No matter who you supported in the presidential race, it feels breathless to cross the finish line, especially when you realize it's a starting line on a different, even longer course.

With that said, I want to share my thoughts and observations about our community and our path forward. When we drafted our new mission statement, the administrative team wrestled over the wording. Our mission notes that "Torit fosters curiosity, independence, and an appreciation for knowledge along with the humility and awareness to value the ideas, support, and friendship of others."

Though our students are mostly too young to fully understand those words, the words are important in our work as adults. As teachers, we want to get your students excited about learning with intrinsic motivation, with an inner drive to grow their knowledge. Our faculty is great at "following the child" and knowing who their students are and what they need.

I want also to focus on the last part of the mission concerning humility and the ideas of others. It's important at Torit to keep our minds open and to recognize that our perspectives on the world are enriched by both similarities and differences. That's why we work to enhance the community in each classroom, and also why we study Arabic, Mandarin, and Spanish, or make art or music together, or play together. We may have different beliefs or ideas, but we work together with the growth of children as our North Star.

At our core, Torit values connection and understanding. The social and emotional work of our teaching is incredibly important. The sense of belonging teachers create in their rooms makes the children feel safe and supported here. Torit is a happy place for each child because the teachers make it so.

I hope we do a great job of making Torit a place where everyone is treated fairly and everyone is included. Equity and inclusion are hallmarks of high-quality schools. From recognizing holidays to taking individual needs into account, we can work together to build a moral community where honesty, kindness, friendliness, and grace and courtesy prevail.

As we move forward together, I hope we can lean on each other to make our lives and the school we sustain as meaningful as they can be.

Onward,

David Liebmann

Head of School