From April 10 through April 12, Choate hosted the annual Eight Schools Association Conference, during which the heads of school of the Eight Schools Association convened to discuss various issues related to the schools and their relations. Choate’s Head of School Dr. Alex Curtis welcomed school leaders from Deerfield, Hotchkiss, Lawrenceville, Northfield Mount Hermon, Andover, Exeter, and St. Paul’s.
The keynote speaker this year, Dr. Michael Lamb, presented a character education program that addressed ethics and moral reasoning. Prior to the event, Dr. Curtis said, “We look for a topic that is of interest to all of us and that we’re all wrestling with as opposed to something that’s more school-specific.”
The Eight Schools Conference is one of two annual Eight Schools Association heads of school meetings. The first meeting happened in December, when the eight heads of school met in New York for roughly two days of meetings. The second conference, held in April, is hosted by a different school each year, rotating through the campuses alphabetically.
Dr. Curtis said, “I find it a very valuable and interesting meeting, and I’m pleased that we’re finally at Choate.” Dr. Curtis’s predecessor, Mr. Edward Shanahan, hosted the Eight Schools Conference at Choate during his last year as head of school, so Dr. Curtis has already experienced the full cycle and visited each of the other seven campuses.
In preparation for this conference, Dr. Curtis worked with the current president of the Eight Schools Association and Head of School at Phillips Academy, Mr. John Palfrey, to work out the logistics of the meeting, which included selecting the speaker. The presidency is a three-year rotation, with the position going to the most senior head of school who has not yet held it. Dr. Curtis completed his term last year after three conferences at St. Paul’s, Andover, and Exeter.
Since the conference was held at Choate this year, the other seven heads of school were able to tour and experience the Choate campus through a Gold Key tour. “It’s sort of being in the atmosphere and kind of getting a sense of the character of the School and how everyone’s interacting. That’s a big part of what you get by being host school,” Dr. Curtis continued.
In addition, on Friday, the heads of school were invited up to the KEC for an hour to tour and learn about the building. This part of the conference was unique to Choate, as each host school typically presents an initiative it has been working on.
For the most part, though, the Eight Schools Conference was centered around discussions regarding how to better each of the schools and their interactions with one other in order to enhance the quality of life on campus for students and faculty. Dr. Curtis said, “There’s a small element that’s visiting and getting to know the host school; the majority of it is really discussing as a group common issues that we face or ways we can collaborate together or opportunities or concerns that we have going forward. So, most of the conversation isn’t Choate-related but Eight-Schools-related.”
Overall, the conference was very rewarding for all schools involved. Dr. Curtis said, “It’s always interesting at these meetings to see where we do differentiate and where we are slightly different in what we think is more important or what we choose to put our resources towards. And whether that’s the history of the schools, the culture, what’s interesting to the faculty and student body at their school, or the leadership or whatever it may be, there’s great insight to see those things. It causes each of us, I think, to look at our schools with slightly different eyes.”
