CSW’s Trustees: Great Leaders and Supporters

 
I have worked with an enormous number of wonderful volunteers, the trustees, over my 17 years as head of school. Seven great board chairs and a group of 28 or so trustees, mostly serving 3X3 year terms, in addition to two students and two faculty representatives each year.  

A head’s relationship with her trustees is unique, special, and important. Trustees are constantly working to see the big and the full institutional picture while supporting the programs and people that make it all work. Earlier this week, at a celebration of our board, past and present, I asked those present to consider what they have seen at CSW over these past 17 years and more, wanting them to know and understand their role in it all.

Trustees are, more than any group, the keepers of the flame, the holders of the mission, and the perpetuators of the vision. They lead, harness, count, and consider. They are graduates of CSW, parents of graduates, and friends of education and our great school. In the room this week as we toasted CSW and the work of the trustees were five past board chairs and the incoming chair of the board, Ann Gorson P’16. A myriad of alumni/ae were there, including some who served on the search committee when I was hired, and David Kluchman ’82, P’19,’17 and Rebecca Parkhill ’85, P’17, who served on the committee to hire Lise.

I felt privileged and honored to be surrounded by such a diverse, intelligent, and like-minded group of individuals. There was a shared sense of camaraderie, vision, and hope among us that was truly inspiring. We’ve had our differences over the years, to be sure — leadership isn’t always easy — but in spite of any challenges we may have faced together, we remain united by our commitment to CSW. We are a school that changes lives and I put it out there, out loud, that my life had been changed by this school.
 

The Cambridge School of Weston is a progressive high school for day and boarding students in grades 9–12 and PG. CSW's mission is to provide a progressive education that emphasizes deep learning, meaningful relationships, and a dynamic program that inspires students to discover who they are and what their contribution is to their school, their community and the world.