Leadership Blog

With two weeks remaining in the school year, teachers are planning for summer reading, evaluating how to ensure success for each student as they ‘move up’ from their current grade to the next one, and assessing their curriculum for what worked well, what didn’t, and why. All of our teachers are already planning for next fall. Many of them have lined up phenomenal professional development work at conferences on technology, innovation, diversity, art, and math, along with literacy coursework through Lesley University and much more. In addition to all of that, the second summer of the Innovation...read more

“Sooner or later, we all quote our mothers.” - Sir Bernard Williams It is impossible for me to separate my childhood upbringing from my earliest days of education. The reliance on the relationship between school and home was and will forever be critical in the successful academic and emotional development and growth of children. Perhaps that is why Belmont Day—a school founded by parents, and in particular, a group of dedicated mothers—aligns so well with my own belief about the importance of that relationship. There has, perhaps, been no greater teacher to me than my own mother. I honor the...read more

A year ago at this time, the leadership of Braiding Different Strands—both parent and faculty co-chairs alike—reflected on a year of noticeable movement. We had enjoyed the usual series of come-one-come-all evenings that invite the community to reflect on the ways that diversity enriches our daily experiences. We had introduced race-based affinity groups for parents of students of color and a ‘Witnessing Whiteness’ group for white adults in our community to explore the ways that their race informs their experiences and those of their children, in school and out. The work was meaningful,...read more

As I embarked on the job of head of school at Belmont Day, many other heads at schools around the country offered congratulations and words of wisdom. There were two common themes to those well wishes: 1) You will love this job and 2) Except when it snows. As a New Englander born-and-raised, the snow day has always been a part of my educational reality. As a student, of course, it was a delight—the magic of the snow converted into an extra day of play, friendship, and snow fort construction. Years later, as a teacher, a snow day call was either a welcome opportunity to catch up on grading,...read more