List of 5 news stories.

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  Recognizing and Honoring the Experiences That Make Us Human

  9/4/2025
  Kim Ridley, Head of School
  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.
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  Preparing for a Year of Compassion, Capacity, and Curiosity

  8/28/2025
  Kim Ridley, Head of School
  Dear Fayerweather Families,
  
  

  Another school year is upon us, and as always, summer seems to pass far too quickly. I hope you found moments to rest, recharge, and enjoy time with family and friends. For me, this season has been a time to step back, reflect, and return with renewed gratitude and energy for the year ahead.
  
  

  The 2025–2026 school year will look different in many ways. Schools across the country are facing shifting enrollment and broader political, economic, environmental, and cultural changes that bring new challenges and opportunities. At Fayerweather, we are leaning into these realities with creativity and care, confident that our mission will continue to guide us.
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  Until We Meet Again, Take Care!

  6/5/2025
  Kim Ridley, Head of School
  Dear Fayerweather Families,
  
  

  As we wrap up another school year, I want to pause and reflect on all that we’ve experienced and accomplished together.
  
  

  What an incredible year of learning, creativity, and community engagement! Our 3rd–6th grade students impressed us with their award-winning performance of The Lion King, while our Unit students earned recognition from the Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild’s Middle School Festival for their original production of The Con. Across the school year, students explored science, social studies, math, music, art, engineering, and design thinking, gaining a deeper understanding of how these disciplines connect and influence the world around them.
  
  

  Our students sang, danced, played instruments, and presented on the culmination of powerful projects. They raised funds for environmental causes, volunteered at food banks, sorted clothes for the unhoused, visited nursing homes, local libraries, museums, and important historical places.  We had our first school dance since COVID, which was led by our student council.
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  Our Mission, Our Values, and Our Students

  4/3/2025
  Kim Ridley, Head of School
  Welcome to April!
  
  With the return of sunlight and longer days, we are invited into a quiet renewal—a moment to notice that even the subtlest seasonal shifts can carry powerful reminders: growth, clarity, and transformation are always within reach, even in uncertain times.
  
  

  We are living in a moment of dizzying change. Across our country—and around the globe—communities are being reshaped at a pace that feels disorienting. Here in the U.S., political shifts and presidential executive orders are altering public life in ways that are unfamiliar, unsettling, and, in many cases, deeply concerning. While these policies may not directly impact Fayerweather operationally, they most certainly affect us as a community. Many of our families are impacted—through employment, livelihood, or a broader sense of emotional and psychological safety.
  
  

  Much like the early days of the pandemic, we are once again charting unfamiliar terrain. There is no script, no clear roadmap. And with that, a familiar wave of emotion can rise—anxiety, fear, the pressure to have all the answers. I know I feel it. And yet, I also know this: we are the antidote.
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  Beyond Knowledge: Cultivating Independent Thinkers in an Ever-Changing World

  3/6/2025
  Kim Ridley, Head of School
  Dear Fayerweather Community,
  
  

  On Sunday morning, I felt the first twinge of a sore throat—a telltale sign of the wave of illness moving through our community. As so many of you have likely experienced, the flu has been making its rounds. I see it in teacher and student absences and in the familiar sight of Bran standing outside my door, delivering the latest update: “Another one has gone home—cough, flu, strep, you name it.” This week, the flu got to me, too. But in the forced stillness of recovery, I found something valuable: time. Time to read, time to reflect, and time to revisit a question that has been lingering in my mind since the AISNE Head of School retreat:
  
  

  How do we teach students independent or critical thinking skills?
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