Lise's Lens: May 28, 2026

5/28/2026

This week I am reading a novel by an up-and-coming author, thinking about our incredible parent/guardian community, and watching various commencement addresses from the past few weeks.

WHAT I'M READING

Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez

Last week I had the great pleasure of spending the day at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. I cannot believe it was the first time I was visiting it. After all, I attended college in DC and lived in Baltimore for 25+ years… but I can at least say that now I’ve been there. Do visit if you have a chance! The permanent collections and special exhibitions are phenomenal. I am telling you this, because while I was there I stopped by the museum gift shop and ended up purchasing Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez. I have been trying to lean more into unknown authors as of late and this fit the bill. I was also intrigued by the fact that the author was a Puerto Rican woman living in Brooklyn, and that she had received her MFA at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop (I try to read one author from the program every year). Well, chapter one, The Napkins, didn’t disappoint! Though I am not too far yet into the novel, I am hooked and have already lost myself in the reading — in the best way. Pick it up if you're looking for something to get you to summer, or maybe it can be one of your first summer beach reads!

WHAT I'M THINKING ABOUT

The Parent/Guardian Community

Last week, I was pleased to be able to welcome parent and guardian volunteers to my home for an appreciation breakfast. It was a meaningful reminder of how much our families contribute to this community. Whether helping with admissions, organizing faculty appreciation, supporting athletics events, creating birthday packages for boarders — or simply helping to ensure our students show up each day ready to learn — parents and guardians bring generosity, care, and energy to so many corners of school life. We know how busy your lives are, balancing work, family and countless responsibilities, and we would never take the time you give for granted. In this season when lives feel particularly saturated, I want you to know — whether you’ve put in time as an official volunteer or not — that you are a valued member of this community and we are deeply grateful for your partnership in educating and caring for our amazing students.

WHAT I'M WATCHING/LISTENING TO

Min Jin Lee’s Yale College Class Day Address

We’ve officially reached graduation season, when celebrities, scholars, creators, and experts in their fields are called upon to deliver commencement addresses. As I prepare my own annual address, I will often read through or watch what others have said. Sometimes it’s helpful, and sometimes it just makes me second guess myself, but in the best cases, I pick up pieces of wisdom or advice that stick with me. I recently stumbled upon author Min Jin Lee’s Class Day Address at Yale. In her remarks, she urges graduates to “choose the important over the urgent,” which I think is such simple but resonant advice. But how does one know what is important? She goes on to talk about the difference between two Greek concepts: chronos and kairos, and encourages students not to get caught up in the restraints of chronos, or the ticking clock of time, and to instead focus on kairos, the “qualitative, opportune time,” which is a better measure of what matters. Anyway, give it a watch and let me know what you think!

WHAT CAUGHT MY EYE

I recently had the pleasure of making succulents with members of our Circle of Sisters affinity group, a space for female-identifying students and faculty/staff of color. It was such a relaxing treat in the middle of the day.

Back