Philosophy/Personal Statement I was a terrible student in high school. I didn't study, I got bad grades, I had a cocky attitude and I disrespected my teachers. I'd like to believe this was because I was brilliant and existentially bored by the pedestrian intellect of my peers. I like to believe that it was because my school was so backward and repressive that I found myself in a hopeless situation. But it wasn't that. I wasn't particularly bright; my peers were actually pretty smart; and my school was, all things considered, a reasonably decent place. I like to believe it was because no one in my family had graduated from high school, much less attended college. But even that wasn't a valid explanation. My parents always loved and supported me in school. I was just a bad student in high school who never connected with that place. It wasn't until college that I found my intellectual voice. I took a medieval history course with a maniacal professor who had a passion for the history of ideas. More than any specific content, it gave me the feeling of being a member of a larger community of scholars; that what I was doing mattered. It gave me access to the shelves of the Library of Congress; invited me, as a university student, to present an academic article at a conference at Villanova University. I eventually left academia for classroom teaching, but my transformation from a stereotypical “Generation X slacker” to someone dedicated to learning has profoundly shaped my approach to both teaching and school leadership. What exactly did I learn from all this? I learned that belonging to a community is important. Until I met my medieval history teacher, school had seemed pretty remote… middle of paper… actually, no. It was full of controversial and very difficult moments. A culture of collaboration and innovation involves honesty, discussion and differences of opinion. It's about moving people when they are completely comfortable where they are. It's about overturning consolidated practices and canceling the truces that have existed for decades. My biggest concern in releasing all of these energies was that we might open Pandora's box and release toxic elements into our school. And while there have been many heated disagreements, the community has, if anything, become stronger. People's opinions are sought and their input is important in developing school policy. I can't say we're exactly where we want to be as a community - and I'm not sure we ever will be - but at least we've given people a sense that community really matters.