Friends School Heads Gathering

What an amazing event when roughly 50 heads of Friends Schools from all across the country get together! There are new Friends Schools and ones over 300 years old. There are nursery schools only, schools that go through 6th or 8th, and schools that go through 12th grade. And once a year the heads get together. Never, outside of the NGFS community, am I more surrounded by professionals more committed to there work than at this event. This year's event was co-hosted by Newtown Friends School and George School in Newtown, PA.

What do we spend our time on at such a conference, well the themes will probably sound familiar. We discuss the the idea that Friends Schools are well positioned for the 21st century because friends have always moved away from fear and toward opportunity. We talked about collaborative inquiry leading to innovation. We talked about our commitment to have each individual student in all our schools have the chance to learn who he/she is as an individual and to respect and learn about their peers. And we talked about the importance of hope and that Friends Schools teach hope.

Of course this year most of us have had economic and enrollment concerns, however it seems most of us are doing very well with enrollment and we have been creative with budgets to make the most out of an economy where people have less. One particular area of goodness, is that we all feel that there is an abundance of creativity, wisdom and optimism in our communities that will help us through the current times and better prepare us for hopefully better economic times ahead.

I am always filled with a sense of joy to be with these colleagues, who are more freinds than friendly acquaintences. I look forward to this gathering and always come back with ideas and energy that hopefully helps the NGFS community. I hope that I am able to share ideas and energy that others can take back to their communities.

I look forward to being back in NC tomorrow and greatly looking forward to the Fall Unity Festival next Friday. Hope to see you there.