Trust Means Having Confidence, Expectation, Faith, and Hope in Our Students, Teachers, and the Community

Another kind of trust I’ve been thinking about is the kind it takes to put your child in the hands of other adults every day. It has always been true that parents need a deep sense of trust to send their children to school, and as an educator, I have always felt a sense of honor and responsibility that goes along with this trust. As a parent, I take great solace in knowing that my son is so well taken care of here at High Meadows School, and this faith in the faculty and staff brings a sense of calm. I take great comfort in the confidence I have in the teachers working with all our Middle Years students every day, given their expertise in adolescence and their genuine love of middle schoolers. My confidence, faith, hope, and expectations are exceeded almost daily.

 

For our students, and the learning they do every day, trust is a key component. This is never truer than when we head out on weeklong travel experiences. When we go to Jekyll Island with our sixth graders, Colonial Williamsburg with seventh graders, and Colorado with eighth graders, trust is the very foundation that allows us to have these extraordinary adventures with our students. When I first began traveling with HMS students in the winter of 2022, I was admittedly quite anxious about the idea. Even though these trips have been part of our program for many, many years, I wasn’t sure how I felt about all the trust required of students, of and by parents, and of and by me and the team of chaperones. Boy, was I wrong to worry because the most common experience I have had on a trip has been a stranger pulling me aside to share just how impressed they are with our students. Our trust in them has been rewarded time and time again.

 

As I think back to those early days of travel, I’m reminded of a quote I read by Peter Gray, who visited our campus as part of our ongoing professional development and parent education series about the importance of play. He pointed out that schools that layer on overly strict rules “demonstrate no trust at all in children” nor in the adults and that when we “treat people as irresponsible, they become irresponsible.” At High Meadows, we believe that treating our students as responsible makes them responsible—for themselves, each other, their own learning, and the larger community as they become the ethical leaders of our world.

 

We know well that trust is often earned, sometimes slowly, always thoughtfully, over time. It is the result of doing what you say you will do, working in collaboration for the benefit of the individual and the group, and listening—always listening—from a place of genuine curiosity. Only when we work together can we truly find success in our world in all the ways we define it. Working with middle school students and the adults who support them necessitates this trust in each other—nothing works without it.

 

We are so grateful to our families for trusting us with their children every day and for sending them to High Meadows for some of the most crucial developmental years of their lives.