Robert Marchand
Head of School

There are few more destructive things a school can do than lower its expectations. Expecting less ensures that you will get it, and it undermines the very thing we all believe that we should be fostering: confidence and self-esteem.

Great schools, like ours, believe in their teachers and their students, and they create conditions where they believe in themselves.
Of course, all of us are a work in progress. We strive to be the best version of ourselves that we can be, and although we know that we sometimes fall short, we pick ourselves up and vow to do better. At least that’s what I hope we do.

The same holds for schools. No matter how wonderful we are, no matter how much good we are doing, or how well we prepare our students, we start the year asking ourselves, how can we do even better? It’s what separates good schools from great ones: this unwillingness to rest on our laurels but rather to improve every year.

Our theme for this year reflects this approach: “Raising the Bar by Working Together.”
It’s a call for all of us to challenge ourselves to look for ways that we can improve and to continue our personal, professional, and institutional growth. But it also acknowledges that we can only go so far by ourselves. True excellence is only achieved when we work together to achieve it.

I’ve often said to teachers that while teaching seems like a solitary activity, in a great school it’s a team sport. It’s not a series of individual efforts that makes for a great team; it’s the combination of talents all pulling in the same direction.
I would say the same for parenting. The saying that it “takes a village to raise a child” resonates because, as parents, we know that the support of those around us is essential to raising a caring, compassionate, and self-actualized child. It’s why a true partnership between the school and parents is so important.

I think this theme applies equally to students and their work. I’m reminded of the Ralph Waldo Emerson quote, “I pay the schoolmaster, but ’tis the schoolboys that educate my son.” It’s as true today as it was then. The peers that your daughter or son sits next to are an important part of their educational experience and may be at least as influential as you, I, or their teachers as role models. So, for students, working together and
supporting each other is essential to raising the bar for themselves.

Let’s take time this year to reflect on what we do and how we can stretch ourselves beyond our comfort zones, beyond the way we’ve always done it, and into a stronger future, together.