Letter From The Head Of School

Dear Benjamin Community,

I find myself humbled as I write to you from the Head’s office during the School’s 60th anniversary year. My office, converted from a cottage, was Mr. Benjamin’s classroom where he taught eager young kindergarten students how to read. The original architecture, including a fireplace and a small reading bench where you could once hear the soft voices of emergent readers, remains unchanged. I am enveloped in history. Each architectural detail — from the dark oak beams to the squeaky floorboards — is laden with the memories, hopes, and stories of those who came before me.

It is with tremendous pride that I carry the history of the School with me during our 60th anniversary and in years to come. While we honor such an important milestone for the School, it is evident that we do so amidst the turbulent history of the recent past. Our community has suffered collective tragedies, like the passing of former Head of School, Mr. Goldberg, as well as personal struggles and losses. A tumultuous political landscape and candid observations about culture, history, and race have been at the center of our conversations this year. As a nation, we have been gripped by a pandemic most of us never imagined we would witness in our lifetimes, and we are all struggling to create a “new normal” that resembles anything actually normal.

But this changed educational landscape and historically significant cultural moment have afforded us opportunities that a “normal” year would not have provided. Crises often hold up a mirror and force us to take a hard look at who we are. They have shown me what the Benjamin family is: resilient, innovative, and, above all else — kind.

This is not the first time that the School has found itself navigating a fraught path. If the walls of my office could talk, I can imagine the conversations they would reveal about founding a school on a pineapple farm in the south in the 1960s. Our community has navigated the loss of our founders, foreign wars, September 11, the 2007-2008 financial crisis, and, each time, we have risen to the occasion and come together stronger, united by a common purpose.

Most importantly, each time we have faced a challenge, we still observed Mrs. Benjamin’s most enduring plea, paraphrasing writer Henry James: Be kind, be kind, be kind.

As you explore the magazine and reflect on the School’s 60-year history, I hope it elicits your own fond memories of Benjamin and personal experiences of kindness, triumph, and gratitude.

In community,

Dave Faus