Head of School's Letter to the Deerfield Community
Fall 2006

September 20, 2006

Dear Members of the Deerfield Community:

With the exhilarating memory of my induction as the 55th Head of School still fresh in my mind, and after months of meaningful, individual conversations with the different constituencies of the academy, I enthusiastically welcome my first opportunity to address all of you together.

The most compelling impression of my initial interactions with you, as trustees, faculty, staff, students, parents or alumni, has been the emphasis all of you place on community. The importance you attribute to our common purpose -- to transcending individual gain for the common good -- stands out to me as the quintessential Deerfield ethos. Particularly appealing is the fact that this sentiment is not exclusively borne out of a sense of duty, but a sense of joy, of sheer appreciation for the privilege of belonging to a place that cherishes trusting, lasting relationships, and frequently celebrates the bonds that hold us together.

I have witnessed this joy in our day-to-day life at the academy in small, spontaneous outbursts of affection and school spirit -- in the hugs and giddy animation of two classmates reunited after the summer interlude, in the boisterous class cheers at school meetings, the Happy Birthday songs that often conclude our sit-down lunches, or the friendly, spirited competition among dorms in the opening-of-school Door Olympics.

The energy associated with new beginnings is in the air. As I consider the gift and responsibility of leading this extraordinary institution in the years to come, I am inspired by the words of Danish philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard, words that we may all want to ponder as we work to redefine excellence and leadership in the context of the 21st century. More than a century ago, in Either/Or, he wrote, "If I were to wish anything I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of what can be, for the eye, which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible." As we begin a new chapter in the school's history, our collective task is to cultivate this passionate sense of what can be, to define and act upon this world of possibility to which Kierkegaard refers.

What I remember most about the New Heads Institute I attended in Washington, D.C. this summer is how Deerfield is viewed by the independent school world. When I spoke, people really listened. There was a level of deference that, I must confess, I found somewhat unnerving. With our prestige, I was reminded, comes the obligation to model excellence and the courage to address the challenges in our field proactively and creatively. At Deerfield -- and as members of a greater educational community -- we are not striving to go from good to great, as Jim Collins would say, but from great to greater.

After my one-on-one conversations with faculty this summer, I was deeply impressed by the level of commitment they bring to their work, so often described as a vocation rather than a job. Educating young people is not a cold, rational exercise, but one that requires passion, commitment, perseverance, and flexibility.

These are qualities we will need as we face the daunting task of educating leaders, and especially as we begin to engage in a long-range planning process to more precisely define what we call the "Deerfield experience." As I listen to members of the faculty speak about this community, I know that the most important ingredients for success -- analysis, introspection, and deep care for the work -- are readily available. Furthermore, I am confident that our internal conversation will be dramatically enriched by the perspectives of our extended family, of our trustees, parents and alumni.

One of my primary objectives this year is to develop a faculty meeting curriculum, with recommended readings on a series of topics that can operate as a framework for discussions that will take place in the Curriculum Committee, department meetings, the Committee on Professional Life, and Student Council. The planning process will ultimately ask every constituency -- trustees, faculty, staff, students, parents, and alumni -- to consider Deerfield's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

With input from our Dean of Faculty and Academic Dean, a list of twelve potential discussion topics has been drafted and submitted to the faculty for consideration and revision. Three top choices will soon be selected with the goal of launching the series by mid-term. While the topics listed below do not necessarily reflect the final choices, they should give you an idea of the type of issues we deem pertinent at this juncture:

• The value added factor. How do we determine the impact of a Deerfield education on each of our students? Where are they, in a series of areas -- writing, public speaking, quantitative skills, information literacy, problem solving skills, and so on -- when they arrive and where are they when they leave? What metrics do we utilize to monitor progress? How do inputs relate to outputs?
• How do we assess the value of a residential school and justify the expense of a boarding school experience? What are the unique opportunities and challenges of educating students in a residential setting? What specific aspects of a residential program will ensure that we fulfill the ethical dimensions of our mission, that we meet our character development goals?
• The achievement gap. As we embrace diversity, are we ready to systematically address the wide range of preparation levels we will encounter in our students from different educational backgrounds? Is it enough to bring diversity to Deerfield or do we have specific responsibilities to those students who diversify our community?
• The role of athletics, arts, community service, and international experiences in a Deerfield education. What should be determined by choice and what should be required of every graduate?

Our major challenge as we consider the best educational program for our students will be the integration of compartmentalized knowledge and the development of a common pedagogical vocabulary among our distinct disciplines. Since the 1960's, academic institutions have done a far better job of identifying the value of each separate discipline than in creating a shared curricular platform. How can we address the pull between the "I" and the "we?" In my recent remarks to the faculty, I acknowledged that as a community, we do a tremendous job of fostering strong personal relationships amongst ourselves and with our students, and I urged them to build on that ability to establish closer intellectual and programmatic connections, to ensure a coherent experience for our students.

I am energized by the prospect of working closely with the faculty in this regard, and spending as much time as possible with students throughout the year. I will be shadowing four students, one from each class, including a day student -- two boys and two girls. This will give me the opportunity to see a large number of classes in a short period of time and to experience the school from the students' perspective. I will also bring a "feed" to every dorm between now and January, on Sunday night after study hours. And, of course, I am eager to attend games, community service activities and all kinds of performances! As I told the community last fall, I will be in listening and observation mode.

Let me conclude by underscoring that progressing from a great school to a greater school will hinge on Deerfield's ability to see itself as a piece of a larger puzzle, and our eagerness to build strong collaborative networks with other secondary and post-secondary institutions, both public and private, domestic and international. We will need to keep an eye on that fine balance between the internal affairs and demands of our own institution-the need to remain true to ourselves -- and the imperative to seek solutions to broader, common educational challenges. Only if we are willing to establish points of contact and cooperation with those who share our values will we harness the kind of energy and resources it will take to have a measurable impact on the educational landscape of our country and beyond.

With sincere gratitude for your vote of confidence, and for the multiple messages of encouragement and support you have extended to Manning and me as we settle into this beautiful valley, I invite you to stay in touch and to enrich us with your perspectives. Over the year, I look forward to meeting many more of you.

Sincerely,