News & Weekly Letters

After exploring two broad topics—PISA and AI—over the past couple of weeks, it’s time to bring things back to what has been happening at The École. For many of our Elementary and Middle School students, that has meant quite a few assessments—in both French and English. I know these aren’t exactly the highlight of the children’s week—and they’re not exactly the teachers’ favorite either (a special shout-out to our STRIVE teachers, who dedicated a considerable amount of their time to ensuring the process ran smoothly!) Fortunately, parents came to the rescue on Wednesday with treats from 80 countries, lifting all our spirits.

I could write much more about PISA—and probably will in the weeks ahead—because the subject is so vast and there are plenty of avenues to explore. I’ve also received some fascinating feedback about last week’s letter, so I’ll definitely return to the subject. But in my back-to-school letter, I mentioned another hugely important topic—one that many of you have been asking about: the role of artificial intelligence in education. It’s almost an existential question at this point—one that is increasingly tricky to grasp because the speed at which the technology is evolving expands the realm of possibility daily. It’s a little like changing the rules of a game while you’re in the middle of playing it: what was banned before suddenly isn’t, and there’s no longer any rhyme or reason to what you are doing.

Just when I thought I had prepared for every eventuality and had an answer to everything this back-to-school season, two things happened back-to-back: New York City’s mayor announced a ban on AI in the city’s elementary and middle schools, and the latest, rather dismal, PISA results were released. Naturally, both are talking points within our community—I’ve been asked about them every day at the door (and at the picnic, which was once again a great success!). So I thought I would use the weekly letter format to explore both subjects with you, starting this week with the PISA tests and some initial conclusions we might draw for The École.

This summer, I rewatched The Seven Year Itch—during one of my long Greek afternoons—Billy Wilder’s film starring Marilyn Monroe, which, I had forgotten, features the iconic dress / subway grate scene. I chose to watch it because the title made me smile: I am, after all, beginning my seventh year at The École. Am I, too, about to get restless and find myself tempted by the promise of something new?

What a pleasure it was to see so many of you at school today after such a long summer!

Compared with last year, when we were discovering our new building, this start to the school year feels a little more familiar. That certainly doesn’t mean that nothing has changed over the summer—quite the opposite! This year, our attention naturally turned to the Maternelle Building, where families will discover newly refinished floors, a new library space, a renovated rooftop playground and, above all, new classroom furniture—the result of a year-long reflection on our teaching practices led by Ben and Sophie. A huge thank you to all the teams, with Ben and Jan leading the charge, who made sure everything would be ready to welcome the children on Tuesday.