Head of School Blog

Unintended Consequences

April 7, 2024

Head of School Sarah Pelmas At my dinner table the other night, we were talking about ecological unintended consequences, and in particular about tropical coral reefs. Scientists have observed that tropical coral reefs near islands with sea birds living on them grow more rapidly and recover more quickly from bleaching events than coral reefs near…

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Spotlighting Transformation

March 4, 2024

Head of School Sarah Pelmas I have never been much of an actor. When I was in high school, the one play in which I was cast had me as part of the Greek chorus, wearing a toga and exclaiming tragically from atop a box painted black, while the lead actors battled fate. Ultimately, several…

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Always Trying

February 5, 2024

Head of School Sarah Pelmas I am thoughtful about what I keep near me when I work. I do not have a bulletin board near my desk, so there is little space for pictures or quotations. I try to keep delightful objects in meaningful rotation, and the poem currently in view is “Warbler,” by the…

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The Importance of Being Present

January 7, 2024

Head of School Sarah Pelmas On December 20, the New York Times printed an interview with cellist (and Winsor past parent) Yo-Yo Ma, which ends with this comment:  “For me as a musician, I try to be aware of where I am. As a performer, my job is to make the listener the most important person in the…

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