Dan Morrissey
Head of School
As the holiday season approaches, gratitude fills the air at Crossroads. We share gratitude for our founding and success over the past three decades, gratitude for the patience, empathy, and compassion of our dedicated teachers, and gratitude for our families who come together and support all we do in so many ways. Many schools could celebrate these things, but Crossroads Academy, as we all know, is a special place. Just how special and how very necessary our school is right now is being demonstrated by events in the national spotlight.
Recently, I was invited to sit on a panel with other educational administrators from the Upper Valley to present to local business leaders. Prior to the event, the business leaders were polled and asked what essentials they thought students should learn in schools. The leading responses for the cohort I spoke to were: ‘financial literacy’ and ‘critical thinking.’ We took questions from the audience and my co-panelists discussed how their schools were working to teach financial literacy and develop critical thinking.
When the audience turned to me for comment, I agreed how important those two elements were, but that what I thought was lacking in education, and, frankly, in our country, was civil discourse.
The Core Knowledge curriculum that Crossroads has rigorously deployed since the 1990’s imbues core facts, events, and historical perspectives that have been developed, reviewed and adapted by educational experts worldwide. Many schools can boast such a comprehensive approach to teaching knowledge, but very few, and I posit, only Crossroads Academy, ensure that kindness, compassion, and gratitude are taught along with that knowledge.
Our students wrestle with big ideas everyday in a discussion-based setting, they are pushed and pulled and stretched by our faculty. During these experiences, they are taught how to factually support their conclusions, and listen carefully to others’ opinions. They work to find the common ground and to work with others as they build upon it. As they approach graduation, they are taught to use a wide variety and diverse spectrum of resources to support their position.
At a time when the world needs leaders who can thoughtfully listen to others and put what they hear into context that is framed by a solid knowledge base to build consensus, Crossroads Academy continues to develop just those skills in its graduates. And for that, I am grateful.
Head of School
