What will sustain us

Dear Gordon Families, Faculty, and Staff,

It is my honor to welcome you to the 2025-2026 school year!

I hope that this letter finds you and your families still relishing the last few weeks of summer but looking ahead with excitement to the start of school. This summer of transition has been a busy one for me, and I did my best to prepare myself for that. But what I wasn’t prepared for was how invigorating it would be. From my walking commute to campus each morning and seeing the Summer at Gordon staff setting up for the day and greeting campers and families (who knew there were so many kinds of inflatable water parks?!), to meeting with faculty and staff and getting to know their Gordon stories, to diving into planning and preparation for the year ahead with my colleagues – Gordon has become my purpose, and it fills me with pure joy.

Since July 1st, I have been meeting with various members of the community, particularly faculty and staff, to begin the important work of relationship-building and gaining a deeper understanding of the school’s culture. As with the stack of wishes and affirmations from the Gordon community that I received when I arrived, several themes have surfaced.

Gordon’s mission is a draw for people from all over the world and the country, and their journeys to Gordon are as beautiful and intentional as the school itself. People have come to Gordon as a result of connection with a family member or friend who either worked at Gordon or went to Gordon (or both!), or being native Rhode Islanders who knew about Gordon’s mission and work, or living in other states or countries and learning about Gordon’s mission and work a long time ago or just recently. There are many paths, all centered on a single mission: it is our beacon, our touchstone, our lighthouse, and it powerfully orients our thinking and behavior.

The people who work at Gordon love this school, this community, its people, and their students. Gordon folks show up authentically and with vulnerability, trusting the community with their lives, their experiences, and their hopes. I have been amazed at how the people in this community take care of each other, show up for each other, roll up their sleeves and pitch in when needed, no matter what. Gordon’s people hear each other, see each other, and hold each other. And they have high expectations that I will jump right in and do the same. Rest assured, I will!

Gordon teachers really love teaching, and they define their success according to the success and happiness of their students. The teachers I have met are thoughtful, smart, and innovative, and they like each other. As one teacher put it for me, “my colleagues are superbly talented.” They are passionate about their work as teachers and as people entrusted with the safety, growth, and development of children. They light up when talking about their craft, a special unit they designed, or something unexpected that they discovered with their students. Gordon teachers love their students and want to be instrumental in helping them to grow into good people.

People have a ton of hope for the journey ahead of us. After a challenging winter and spring, people have used the summer to rest and recharge. They want to remain a part of the Gordon community for the long-term. Their lives are busy and full, and they have lots on their plates beyond Gordon. People have been open and generous, sharing incredible, emotional stories of their lives with me­—and I consider it a privilege to receive them. I am here with open arms, tapping in to bolster the strong foundation we all count on.

I had the opportunity to attend the National Association for Independent Schools’ Institute for New Heads this summer. One of the presenters, in listing all the challenges that public schools are facing as a result of current federal cuts and executive orders, posed the question of what independent schools are doing to contribute to the common good. As the new heads at my table wrestled with that question, I felt a deep pride in the fact that Gordon’s mission answers the question for us: the words “stimulating a drive for positive societal impact” ground our work. My experience at the Institute for New Heads reinforced for me the necessity of Gordon’s mission and purpose, the world’s need for Gordon graduates, and the need for Gordon to be a place of sustenance for its community members.

After my conversations with the community and with the new heads, the word sustenance kept resonating with me. Sustenance is nourishment, it supplies the necessaries of life, it gives support, endurance, or strength. It’s at the heart of sustainability, and when something is sustained, it endures. As I think about these various definitions, I can’t help but see Gordon. Gordon and the education that it provides is sustenance, for us all and for our world.

I want to lift up sustenance as an ideal for our community this year, and I want to help us to live up to it. As such, I make five commitments—five C’s—to you, the members of the Gordon community, as we start this new chapter together: cling to our mission (our purpose), communicate clearly, carry out our intentions, care for the community, and check the pulse with careful listening and open doors.

The members of this community have welcomed me and my family (including the cats!) with open arms, and it’s been incredible to receive invitations to “Come visit!,” “Come play!,” and  “Come dance with us!” Yes, yes, and yes! I will be there. I also will be investing in some waders so that I can get outside with the students in the stream.

Enjoy the last few weeks of the summer, and get ready to rock and roll come September (I grew up in the ‘70s and ‘80’s, and the music is in my DNA).

See you soon!