The best teachers know how to turn everyday encounters into opportunities to foster connection, belonging, and the motivation to tackle new challenges. At Hewitt, we know that this may be the single most important thing that we do.
Head of School
Welcome to The Hewitt School
Hewitt’s motto--“By Faith and Courage”--is evident in everything we do. Where most high-achieving girls are socialized to be perfect and play it safe, Hewitt girls learn to have faith in themselves and have the courage to take risks and bounce back from failures. Where most high-achieving girls are asked to focus exclusively on curating the perfect resume, the Hewitt girl is hard at work on her inner resume as she achieves academically. I invite you to see what makes Hewitt such a distinctive place for girls and young women to learn and grow into a world of expanding opportunity, and how Hewitt is empowering the next generation of women leaders, one at a time--from the inside out.
Dr. Tara Christie Kinsey, Head of School and Parent, Class of 2027
Writings and Reflections by Dr. Kinsey
The Hewitt Class of 2023 will go down in history–not only for what they have achieved but also, and perhaps more importantly, for who they have become, and who they are becoming. As head of school, I am extraordinarily proud of these young women as they head out into the world beyond Hewitt, because they are going to make our world a better place.
As an institution, Hewitt consciously resists the toxic high-achievement culture that perpetuates the damaging message that students must engage in manic resume padding. In this respect, we are writing a countercultural success story–our students achieve great things but do so with a sense of meaning, purpose, wellbeing, and joy.
In February, The Hewitt School hosted an evening of learning with our longtime friend and partner Dr. Lisa Damour. Here are three lessons I’m taking away from Lisa's latest book, The Emotional Lives of Teenagers: Raising Connected, Capable, and Compassionate Adolescents, and how these lessons might inform our daily interactions with girls–at school and at home.
What if girls could say what they were really thinking, without fear of being cut off from their relationships with their parents, peers, and teachers? What if we nurtured a culture committed to uncovering a girl’s real voice, her authentic voice, even when it doesn’t sound like a “good girl” voice?
It turns out that the single biggest predictor of your future health, happiness, and success in life is the quality of your closest relationships. When we have people around us that we can really count on, our lives become infinitely more joyous and fulfilling.
Now is the time once more to delight in seeing how very capable we are of making great progress toward goals that matter. And now is the time to have more fun, because there is almost nothing so rewarding as when we see that we are growing in the right direction.
Never before have I seen a senior class at Hewitt take such ownership over the kind of experience they wanted to have in the classroom, outside of the classroom, and even here, on this very day of their graduation from Hewitt.
Get to Know Dr. Kinsey
We invite you to learn more about our head of school by exploring the sections below.
About
In July 2015, Dr. Tara Christie Kinsey was appointed the eighth head of school at The Hewitt School. Dr. Kinsey is committed to granting girls and young women access to the kind of education and leadership development that expands their confidence, capacities, and sense of purpose in forging a better world. A lifelong learner, educator, feminist, coach, and leader, Dr. Kinsey received her A.B. in English from Princeton University, where she was a Division-I All-American Scholar Athlete and a four-year All-Ivy selection in softball, and her Ph.D. in English from Emory University. Dr. Kinsey is a teacher and published scholar of modern and contemporary British and Irish literature. She began her teaching career at Peddie School and has taught at Emory University, Oxford University, Georgetown University, and Princeton University.
Prior to her appointment at Hewitt, Dr. Kinsey served as associate dean in the Office of the Dean of the College and the Office of the Vice President for Campus Life at Princeton University, where she worked closely with students to help them realize their full potential through advising and programs such as the Princeton Perspective Project and the Princeton Women’s Mentorship Program. As chair of Princeton’s Advisory Committee on Women’s Leadership, Dr. Kinsey was the recipient of two awards: the Nannerl O. Keohane Women’s Mentor Award, given to “the member of the Princeton University community who has done the most to mentor Princeton women students for leadership,” and the Marvin Bressler Award, given to “that member of the Princeton family who through heartfelt support of the University’s student-athletes and coaches, embodies a belief in the lifelong lessons taught by competition and athletics as a complement to the overall educational mission.” Prior to her work as an associate dean, Dr. Kinsey partnered with faculty, senior administrators, and the university president on Princeton’s $1.88 billion Aspire fundraising campaign.
Dr. Kinsey and her family live in New York City, where she enjoys going to restaurants, theaters, concerts, and exhibits, cooking, meditating, and watching her children play sports.
To learn more about Dr. Kinsey’s thoughts about Hewitt, the advancement of girls and young women, and the future of education, you may read her head of school blog or follow her on social media: @tara_kinsey.
Video and Podcast Highlights
- On Leadership, Teamwork, and Women's Athletics via Princeton University's The First 50 Podcast
- On Single Sex Education via The Female Quotient
- On Feedback and Failure via The Female Quotient
Dr. Kinsey's Recommended Reading
- Education
- Parenting
- Research on Girls and Women
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
- Presence
- Leadership
Education
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Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning by Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III, and Mark A. McDaniel
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The Path to Purpose: How Young People Find Their Calling by William Damon
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What School Could Be: Insights and Inspiration from Teachers Across America by Ted Dintersmith
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Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck
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In Search of Deeper Learning: The Quest to Remake the American High School by Jal Mehta and Sarah Fine
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Overloaded and Underprepared: Strategies for Stronger Schools and Healthy, Successful Kids by Denise Pope, Maureen Brown, and Sarah Miles
Parenting
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How to Raise an Adult: Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success by Julie Lythcott-Haims
Research on Girls and Women
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Articles by Lisa Damour
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Teaching Girls by Peter Kuriloff, Shannon Andrus, and Charlotte Jacobs
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Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily Nagoski and Amelia Nagoski
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Girls & Sex: Navigating the Complicated New Landscape by Peggy Orenstein
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Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls by Rachel Simmons
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
- We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- Being the Change: Lessons and Strategies to Teach Social Comprehension by Sara K. Ahmed
- The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
- The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
- Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People by Mahzarin R. Banaji and Anthony G. Greenwald
- Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Brittney Cooper
- Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics by Kimberlé Crenshaw
- White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard For White People To Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo
- Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay
- Avoiding Racial Equity Detours by Paul Gorski
- Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students by Zaretta Hammond
- Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom by bell hooks
- How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
- Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde
- Raising Race Questions: Whiteness and Inquiry in Education by Ali Michael
- How Girls Achieve by Sally A. Nuamah
- Safe Spaces, Brave Spaces: Diversity and Free Expression in Education by John Palfrey
- Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad
- Whistling Vivaldi: How Stereotypes Affect Us and What We Can Do by Claude M. Steele
Presence
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Just Breathe: Meditation, Mindfulness, Movement, and More by Mallika Chopra
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In Praise of Slowness: Challenging the Cult of Speed by Carl Honoré
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Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life by Jon Kabat-Zinn
Leadership
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Resonant Leadership: Renewing Yourself and Connecting with Others Through Mindfulness, Hope, and Compassion by Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee
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New Power: How Power Works in Our Hyperconnected World–and How to Make It Work for You by Jeremy Heimans and Henry Timms
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Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well by Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen
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The Art of Community: Seven Principles for Belonging by Charles Vogl