Inspiring Work That Matters

In considering the purpose of large-scale collaborative work, futurist Brian Solis writes, “Community is about doing something together that makes belonging matter.”  

In so many ways, that quote speaks to the very heart of what we do.  At Stone, “Inspiring Work That Matters” doesn’t serve as a slogan on the internet, it serves as an anchor for our entire institution.  We design complex and diverse learning experiences so that our students can grow in agency and capacity, so that our students can exhibit increasingly sophisticated work in STEM fields, in research, in the performing arts, in entrepreneurship, in everything they do. 

So that our students can create meaningful impact on the world, so that our students can see how the work they do matters.

But to get the work right, we have to get the community right, and to get the community right we work with intention through the month of August to onboard everyone – new faculty, returning faculty, new students, returning students, student leadership teams, families, everyone – to the work of the school.  In real time, that means three weeks of professional development, activities, and events – orientations, leadership retreats and leadership in-services, Drive-Ins, professional development, project work, etc – but behind it all is that core intention to build a community “that makes belonging matter”.

It’s been a remarkable 22 days of onboarding, designing, building, and re-connecting.  Now, classes are up and running and the real work of Stone begins.  Today, enjoy photographs from the last few days of community work around Stone (and be sure to email us at admissions@stoneindependent.org if you’d like to learn more).

On Friday, our student body presidents, our grade level presidents, and our prefects packed up for a 3 day retreat at Mount Gretna.

...they spent 3 days working on their goals for the year, thinking through leadership practices and frameworks, and working on team-building exercises.

(Pictured: the 2023 leadership retreat).

All of our leaderships teams were back in the building on Tuesday for a 4 hour leadership inservice, which included preparation for our new students.

Tuesday afternoon, our new students met with Head of School Mike Simpson, Assistant Head of School Abby Kirchner, Divisions Head Eileen Beckman, and Dean of Students Alex Funnell, before breaking off with our leadership teams to learn more about 'How Stone Works'.

Tuesday night, we welcomed new and returning community members to our 4th Annual Welcome Back Drive-In, which featured meetings with Grade Level Deans and a showing of Jurassic Park.

(The Senior Class brought the..."beach-themed gear....!)

(Which included so many floaties...!)

As it turns out, the night got a little cool....

Which made it a better night for fires, bonfires, and blankets.

Wednesday morning Horst -- and everyone else, of course -- welcomed all students back to Stone. Each year, we spend the entire first day of school working on culture: we meet as a full school, we sort students into their Houses, we hold Upper and Middle School meetings and grade level meetings, then wrap up the day with the first House competition of the year -- Stonesprint -- which is a kind a frantic all-city scavenger hunt designed to build teamwork and problem-solving within our Houses.

A lot more to come on this one, but the Class of 2025 showed up strong for the first day of school.

A big feature of the first day of school is building belonging -- here, an advisory group gets to know each other by working on a puzzle together.

In the afternoon, our Houses wrapped up Stonesprint, then headed to the parking lot for the final 3 competitions of the day.

The Monaghan faculty were ready.

It's a rivalry as old as the school itself -- Monaghan and House Richardson facing off against each other once again.....

...but in the end, the day belonged to the newly re-energized Levengood. Word on the street is that Levengood is the odds-on favorite to unseat House Richardson for the House Championship.

See also: Perfection is Asymptotic; A Different Kind of Resolution;

Ready to learn more about Stone? Visit our admissions page right here or email us today at admissions@stoneindependent.org!