Two years ago, I wrote a page that received great emotional response. I post it again now, and hope that you enjoy it. Some numbers and details have been updated for accuracy.  Oh: the kids who are pictured have grown tremendously.....

In just a matter of days, a miraculous rite of passage will occur, as 128 teenagers are dropped off for a new start at a new school. Most of them are fourteen or fifteen years old. Over the course of the year, adults will refer to them (and 234 returnees) as "students," "kids," and by first names. Each boy or girl, however, has been entrusted to us by a family or guardians who want the best environment for a truly precious child, a child with a personal history of extraordinary transition.

Just recently, each one was a baby...then a toddler...completely absorbed by wonder, and discovery.

At Proctor, they enter a community carefully crafted specifically for adolescents, and their optimal development. Each individual's personal transition will continue at stunning speed.

As adults, our awesome responsibility includes cultivating relationships through which the very best is attainable, protecting--for as long as possible--that openness to the unexpected, the wonder, of youth. Some learning will come from hard work. Some, however, must be playful.

Thus defined, education means appreciating all that is NOT known. As we grow and age, we become increasingly set in our ways and perspectives. For a few years, however, we will try to protect a time of safe risk-taking and discovery, a process that began--for each student--only thirteen or fourteen years ago.

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