SPOTLIGHT

Head's Message

This week we were fortunate to host Olympic bronze medallist swimmer George Bovell, who spoke with our students about using athletics as a tool to face new challenges and achieve personal goals. His message was clear and practical: success in all areas requires resilience, effort, and the willingness to take on difficult tasks rather than avoid them.

Mr. Bovell used a metaphor students easily connected with: video games. Each new level brings tougher challenges, but also greater satisfaction as skills improve. The same applies to learning. When we avoid a subject or task because we feel weak at it, we prevent ourselves from developing competence and confidence. Psychologists like Carol Dweck describe this as the difference between a fixed mindset (“I can’t do this”) and a growth mindset (“I can’t do this yet”). The word yet is powerful; it opens the door to progress and acknowledges that ability grows through persistence and practice.

Resilience is one of our school’s core values, and Mr. Bovell’s message echoed what we teach daily: excellence is not perfection. Excellence means showing consistent effort, maintaining a positive attitude, being kind, and taking pride in how we represent ourselves and our school. These are qualities that reflect our Seawolf theme of the LEADER, which connects to our school’s strategic pillar of Excellence and Innovation.

At SJA, we define excellence as continuous improvement - committing to getting better each day, in small and meaningful ways. When students learn to “level up” in their learning and character, they not only build academic skills but also the confidence to take on life’s larger challenges.

As Seawolves, we lead with excellence, explore with curiosity, and support one another as a pack. That is how we continue to grow stronger together.

Josh Hart
Head of School