Head of School's Blog
Recognizing and Honoring the Experiences That Make Us Human
Dear Fayerweather Families,
Over the summer, I read Pachinko, by Min Jin Lee. The book lays out a sweeping, multigenerational story about a Korean family living in Osaka, Japan, during Japan’s occupation of Korea. Without giving away details, the novel traces how culture, power, family, and connection shaped ordinary lives. This story prompted some deep reflection about my family's unwilling journey to the United States, and I often have the feeling of, “How did I get here?” especially in light of what my ancestors suffered and endured. This reflection led to a conversation with Charlie, as over the summer, he read his family’s ancestral story written by his mother, which highlighted his family's migration from Ireland to the United States. He, too, tearfully shared his awe of how he got here, given all of the horribleness that ensued, which led his family to leave Ireland to seek a better life in the United States. I find myself weaving together the threads of irony of his family seeking a better life here, my family being forced to come here to provide free labor, and Min Jin Lee’s characters as they land us in Charlie’s office having this conversation. This reminds me that every person in our community carries a story shaped by place, privilege, power, oppression, and possibility.
Over the summer, I read Pachinko, by Min Jin Lee. The book lays out a sweeping, multigenerational story about a Korean family living in Osaka, Japan, during Japan’s occupation of Korea. Without giving away details, the novel traces how culture, power, family, and connection shaped ordinary lives. This story prompted some deep reflection about my family's unwilling journey to the United States, and I often have the feeling of, “How did I get here?” especially in light of what my ancestors suffered and endured. This reflection led to a conversation with Charlie, as over the summer, he read his family’s ancestral story written by his mother, which highlighted his family's migration from Ireland to the United States. He, too, tearfully shared his awe of how he got here, given all of the horribleness that ensued, which led his family to leave Ireland to seek a better life in the United States. I find myself weaving together the threads of irony of his family seeking a better life here, my family being forced to come here to provide free labor, and Min Jin Lee’s characters as they land us in Charlie’s office having this conversation. This reminds me that every person in our community carries a story shaped by place, privilege, power, oppression, and possibility.
Fayerweather’s mission serves as a guide to our teachers and community to provide students with the information and experiences that help them recognize and honor the experiences that make us human. This is why we center belonging, lift up each student’s strengths, and ground learning in the places we live and experience so history isn’t abstract and community isn’t accidental. This year, as we deepen our place-based work and continue to align our teaching and support systems, we do so with a shared commitment to honor the journeys that brought us here and to build a school where every child’s story has room to grow and evolve.
We are working to build this strong foundation in our PreK to Eighth-grade program. To that end, our focus this school year will be the following:
- Place-Based Learning. We are clarifying our definition of place-based education, and what this means for our school, which includes what we already do well, and what we want to elevate, so students learn within our local and global community, history, and natural spaces.
- Teaching & Learning Priorities. We’re staying attentive to educational trends and to students’ academic and social-emotional needs. This includes clarifying our science and writing scope and sequence across grades, and continuing to strengthen our practices of meeting a wide range of learning profiles. We are considering the impact of our new 6-day schedule and the experience of time-space, and the impact on learning.
- Professional Learning. Our teachers engaged in excellent PD in math, science, and literacy this summer; you’ll see that learning show up in joyful, vigorous, and robust classrooms and learning opportunities.
- Equity, Identity & Belonging. Collectively and individually, we’ll continue reflecting on how our identities are positioned and how that impacts students’ and colleagues’ experiences, so belonging is something we actively build and practice, and not just something we hope for.
- Safety & Preparedness. We’re reconvening our Security Advisory Team to run scenario planning and practice safety routines. Thank you for partnering with us as we balance warmth and welcome with prudent safety. To support student safety and stability, Fayerweather also uses guidance from DESE in a scenario in which ICE asks to come into our school or asks for information. As a part of our team, we also have access to a school lawyer, with whom we regularly consult regarding the legal rights of students, staff, or parents as it relates to our work in school.
Leading a school and educating students in 2025 is a different landscape. It asks all of us, students, families, and educators, to adapt, to learn, and to engage with kindness, curiosity, compassion, and resiliency. As I shared in my last letter, the backbone of Fayerweather is strong. Think about what was happening in our culture in 1967 when Fayerweather began its journey. The school was founded with the conviction that we could make the world a better place. Fayerweather’s education has sought and continues to seek to be the antidote to the confusion of a broader culture struggling to figure out its values. Here, we choose to imagine and practice living in a community that is purposefully diverse, deeply committed to equity and fairness, and grounded in connection and belonging. That is how our children will flourish, and it is how we’ll flourish together. I look forward to how this year will unfold and all that we will learn together.
With gratitude,
Kim
Fayerweather Street School | 765 Concord Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138 | 617-876-4746
Fayerweather is a private PreK, kindergarten, elementary and middle school. We engage each child’s intellect.