By: Dr. Timothy Quinn

Chief Academic Officer and Dean of Faculty

Educators are constantly talking and thinking about school change. We sit around and brainstorm, we write essays, we give speeches, we talk on panels and we launch individual initiatives. Yet, the core structure of school – its schedule, its curriculum, and its system of feedback and assessment – remains largely the same and is based on a model designed in and for a different century. 

Today, however, the urgency to do more than talk has reached an apex. We are living through a moment defined by rapid technological acceleration and with the advancement of AI, stand on the precipice of change beyond what most can imagine. We are also dealing with the distortion and fragmentation of reality through social media, which is deepening political polarization and giving rise to anti-democratic forces. At the same time, and partially as a result of the former, mental health challenges among teens are endemic in communities across the world. And what’s more, the challenges we face as a species are not just new, they are existential. 

Thus, the imperative for bold, structural change in education is no longer simply aspirational; it has become essential.

We can’t just keep making small tweaks or retrofitting old systems with new language. It is time to redesign school itself. This means reimagining how we use time by building schedules that prioritize deep learning and sustained engagement while also supporting health and wellness. It also means reshaping the curriculum to explicitly and deliberately prepare students to solve the pressing problems we are facing. 

This curriculum will be project-based, it will be interdisciplinary, and perhaps most importantly, it will be authentic and meaningful to the students. Redesigning how we do school also means rethinking feedback and assessment so that students are focused on growth, not grades, so that they learn to use feedback, and ultimately develop the motivation to become life-long-learners. What’s more, these cannot be separate initiatives pursued in isolation. They must be pursued simultaneously, woven together into a coherent model of schooling that aligns with both the world we live in and the world we hope our students will create.

This call for change is especially true for independent schools, which are uniquely positioned to lead the charge. Without the governmental and bureaucratic constraints of public institutions, independent schools have the flexibility, resources, and moral responsibility to be laboratories for educational reinvention. In a landscape where families are looking for something different, schools must demonstrate the courage not just to say they’re different, but to be different. That means moving beyond the superficial signals of innovation – buzzwords, electives, and window dressing – and toward the hard, deep work of structural, substantive, and truly meaningful change. 

Independent schools cannot rest on their laurels, and certainly cannot call out privilege unless they are willing to use theirs for good. If we do not model what’s possible, who will?

The time for incrementalism is over. We are past the point of polishing the edges of an outdated system and calling it progress. The existential questions facing our students demand a new model of school that is responsive to the changing reality of today and aimed at shaping the future. It will require discomfort. It will require letting go of some cherished traditions. But most of all, it will require courage. We must move from conversation to commitment, from ideas to action, from vision to reality. 

Ready to move your school boldly forward? 

Join us this summer for the four-day, two-session professional development workshop “From Vision to Reality” to lead your school to the future.