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8:02 am, The Oak Room, Los Gatos Campus
Fourth graders file into the Oak Room, grabbing seats at the tables and looking up expectantly at Head of Lower School Heather Stinnett as she shares with them about a new program – an invitation for all of them as the oldest students in the Lower School to take on leadership roles in the months ahead. Heather shares with the students the opportunity to sign up for a wide variety of changemaker roles — serving as peacekeepers on the JK-2 playground, cleaning up and organizing the lost and found, becoming a captain of the creek, helping out in the library, taking a leadership role at the biweekly Lower School assembly. She also invites students to share their own ideas for leadership roles.
As soon as she gives the signal – and hands out pencils – they enthusiastically scatter around the room to sign up. She reminds them – “don’t sign up for more than 3 roles!” She also adds, “If a sheet is full and you REALLY want to do that activity, you can sign up and we will see what we can do.”
After the children sign up, she invites them to share with the group why they had chosen particular jobs. One student shared how excited he was to help the younger students get along on the playground. Multiple children responded with the silent “me too” signal, clearly showing how eager they are to be mentors and peacemakers for the younger children. Another student mentioned he was excited to assist with lunch duty so he could help his younger siblings and their classmates. One young girl noted that every time she goes over the bridge she sees balls in the creek. Now she could help make sure those balls can continue to be used by her classmates!
10:45 am, Head of School Office, Los Gatos Campus
In between a few meetings – and delivering birthday cards! – I take a moment to hop onto Unrulr, a social learning platform used by our students and teachers to share and track learning for many of our Scott Center programs. I’m reviewing my 8th grade mentee’s most recent reflection. In his post, he shares the progress he is making for his project – the creation of a stop-action film that tells a story about the climate crisis. The project sits at the intersection of two of his passions – LEGOs and climate change – and over the past few weeks I have had the privilege of gently guiding him as he strives to engage our two Scott Center questions: what matters to you and what are you doing about it?
Right before Thanksgiving, I had the opportunity to sit with him on a Zoom call with a climate scientist, in which he asked a broad range of insightful questions about the work the scientist was doing – at the simplest level she is studying marine sediment for signs of climate change (similar to ice core samples) – and learned with him about how the knowledge she is gathering is helping us better understand the climate crisis. He clearly knew his stuff and had done his homework in preparation for the conversation, and we both learned a lot from engaging in this high-level, highly academic conversation.
I offer him some concrete suggestions on his Unrulr post – “today would be a good day to reach back out to the person at Lego who you are hoping to talk with, and you also might continue to work on your storyboard for your script. Keep up the great work!”
2:20 pm, Gallery Space, San Jose Campus
The Gallery space is packed with our 11th graders. Director of College Counseling Charley Burkly has assembled a panel of five Hillbrook alums who are now in college to talk with the students, part of a yearlong college counseling program she has designed to ensure these students are ready for their transition to college in the next 18 months.
The alums field questions about their college experience and offer insights about everything from the application process and the connection with professors to the quality of the food and the realities of dorm life. The alums attend a broad range of schools, from big public universities to small, liberal arts colleges, and speak thoughtfully about what has drawn them to their schools and both the advantages and challenges of their respective institutions.
Having known some of these alums since they were in Kindergarten, I was inspired – and yes, proud – to see the poised, reflective, and dynamic young people they have become. They are pursuing a broad range of majors – international relations, business and finance, architecture, motion media design, urban and environmental policy – and are active in a wide range of on-campus and off-campus clubs. When asked about how Hillbrook continued to influence them, they spoke both directly and indirectly to the school’s core values and, in particular, the challenge to take risks and push outside of their comfort zone. One student credited long-time art teacher Ken Hay (retired just a few years ago) with inspiring her from the youngest ages to pursue her passion for architecture. Watching them reaffirmed for me yet again that what we do each and every day at Hillbrook is working – we are, indeed, graduating young people who have the knowledge, skills and confidence to do anything to which they set their mind. And, just as importantly, they have an authentic sense of purpose that is driving them to make a difference in the world.
Taken together – these three moments on one day in mid-December – point to something important that is happening at Hillbrook, something that has been at the core of Hillbrook since its founding in 1935. That is the belief that students are capable, that given the right opportunities students can be leaders, thinkers, and changemakers from the youngest ages.
In the 1930s, that looked like the Village of Friendly Relations, the design and building of a working village to help students learn how to collaborate and cooperate and to lay the foundations for world peace. Today, it is seen in things like the 4th grade Upstanders program, the 8th grade Social Impact & Leadership program, and the Upper School HeX block. It is the intentional creation of experiences where students are meaningfully in charge of their own learning, where they are deeply engaged in the work they are doing, and where they are held capable by the adults who are supporting them.
And to understand the success of this approach? Look no further than the fabulous young adults who have taken the lessons of Hillbrook and continue to apply them in college and beyond.
As we head into the holiday break, I hope that you and your family find time to rest, recharge and celebrate in all the ways that each of you and your families do at this time of year. And, as the door closes on 2025 and we take a moment to reflect back on all that has happened, I also know we will be turning our eyes to 2026 and all that lies ahead.
What a gift to lead this school and to know how much good is happening on our campus each and every day. And, what incredible optimism it gives me for the future, knowing that these young people of all ages will be helping to lead the way.