Good afternoon! I’m so happy to see family members, friends from so many parts of my life- including some I met while in High School and former colleagues turned friends, there are Casti alums, current and past parents, members of our broader community, and of course our professional community and fabulous students.
Thank you for being here. This is a beautiful celebration and thank you to the Installation committee and everyone who helped to plan and execute this special day. This is one of the few times I will ever follow John Botti at the podium—thank you for your generous remarks, John, and for being a constant supporter and sounding board. During orientation this year, I spoke with student leaders about the idea that we all have our own personal board of directors who can push us, cheer for us, and challenge us. Dr. Botti is one of those people for me, and there are many others including my mother—who is here today—my grandmother and grandfather, my aunts and uncles, and my brothers. There’s my husband, Anthony, and children Gladys, Juliana, AJ and Andrew who ground me, keep me current, and believed in me so much that they followed me here. My former head at Brearley, Jane Foley Fried, is also here. Whenever I talk about women mentoring women, I think of her because she is the first person who told me that I had the capacity to lead at this level, which changed the trajectory of my life.
Many people have asked how I found myself at Castilleja, and I have admitted and will again admit today that when I first heard about this possibility, I thought, “Amazing school, but I’m not moving to California.” Yet, I couldn’t get Castilleja out of my mind. So what ultimately drew this New Yorker with a passion for girls’ education, inspiring academic curiosity, and building community to pursue this opportunity?
To answer that, I’ll need to take a step back and tell you about myself. Many of you already know that I was raised in a family that values faith and education. Through church, I learned to see charity and courtesy as the love and compassion that you show others, and at school, I learned that if I followed my curiosity, I could make a difference in the world.
Many of you also know that I’m a product of a school for girls, but you may not know that I take a particular interest in learning about why different girls’ schools were founded. Through this little passion project, I’ve come to realize there was sometimes something countercultural or revolutionary going on. Sure enough, in 1907 Castilleja was created to prepare young women to meet the demands of Stanford because they weren’t thriving in relation to their male counterparts. This was not due to any innate qualities, but instead to a lack of exposure and opportunity. So equity, inclusion, and access to a truly outstanding education are baked into this school’s founding. These ideals, rooted in character and courage, will always be part of Castilleja’s legacy, and that origin story drew me in.
Since 1907, the mission has expanded to educating confident thinkers and compassionate leaders with a sense of purpose to effect change in the world. This sense of purpose is the conscience that allows every student to find and follow her own North Star, something that has always been a primary driver for me as an educator.
So charity, courtesy, character, courage, and conscience Castilleja’s 5 Cs are qualities that I both personally and professionally value.
And there were other Cs that emerge and that are important both to Castilleja and to me:
Confidence
Community
Curiosity
Care
Compassion
Collaboration
–No wonder Castilleja began to take up more space in my imagination.
So that’s how we arrived here together today, and Castilleja’s future will be built from the mission and values that we all share. As the 8th Head of School, I’m acutely aware that the world around us is changing at breakneck speed, making it impossible to imagine the future our graduates will encounter. That sense of the unknown—with the vast potential of AI, the ongoing climate crisis, and the impacts of splintering ideologies—can make the road ahead seem especially steep. But then I remember that in 1907, we didn’t have penicillin, women couldn’t vote, the Civil Rights Movement wasn’t a thing, and I doubt Mary Lockey could have imagined classrooms equipped with wifi and SMART boards. So Castilleja’s leaders have been preparing students for the unknown since the beginning, and I am honored to become part of this legacy of revolutionaries. Through our rigorous program, I want this generation to become nimble critical thinkers who are undeterred by the unknown, surpassing the world’s expectation of them and their own expectations of themselves. As Head of School, I will work to ensure that our students are incredibly well-prepared academically, well-supported within our community, and well-aware of their limitless power as confident thinkers and compassionate leaders.
Finally, I have one more small detail to share that has added to my sense that I am meant to be at this school at this moment. We have a relatively new tradition at Commencement that involves reading a comment about each student that was written by a past teacher, going as far back as preschool. Believe it or not, out of the blue, my mom recently shared comments from my preschool with me, and as I commence my time as Head of School, it seems fitting that I become part of this tradition by sharing a few highlights.
First there’s: Betty enjoys retelling stories about her experience and her family with expression and in a logical order. She also especially enjoys the swings and has invented several “tricks” on the bar.
Break: Okay, still true about the stories, and as for the so-called tricks? In the city, recess takes place on a small section of rooftop. Let’s go easy on a girl who was trying to keep things interesting. Also our leadership competencies include agility so there’s that.
Next there’s: Betty is a very responsible child. She zips her own jacket and often helps others figure out theirs.
Break: So there we go, responsible and looking out for others. That’s promising.
Things take a turn, though: Betty has become quite competitive and while working in her workbook, she is so concerned about being the first one finished that her pages are often done incorrectly.
Break: There’s nothing wrong with being motivated and a little ambitious, right? Maybe I found the workbooks boring. Did anyone think about that?
Finally, I fell especially short in one area. When asked my home address, apparently I answered all in one word: “Queens-but-that-is-all.”
Break: Well, I have shown significant growth in this area because I now know my new address by heart: Castilleja School, 1310 Bryant Street, Palo Alto, California
This is home now.
And I’m not alone. Most of you are here with me today because Castilleja is also home for you. The future of this school is something we will continue to build together. We will need to think, discern, and problem solve. And we will need to dream, create, and imagine. Most of all, we will send more women leaders into the world to effect positive change. That is our shared work in advancing the vital, inspiring, and joyful revolutionary legacy of Castilleja.