Delight in the Good

Dear parents,

 

Grandparents are such a gift, and it was wonderful to have over 500 grandparents and friends on campus yesterday! Their perspective, including humility and an appreciation for all that is good, is so valuable to our students. 

 

This week we also hosted Forum Lecture Series speaker Evan Thomas, an author who shared with Upper School students thoughts on "Confidence, Humility and Leadership in a Time of Change." Our world needs leaders who are proud, but not prideful. As we educate our students amidst an uncertain and changing world, we all would agree that leadership skills, a strong educational foundation and personal growth are ever important.

 

Spring brings growth, palettes of forgotten colors, rebirth and a new season. We can choose to focus on the good, as all of us — students, teachers and parents — are working hard in tremendous ways to ensure a more kind and just world. As I encouraged our faculty and staff to do earlier this week, please take time to delight in the good!  Spring is an especially important time for our students to recognize their accomplishments, to take pride in new levels of mastery, and to know that they have a purpose — for as Ralph Waldo Emerson contends, “a purpose offers a means of being useful to the world in which we live.”

 

Soon we will fete the Class of 2017, and we are proud of their success in college admissions. We will be sharing the full list of acceptances very soon, but a sneak peek includes Amherst, William and Mary, University of Pennsylvania, Williams, Duke, Northwestern, Columbia, Johns Hopkins, Bucknell, Haverford, Colby, UCLA, Smith, Bryn Mawr and Dartmouth to name but a few.

 

As we continue to invest in our faculty and professional development, Assistant Head of School Harry Baetjer, our Division Heads, Department Chairs, faculty members and I have been spending time with very strong candidates for some teaching positions. While 90% of Tower Hill faculty have recommitted to this wonderful community next year, we have some searches still in motion. We will put together a summary later in the spring so that we are all informed of new colleagues joining the Tower Hill community and are assured of time to celebrate those who are retiring or have chosen to go on to new adventures. Please join us to welcome new administrators at a welcome reception on April 20 from 5-7 p.m.