Immersion Trips: Why?

This afternoon, the ninth graders, just days removed from their Dragon Run/Tidewater, Virginia/Big River Immersion Trip, gathered to view the photographs and video from their trip and then sit together on Headmaster’s Hill to reflect on the experience.

The slide show was full of “oohs and ahhhs,” laughter, and ultimately, rapt attention as the Class of 2018 realized what they had done together.

International Student Mentoring: Our Story

Lexi and I have no children of our own, but we had a parenting experience that we enthusiastically recommend to others. We hosted an international student during her Christchurch years.

On Becoming a Seahorse, Part II

I can still clearly remember my first weeks as a new teacher at Christchurch School, just twenty-five years ago.

On Becoming a Seahorse

We start the new school year with about eighty new students and five new members of the faculty and staff. Welcome to one and all!

What follows is advice for new students, and it comes from recent graduates, who have been advising us on their CCS experience and also sharing their wisdom about adjusting to college.

Advice for the Class of 2014

Wisdom of the Seahorse

Dear Class of 2014,

Preseason is about to begin at CCS, and that means it’s time for you to pack up for the long awaited, much anticipated, hard-earned adventure-of-a-lifetime-

Julie

Our advocate, champion, friend and Board Member Julie Marston died this week.

I cannot tell you what she might have said on the occasion of losing a great friend, but it would have been insightful, poetic and original.

The seven years I knew Julie, I never heard a platitude. She was a teacher. She measured every word with wisdom. She constructed every sentence with care. She shaped her thoughts with love, always.

Bed Head

Some people think of boarding schools as stodgy, buttoned up places. I beg to differ.

In the dining hall this morning, we had an unusual Tuesday brunch.  Unusual because it’s a snow day at boarding school—

February

The journalist Charles McDowell wrote a column every year about the trials and tribulations of the month of February.

Memory, Tradition and Transition

I recently heard the president of Elon University speak to an audience of alumni of various eras, as well as parents of current students. He began his talk with the idea that each one of us has experienced our school in our way and our own time, all slightly differently.

Advent: Parenting Our Students Through the Holiday Season

Right now, many families are figuring out the next move for the Elf on the Shelf and other very charming Christmas traditions. Right now, many boarding school dormitory parents are figuring out how to blend preparation for exams with holiday celebrations.