KEITH FROME President Dear Members of the Park Community, The President and Head of School leadership structure that Park adopted in 2021 was considered unusual for an independent school, especially since both positions report directly to the Board of Trustees. It may have been unusual, (some would say innovative), but it has been effective as it has given time for one person to focus on strategy and institutional advancement and the other to build curriculum, community, and culture. Working hand in hand, the twin leadership structure has measurably strengthened the school as Lisa Conrad has so clearly explained in her Pioneer letter. I agree with her. This is a particularly exciting time in Park’s history and we can look forward to an era of growth and achievement in the coming years. A strategy without a purpose is merely a list of tactics that don’t add up to anything. So with all of this talk of strategic accomplishments, I want to revisit Park’s “why”. My mission as Park’s first President is to continue to ensure that the conditions for deep and comprehensive learning are systematically and sustainably in place. Though steeped in financial and strategic work, I am sustained by a core educational vision. I believe that young people, even our youngest, perhaps especially our youngest, are deeply intellectual. I don’t mean that they wear berets and sit around in cafes and discuss obscure books (though some do). I do mean that they are intensely curious and experimental and strive, with a natural, undeniable urge, to know why things are the way things are and why things do the things things do. The latest advances in neuroscience demonstrate that our brain, even the infant brain, is constructed to make hypotheses about the world, test them, and adjust accordingly. The sequence of theorizing, experimenting, observing, and adjusting is how brains grow and how children learn. Great schools create safe and inspiring conditions and opportunities for this striving and yearning to intensely and continually occur. This propulsive sequence needs to occur across six domains for children and adolescents to grow up equipped to lead thriving lives: 1. Academic skills 2. Cognitive capacities such as self-control 3. Social-emotional readiness such as grit and empathy 4. Physical fitness and health 5. Mental wellness 6. Purpose and identity This is known in the field as comprehensive student development or “whole child” education. I’ve observed two kinds of schools that attempt to practice whole child education. I call the first the “checklist” school – where they offer classes or programs that specifically but separately address each domain but don’t integrate them or combine them so that each mutually nourishes and reinforces the other. You can tell these kinds of schools because their educators use the verb “cover” a lot – as in we “cover” healthy eating in health class or we “cover” William the Conqueror in 9th grade. The problem is when you cover something you don’t see it or use it. The other type of school I call the “blender” school because the teachers are constantly seeking ways to integrate the domains even when they are focusing on strengthening one of them. These kinds of schools do this by creating a culture of constant stretching and support. Blender schools seek to address the whole child, instead of the segmented child. Educators in blender schools tend to use the verb “build” a lot. Since its founding, Park has always been a prime example of such a blender school. Blender schools are rare and they need to be preserved not just for our students and families but as an exemplar – a city on a hill, as it were – for the field. Rigor and rigidity are two sides of a coin as are joy and indulgence. Park has always sought to construct a culture of joyous rigor and preserving and growing this culture has motivated my work as Park’s president. We have come a long way these past three years and we have an extensive and exciting path in front of us. This edition of The Pioneer includes an update on the school’s strategic plan. Every action item of the plan is intended to provide the conditions for Park’s approach to deep learning and comprehensive student development. The wonderful and almost mystical reality is that blending of the six domains is baked into the bones of Park. I have full confidence in the operations of the school under the direction of Mrs. Conrad and Park’s division heads and I look forward to helping them strengthen the existing platforms that support deep learning and establish new and innovative ones in the future. Sincerely, Keith W. Frome President 4
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