FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

The View From Here

By EDWARD V. PARSONS P’17

When I sat down to write this note, spring had just arrived. The cold was finally receding—not for good, but long enough to bring the buds out, to allow early glimpses of the daffodils along the wetland’s interior edges and awaken the periwinkle vines in the window boxes along the newly renovated Prince building’s exterior. The season of renewal had begun, as it always does and will. Exciting as it is to greet spring after a long winter, it has also been a moment for reflection, as I weigh the changing of seasons in my own life.

In January I informed the community that the following year would be my last as head of school, ending a nine-year run that has been the most rewarding period of my professional life. I have been fortunate to spend these past eight years in a place marked by respect, curiosity, creativity, and camaraderie—a community that knows and cares for its students beyond their daily achievements (which are impressive, to say the least), that proudly focuses on how we know over the short-term mastery of what we know. I cannot think of a better place to come to work each day, in the company of colleagues and students who, though arriving each day from more than 70 towns in the area, all share common values that support a vision of a world marked by equity, inclusion, a sense of belonging, and an engaged, intelligent, and proactive approach to life in complex times.

We’ve accomplished so much as a community these past eight years. Last fall, we marked the end of the FutureMakers campaign and the completion of that monumental undertaking. We celebrated the many successes we achieved together and all we had done to build an extraordinary future for Rivers. The completion of the 2015 Strategic Plan and the connected Campus Master Plan laid the groundwork for the many changes that have taken shape across campus, from vital infrastructure to extraordinary spaces like The Revers Center for Science and Visual Arts and the newly designed athletic complex to the boardwalk across the wetlands to the renovations to our Middle School classroom buildings. All of this renewal was made possible by the extraordinary generosity of a community determined to come together to build Rivers’s next iteration.

And new and upgraded facilities were just the start. Those spaces enabled the development of outstanding programs and the hiring of exceptional teachers who will continue the tradition of Excellence with Humanity and advance the school’s innovative and entrepreneurial approach to education. We doubled down on our commitment to auxiliary financial aid; created the McCartney Scholars Program to give students extraordinary opportunities in math scholarship; partnered with McLean Hospital to provide cutting-edge approaches to mental-health support for our students; enhanced our already robust summer science internships; and so much more.

The return of spring resonated for me in the midst of all of these expansions; renewal is essential to life as we know it and to the success of this enterprise. That lesson is no less true for the position of head of school, with the energy and fresh lens of a new leader to take Rivers into the next chapter.

This is no farewell note, reflective though I’m feeling as I write it. Rather, it’s a celebration of all we’ve accomplished in these past eight years as a community and a call to all of us to continue to advance Rivers into a future filled with possibilities. My vow to the community remains steadfast: I am here to the end of the 2022–2023 school year and intend to hand to my successor a vibrant school that continues to inspire the members of its community.

In June, I was thrilled to see several classes return to Rivers for their reunion—the first we’ve been able to enjoy in three years. And come June of ’23, I will celebrate with you the incoming head of school and cheer on their success . . . and yours!