Welcome

As a child of California, I grew up riding its surf, hiking its mountains, basking in its deserts, and relaxing in its forests. However, every time I now do one of these as a parent, I see what I had taken for granted: the stewardship that had made it all possible and the teaching that connected me to a bigger world. As a child, you dream of waking up in the world full of fantasy; as an adult, you dream of making that world for your child, or, better yet, waking up in a future that your child has had a hand in making.

Teaching is a promise to this possibility, an investment in those who will turn dreams into reality. It's a Herculean calling, but I love every minute of it.

Why do our students mean the world to us? There is nobody as inspiring as human beings who are still eager to be part of the best of anything and everything our planet has to offer. I have never met anyone who wasn’t important, none more so than the young adults.

The Grauer School counts among its students and its alumni young people who, when challenged, develop amazing capacity for leadership. As a faculty, we beam with enthusiasm when we talk about what this student is doing and what that alumni has done.

Our students so often exceed the best parts of us.

While we have no idea exactly what tomorrow will look like, we all want to believe that it will be better than today, that it will exceed our expectations. We are all responsible for making the promise of that belief true. We – students, teachers, parents – have an obligation to work to the edges of all of our capacities, in every area, and push that edge just a little further out each day. And have fun while doing it!