Stories

I had the honor of speaking to many of you at this year’s first head of school coffee on August 28 in The Lair, our sparkling new dining hall and meeting space. In case you couldn’t be there, here are some highlights.  

As our country faces an accelerating teacher shortage, I have encouraged our faculty to adopt the theme of joy this year. The U.S. is facing a troubling decline in education majors. In 2019-2020, bachelor's degrees in education accounted for only 4% of total degrees conferred, a significant drop from 21% in 1970, when it was the most popular major. Without joy, we lose teachers, and without teachers, we lose the glue of our children’s youth. As the head of school, it is my responsibility to cultivate a culture based on joy of learning, joy of relationships, and joy in growing professionally. 

I’m pleased to share a facilities update as the school finishes a few different construction projects. The lower school building is nearly complete with just a few small items remaining, specifically the flooring in The Lair and hallways, and the outdoor railing on Pappy’s Porch. Our exciting early school renovation is scheduled to conclude in mid-September and will add two extended-day classrooms and a teacher workroom to that facility, as well as a reconstruction of the porch that once stood there. These new classrooms will allow us to remove the modular classrooms and begin restoring our athletic field later in the fall.

Finally, I concluded the session with a summary and recommendation of Adam Grant’s book, Hidden Potential. The book’s central argument is that potential is not a fixed, innate talent but a developed capacity for growth. Some of Grant’s research for unleashing potential is already part of the fabric of the Prep community, such as looping (when students have the same teacher for more than one year) and deliberate play (weaving aspects of play into practice to foster a deeper and faster acquisition of skills). Our goal as educators is to tap every student’s hidden potential, and our intentionally-sized community enhances our ability to reach that goal nimbly and effectively.