In the second episode of the fourth season, Dawn talks to Kendra James about her recent book Admissions: A Memoir of Surviving Boarding School. James shares a bit of her experience as the first Black American legacy student at a prestigious New England boarding school and how her time there shaped her work later in independent school admissions offices. They discuss respectability politics, the Black @ social media movement, the writing process as a powerful tool of reflection, and the imperative for independent schools to actively and intentionally build inclusive school-wide systems and cultures.

In the first episode of our new season, Dawn talks with Maggie Doyne, cofounder of the BlinkNow Foundation and Kopila Valley Children’s Home and School in Surkhet, Nepal, about her new memoir Between the Mountain and the Sky. They discuss ideas about motherhood and creating family, the power of grief and hope, the strength and tremendous potential of community, and the ongoing work we are all engaged in to make the world better for children.

In this episode, Dawn speaks with beloved and long time Blue School educator, Val Duval. Val runs all of Blue School’s K-8 physical arts programming, coaches our basketball, volleyball and soccer teams and many afterschool classes. Val shares stories of his work with children and how physical education can be an opportunity for creating connection and trust (and some very exciting family news!).