Head's Blog

What an incredible year for us! And what a crescendo it has been leading up to these closing two weeks. They have left some of us breathless. They have left many of us at a loss for words.

Can you feel it? It's the end of the year, and it is coming fast! Every year, May moves quickly. Culminating concerts, class socials, personal projects, and grade level trips bring excitement, and a little bit of stress too. But we are risk takers here. We embrace the challenges and opportunities. Months such as May galvanize the reasons we spend time teaching students about advocacy, communication, and follow through.

Many of you, like me, spent part of the weekend thinking about our Interactive Lab. I even saw a few staff come back to school to look over the student exhibits, reflect on Dolores Huerta, and do another building walk through. 

In my 20+ years in independent school education, I have been lucky enough to teach, coach and lead in some wonderful communities. Each school was different in design and purpose; a 7-12 boarding school for dyslexic students, an urban IB school, a former 6-12 girls school turned co-ed, and a 150-year-old former military school that is now a co-ed PK-12. These schools all shared common elements: a clear mission, dedicated teachers, outstanding students, and committed families. But when it came to innovation, not all of them were hitting the high note. I have a theory why.

For Synapse, 2017 was a year filled with amazing growth and accomplishment. As a young school, we continue to build, grow and inspire. We opened new buildings, expanded new programs, welcomed new people, celebrated a new change maker and embraced a new theme. Who knew there was so much new!