Middle School Philosophy

According to Maori tradition, two rivers run through each child: the knowing and the not-yet knowing; and, it is the child’s job to reconcile these two contrasting, yet convergent realities. In no other division is the humor, confusion, enthusiasm, and frustration of this process more prominently on display than in the Middle School. 

I believe that this process -- of bridging the knowing and not-yet knowing -- is not an experience to be merely endured, but an experience to be celebrated. The process can be messy, but wrapped up in that messiness is the burgeoning curiosity, imagination, and skepticism of independent thinkers -- thinkers who might not yet know the answer to every question, but know that every answer is worth questioning. 

Middle schoolers possess the shape of knowledge and over time they begin to fill in the specifics. This learning journey can be characterized by its often imperfect, circuitous nature, but it is the very vicissitudes of this journey that capture the essence of what it is to be a middle schooler. Thus, I believe in making the most of what is natural and unavoidable to the learning process – the process itself. To support this process, I seek to cultivate an individualized learning environment that is grounded in a rich, rigorous academic program structured around the development of critical skills. The Middle School experience is winding at times, but it is also what lays the foundation for students to emerge from the 8th grade as joyful, compassionate, and intellectual members of our community. 

Middle School is a wondrous time of boundless opportunity, and I am fortunate to be a part of this extraordinary stage of fascination, inquiry, and growth. There is no division like it, and no division I’d rather work in.