Head of School

The Wizard of Oz is about people on a journey - of discovery, friendship, adventure, adversity, deceit, and hope. Like all great fairytales, it is a story about life, at all ages.

I saw Barbie. I’m guessing many of you have too because Barbie has been the cultural phenomenon of the summer.

From my memory, I have written schoolwide messages in the aftermath of shootings in Paris, Orlando, Las Vegas, and Parkland. It is a grisly roll call. The truth is, I may have written more.

At the beginning of the school year, I asked Mr. Gabe and Student Senate to discuss and develop new programming around two specific holidays. I asked that they focus both on community building within Assets and our responsibility to our greater community.  The first result was the fabulous Thanksgiving celebration and food drive that students planned. The other was Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I am so proud that the Senate students decided the best way to move forward this year was to march in the annual parade from Magic Island to Kapiolani Park.

The time period is set to the turn of the 20th century and each student is assigned an immigrant character.  Dressed in character as Western, Eastern, Southern European and occasional Asian immigrants, students stand in line to enter the Ellis Island processing station. It is hot, the line moves slowly and students get uncomfortable. Once in the processing center, students rotate through various stations, where faculty and parents play clearance officials and doctors, quizzing students on their names, marital status, education level, vocation, country of origin, and intent in America.

Edith Wharton wrote, “There are two ways of spreading light: to be The candle or the mirror that reflects it.” I’ve been thinking about these words a lot lately as we open the K-4 Village and a new school year. Light can brighten, warm, energize, ignite, and guide. I like to think that light is the gift that we give to each other at Assets. Teachers, students and parents alike.

Working with blocks is so important to child development and learning. One of my favorite aspects of blocks is that they are largely blank canvases. They don’t have artificial color. Your imagination has to decide if your castle is blue or grey or if your bridge is wooden or stone, covered in yellow polka dots. Blocks don’t lock-in like Legos do. Working with blocks involves your muscles and senses in a unique way. You have to provide your building materials with the balance and stability they need to function.

We had a ribbon cutting ceremony last week. No, it wasn’t with donors and stakeholders involved with our new K-4 Village construction project. Rather, it was with middle school students who had completed their work with Ms. Fox over two enrichment cycles to redesign our Block Room! After a temporary closure for this work, our Block Room is officially reopened for learning!

I think the Death Valley story is one of hope. It’s also about truth.  It provides us indisputable evidence from the natural sciences that environmental conditions decide how well and if organisms grow or not.  In one interview, a long-time park ranger reflected on what he’s learned from this Death Valley phenomena.  He said, “There are so many seeds out there just waiting to sprout. Just waiting to grow.”  The same applies to our students. When a student is struggling, society too often looks first for what’s deficient in the child.  This is like blaming the wildflowers for not growing!  That’s easy to do if you just ignore the fact that it’s 120°F outside with no rain.  Obviously it isn’t the flowers’ fault. Their seeds are magnificent and ready. Instead, we should look to the environment.