Head of School

Hewitt has established itself as a local and national leader in girls’ education — and a destination employer for some of the best educators in the country — because of our unique commitment to amplifying girls’ voices. At Hewitt, we teach girls that they can have voice and relationships and still be cared for and successful. 

Hewitt has emerged as a leader in combating toxic achievement culture and supporting girls’ mental health. Parents and guardians tell us that one of the reasons they joined The Hewitt School is because they wanted their daughter to achieve and strive for excellence, but not at the expense of her health, wellbeing, and sense of meaning and purpose.  

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. 

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.