In this and the next post or so, I will be writing about the Independent School. These schools have played a major role in the education of America, and originally acted as a foil to the public school system, giving families a choice, albeit a paid one, in their academic pursuits.
The independent school has never been a business in the strict capitalistic scheme of things. Its primary function is not to make money. Its most valuable assets cannot be measured in shares, dividends, or earnings. The independent school is a place where experts in kids exhibit and practice a deep understanding and appreciation of how their charges grow, and have the wisdom to guide them appropriately in what can at times be a very painful process.
At its best, the independent school's business is to prepare the next generations of young men and women to take their place in the world. But how to do that? The true mission of the independent school is to create the environment wherein students learn to harness the boundless power of their minds.
Years ago, I went to boarding school. I played ice hockey. One day, Mr. Farr was coaching us because our coach was away. As we were skating in warm ups, he blew the whistle. As we glided around the rink, his voice boomed out.
"I'm not seeing anybody fall to the ice. Do you know what that tells me? You're not pushing yourselves hard enough. When you fall, you show me that you're going beyond your limit. It's the only way you will get to the next level."
An invaluable life lesson on the ice.
Years ago, an old school friend remarked that we as students and graduates of our school could never truly repay what our school has done and will do for us in our lives and the way we lead them.
How right he was.
But that was a time when the experts, when the masters of teaching and learning, when the people who understood the dynamics of the adolescent mind and how it grows, played the most critical role in the independent school.
That was, as I say, then.
And this is now.