Bagels and Insight.

This morning, for more than three hours, our Head of School and I met with about 40 parents to discuss recent school events.

It was a very healthy and important meeting. A variety of parents spoke about rumors (no matter how much we seek to provide information, there always will be rumors) and other concerns, and Bill addressed them. Others spoke generally about their commitment to Kadima and their love for the institution. Some spoke about cultural differences between members of the community, and how we need to work together to overcome those challenges.

From a Board perspective, and certainly from my vantage point as President, I learned several things.

First, no matter how much we try to contact people by email or other forms of communication (including this blog), we are never able to reach everyone. We will keep trying, and certainly, if you are reading this email, you are probably better informed than most. However, this being 2010, email is going to remain our primary form of mass communication with our community.

Second, many do not have a good understanding of the function of a Board of Trustees of an independent school. Our Board--as a Board--probably needs to have a higher profile; however, it is the Head of School who runs the school, and we don't want the perception to be anything else. What the Board does not do, and this is probably the biggest surprise to new Board members, is micromanage the school. As a result, Trustees do not "know" everything that goes on at the school, and what we do "know" generally involves thinking about things such as vision and where we want the school to go, and how we can pay for it. We don't get involved in staffing decisions and generally the Board doesn't know about such decisions until after they occur.

The meeting was a great way for our families to vent, to listen, and be part of a great community.

I'll have more thoughts on this later, but for now, I need Shabbat.

Shabbat shalom.