News

Yesterday afternoon, just before playing their first competitive match of the season, our Falcons were treated to a powerful pre-game pep talk from Coach Soden. He spoke to them about grit, one of his five pillars of character. Grit has been a trending term in education since Angela Duckworth shared her protean definition of the term during a much-lauded Ted Talk. For Duckworth, grit is about passion and perseverance in pursuing long-term goals. It involves setting a goal and striving to reach it no matter how much energy is required and no matter how many obstacles are encountered along the way. It’s an excellent lesson for our students (and for me too!)

I started writing to my school community on a weekly basis when I was head of school in Taipei because I was convinced—and still am—that it is crucial for every school to tell its story.  I enjoy writing, so the story of The École—our story—sometimes takes personal detours and diverse paths that may surprise and, I hope, give pause for thought. I also tell our story to parents who visit the school and are considering putting their children in our care.

I learn something new every day—from colleagues, from students, and from families. It’s something that makes me happy and makes my job a fascinating one. I feel incredibly lucky. Sometimes, I learn about something I had no idea existed, often I learn things I should probably have known, other times I “learn” something I used to know and had forgotten. For instance, seeing as it’s my tenth time planning a new school year, you might think that I could do it in my sleep—after all, isn’t it just the same process year in and year out?

We build bridges in France. And I’m not talking about the structures that allow us to cross from one side of a river to another—although we do of course have plenty of those, some of which are pretty famous, like the one in Avignon where we dance in circles (and cannot actually cross!). The bridges I’m talking about are symbolic ones that allow us to connect a public holiday to a weekend. If, for instance, the holiday falls on a Thursday, we build a bridge by taking the Friday off work.

This week was chockfull of meetings and I would like to thank you all, on behalf of The École team, for taking the time to attend. It’s the first time since I arrived in New York that we’ve been able to hold these meetings in person and the teachers were very enthusiastic about sharing their approaches and methods of work with the class parents. Since the start of the year, we’ve been surrounded by children who apply themselves to their learning, are serious and engaged in class conversations, and are happy to be in class with their friends. I was excited for the parents to meet the teachers, particularly the new ones, so you could see who is behind it all.