Dear LMS Community,
It is hard to believe that the new school year is almost upon us. For some of us, it is a welcome back. For others, September brings a first dip of the toes into the wellspring that is the LMS community. Six years ago, when my now fifth grader was in kindergarten and my now kindergartener was yet to take his first steps, my family joined the LMS community. This fall I return to a place that has come to feel like home for myself, my husband, and our three kids entering kindergarten, third grade, and fifth grade.
And yet this year also marks a new beginning for me and for the school. After several years of room parenting, event planning, and board work, I am excited to be starting my first year as the president of the LMS board. I come to this work with a passion for volunteerism, love for the Montessori method, and great admiration for the school that I am serving. As a Montessori child myself, a former Montessori teacher and teacher educator, and as a Montessori parent for nearly ten years, I can say with confidence that LMS does Montessori better than any place I have known.
In my capacity as president of the LMS Board of Directors, and as co-chair of the exhaustive search the school undertook two years ago, I have had the privilege of working closely with our new Head of School, Kevin Clark, as he begins his tenure. This summer, in between driving the kids to camp and searching for the perfect lobster roll, I met with Kevin on a biweekly basis. Together, we engaged in a marathon planning meeting with the Executive Committee of the board, and undertook a three week training session designed to help facilitate collaboration between board presidents and heads of school.
While you can read all about Kevin on the LMS website, I have learned a few things about Kevin that aren’t on his resume. His superpower, for example. Staying calm, no matter what. Could there be a better superpower for a head of school? His favorite hot drink? Chai Tea latte. And the thing that fills him with pride, beyond the work he does with Montessori schools? Well that would be his three children.
The theme of this school year will be getting to know each other. Us, as a community, embracing new faculty and new families. And all of us getting to know Kevin. There are coffees planned, and more picnics to come, and the usual gamut of exceptional LMS events. Whether at the upcoming Cultural Festival or on the sidelines of a Big Mac soccer game, I hope each of you will get a chance to get to know Kevin and share your LMS story with him. And I hope that, by the end of the year, LMS feels like home for every person reading this letter as it does for my family.
With gratitude,
Corinne Foster
President of the LMS Board of Directors
