upbringings, all of us bound by our love of teaching and our work at CSW. Interestingly, Dream Count is also about four women, female friendships, and support systems in challenging times. While this wasn’t my favorite Adichie work, I am always amazed by her capacity to describe the inner thinkings of people. If you are interested, this is a good interview with Adichie about the novel.
WHAT I'M THINKING ABOUT
Putting our students at the center. I’ve been thinking what a privilege it is to be able to prioritize our students in all of our work here at CSW. When I think about how much intentionality and preparation we put into all aspects of the student (and parent/guardian) experience here, I can’t help but think about communities that are burdened by so many stressors that they never get the chance to put in the kind of time, effort, and learning that we do. I am so grateful to the families who have chosen us as the place to partner in their child’s education, and for understanding, support, and appreciation for what we do. This is all wind in our sails as we embark on this new year!
WHAT I'M WATCHING/LISTENING TO
The documentary film, Monsieur Aznavour
I recently watched a documentary called Monsieur Aznavour, produced in France a year ago about the famous French singer and poet, Charles Aznavour. Aznavour is someone I’ve been familiar with for 40 years, and yet I had no clue about his upbringing. As I now know, Aznavour was born in France to an Armenian family who were part of the “naturalization and reintegration program “ preceding WWII. Growing up, poetry, rhythms, hand gestures and guitar playing were an integral part of family life for Aznavour, whose family self-identified as bohemian gypsies. Apparently the family was also instrumental in protecting Jews during the Nazi invasion, and Edith Piaf was a big supporter of Aznavour’s early career. He would go on to sell over 180 million records, and perform well into his 80s.
I recently watched a documentary called Monsieur Aznavour, produced in France a year ago about the famous French singer and poet, Charles Aznavour. Aznavour is someone I’ve been familiar with for 40 years, and yet I had no clue about his upbringing. As I now know, Aznavour was born in France to an Armenian family who were part of the “naturalization and reintegration program “ preceding WWII. Growing up, poetry, rhythms, hand gestures and guitar playing were an integral part of family life for Aznavour, whose family self-identified as bohemian gypsies. Apparently the family was also instrumental in protecting Jews during the Nazi invasion, and Edith Piaf was a big supporter of Aznavour’s early career. He would go on to sell over 180 million records, and perform well into his 80s.
WHAT CAUGHT MY EYE
Out on their “Wednesday Walk” yesterday evening, boarding students were thrilled to see the produce we have growing in our community garden out by the Facilities Barn. Many of these students had taken our botany class, so it was extra special for them to see the fruits of their labor, so to speak!
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.