August 4, 2010: Collective Nouns

A kaleidoscope of butterflies

And a bike of wild bees

A cluster of spiders

And a cloud of grasshoppers

A bunch of kids

And school begins.

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May 5, 2011: Balboa Announces Its New Location

Long days make for short weeks and even shorter years. Such could not better describe these past weeks here at BA. Since last sitting down to write to you, we successfully completed our accreditation process and our Board of Trustees announced to our school community that our future location has been finalized: Costa Sur. Both of these achievements are BIG for any school, and that they occur simultaneously, it makes it, well, HUGE. I am proud of all of the work that my colleagues have achieved over these past weeks, because not only has each been involved in a systemic review of our effectiveness as well as anticipating news of the next phase of our school, they have continued to maintain their priorities where we all want them to be: as educators for our children. And so, if you might oblige me, I would like to openly and publicly say to our Elementary teachers, support staff, custodians, and office personnel: THANK YOU. As I write this, outside my window our Boys SUB 10 s...

January 2011: Keep Reaching for the Sky

When I returned to work last week and began to go through my email, I had the pleasure of receiving this message from Miriam, my dear friend and a fellow teacher; it was a perfect back-to-work message and Miriam gave me the go-ahead to share it with you: I'm helping a 9 year old girl who has very low muscle tone all along her right side, and it affects her eye-sight as well. She works very slowly but efficiently with this side of her body. We are in art class. They are painting birds on butcher paper, and now the main forms are finished and they are learning how to outline their images with fine paintbrushes. I ask her and her table partner if they have traced the birds or if they drew them free hand. They answer that they painted them free-hand. They are really quite good, and I say, "Wow, that is really impressive. I don't think I could have done so well." The little girl I'm helping looks up at me, and says, "You know, just because you are an adult, do...

Setting Your Intentions

I am an eternal "beginner" yoga student. I accept that I may not ever be able to lower my heels all the way to the ground while doing downward dog. A handstand seems an unlikely possibility. Despite my lack of physical progress in yoga, I have progressed from the mindset that yoga practice helps us to...well, to practice. One of the powerful practices that I have taken away is that of setting intentions. Miraculously, like a handstand, I do find that when I set my intentions, I achieve them. Motivate the mind; the body will follow. Today as I organized my desk, preparing mentally for my 21st academic year and 2nd as Head of School, I thought often of setting my intentions for the new school year and for the day. My desk is loaded with tasks that are important to accomplish, correspondence that requires response, and articles that should be read. Where to begin? How long do I have to get it all done? The work of an effective educational leader is ...

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