“These are not simply abstract numbers or statistics. It is some one’s father or grandfather, a mother or grandmother, a partner. They are people. And we are a community in which every life and every person matters (and) this is what an epidemic shows us: how vulnerable we all are, how dependent (we are) on […]

Read more "Looking After Each Other"

As a former English teacher, I was delighted to read a glowing newspaper endorsement of some students for their writing as young journalists: The Panther Press has been running at my school for generations, as a vehicle for students to make sense about the world. You probably had something similar when you were at school? […]

Read more "In Celebration of Student Voice…"

I write this on the eve of the second semester. Tomorrow my school will welcome our returning families after the vacation, as well as welcome around 80 new students who are joining our community. I recently wrote a few words to the community as a way of framing some thoughts ahead of the resumption of […]

Read more "A Few Thoughts About Choosing Hope…"

In the November edition of Phi Delta Kappan, Dr. Emma K. Adam (Edwina S. Tarry Professor of Human Development & Social Policy at Northwestern), offers a wake-up call to parents, students and teachers  on the subject of stress. She highlights the powerful connection between the hormone cortisol, stress, and sleep. She identifies a vicious cycle […]

Read more "“To Sleep, Perchance to Learn..?”"

In July 2019, Sir Tim Berners Lee published the first draft of the Contract for the Web: nine founding principles to save the internet from imploding under the collective weight of global misuse coupled with online developments that are fast becoming unacceptable risks to the future of global society. Just over a week ago, the […]

Read more "A Contract to Save Us from Ourselves…"

Not nearly enough people outside of the United States have heard of Sojourner Truth, the pioneering 19th century anti-slavery and women’s rights activist. Some might say not nearly enough people inside the United States know enough about her either. Born a slave in Swartekill, New York in 1797, she led a life of hardship in the relentlessly […]

Read more "Why Sojourner Truth Still Matters"

I don’t usually re-publish entire blog posts, but this one from Craig Meister is well worth sharing. I have made some minor edits (apologies Craig) but hopefully none that change the intent  of his powerful and direct advice on how to get into Ivy League schools – ethically: So much of what you read, watch, […]

Read more "How to get into the Ivy League – Ethically"