HYLA HYLIGHTER SEPTEMBER 2026
“Find out who you are and do it on purpose.”- Dolly Parton
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Head’s Hylights
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Curriculum Insights
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Rising Voices
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Educator’s Insights
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Learning Together
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Photo Collage
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HYLA HYLIGHTER
CONTENTS
HEAD’S HIGHLIGHTS “THE WAY I SEE IT, IF YOU WANT THE RAINBOW, YOU GOTTA PUT UP WITH THE RAIN.” - DOLLY PARTON Dear Hyla Families, I love beginnings. Beginnings give us a chance to imagine what is possible. To set intentions. To establish how we want to be together. And, for our students, to walk into a new year with room to grow, to try something new, to reconnect with who they are, and to discover a little more about who they are becoming. At Hyla, we take the beginning of each new school year seriously. We know the power of these first days and weeks to create meaning, lay foundations, build relationships, and establish a strong sense of belonging from which so much else can grow. Whether it is our New Parent and Guardian Welcome Party, New Student Takeover at the Middle School, New Student Social at the Upper School, our Family Picnic, Outdoor Day, or fall retreats, these moments are more than Hyla traditions. They help establish how we will be together and, in turn, who we will become together in the year ahead. That work begins before students even arrive. In the last week of August, during our opening faculty and staff meetings, we spent time on the many things that shape the experience of a Hyla student: our mission and how it is lived each day; belonging and community; supporting students as learners and as people; intentional use of technology and AI; health and safety; communication and partnership with families; and, of course, the enormous amount of planning that goes into classes, advisory, outdoor experiences, and the start of a new year.
But one of my favorite moments came first thing Monday morning, when we asked our faculty and staff:
Who is Hyla? What defines this place? What distinguishes it? What do we want Hyla to be for our students? They wrote: Hyla is caring. Hyla is home away from home, alive with empathy, community, and love. Hyla challenges students to grow and expand their comfort zone from a place where they feel safe and supported. Hyla is a place where kindness isn't just talked about. It's practiced. Hyla is a place where kids can be themselves. And one that I keep coming back to: At Hyla, you are seen and heard for who you are and who you want to be. At the end of the activity, one of our teachers reflected on how powerful it would be for parents to hear the way our faculty and staff talk about their children, the care they bring to this work, and what they want for our students. I agree. Because the environment we create for young people matters. The adults who surround and guide them matter. The people who notice them, challenge them, encourage them, and make room for them to try something new matter. Their peers matter. The culture around them matters. And all week, as I thought about these ideas and about the beginning of another school year at Hyla, I also found myself thinking about Dolly Parton. So many of the stories told about Dolly celebrate her extraordinary music and career. But just as many seem to center on who she was and the fundamental human values she represented: Kindness. Generosity. Courage. Hard work. Humor. Taking care of other people. And an unwavering belief in being unmistakably who you are. She said: “Find out who you are and do it on purpose.” I can't think of a much better charge for adolescence. Because that's exactly what our students are doing. They're figuring out who they are. What they care about. What they're good at. What they believe. Where they belong. What they want to try. What they're willing to stand for. Our job isn't to decide those things for them. It is to create the environment in which they can discover them. Which brings me right back to what one of our teachers wrote: At Hyla, you are seen and heard for who you are and who you want to be.
Of course, becoming who you are doesn't always come easily. That's adolescence. The middle school and high school years are certainly not all rainbows. Dolly had something to say about that, too: “The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.” There will be rain. There will be friendship struggles. Disappointments. Mistakes. Risks that don't work out. Moments of self-doubt. And there will be moments when our instinct as parents, and sometimes as educators, is to make the rain stop. But that's not always what our kids need from us. Sometimes our job is to help them move through it, learn from it, and discover that they can. Because who they are, and who they are becoming, is what we love to see. And that brings me to one of Dolly's most beloved stories, Coat of Many Colors. Dolly grew up with very little. She wrote the song about her mother taking scraps of fabric that had been given to the family and sewing them together into a coat for her daughter. It was made out of what they had, and it was sewn with love. Dolly couldn't wait to wear it to school. When she did, the other children laughed at her. But Dolly was proud of that coat because she knew what it meant. It was hers. It told a story about where she came from. It had been made with love. And she wore it proudly. I think about our students. Over the years, we've watched Hyla students begin to wear their own literal and metaphorical colors more proudly. Their sparkle. Their humor. Their intellect. Their creativity. Their quirks. Their passions. The thing they know everything about that no one else has ever heard of. Their colors. We want our students to discover who they are and feel confident and proud to show us. And just as importantly, we want to build a community of young people who can look at someone else's coat of many colors and say: That's really cool. Tell me about it. That's belonging. And as we begin this new school year, that's the work we get to do together. To create a place where our students are known and challenged and cared for. Where they have room to stretch, stumble, discover, and grow. Where they learn not only to wear their own colors proudly, but to be curious about and celebrate the colors of the people around them. That is a pretty wonderful thing to get to build together. Welcome back, Hyla. We can't wait to get to know your child and all the colors they share with us this year. Warmly, Suzanne
CURRICULUM INSIGHTS Education with a Purpose
SNAPSHOT: UPPER SCHOOL MATH BY: ERIK
SNAPSHOT: MIDDLE SCHOOL HUMAN RELATIONS BY:BOBBY As I drove a group of students home from their escape room experience during Exploration Week last year, something caught my attention: the excited chatter coming from the back of the van was between kids who normally didn’t socialize with each other much. Friend groups in middle school can be very tight knit, and students on our trip naturally gravitated towards the people they were most comfortable with. I got to thinking: what was it about the escape room that was so effective at dissolving boundaries between friend groups? As I pondered this question over the summer, my mind kept returning to the notion that we need to be challenged in order to grow or learn. What then does challenge mean in the context of Human Relations? How do we challenge our middle school students to develop their social skills? How do we nudge them out of their comfort zone to hone their ability to listen, connect, and respect one another? Read more on our blog.
When students enter Hyla’s Upper School, they all have had different math experiences in different educational settings. Thus, their algebraic skills, spatial reasoning, and problem-solving strategies all vary tremendously, and more importantly, their personal relationship with the subject does too. Each student has had a unique journey with Math, with some defining it enthusiastically, but many more defining it as difficult, pointless, repetitive, and/or meaningless. Oftentimes, students used to enjoy the subject, but there was some point in time where a disconnect occurred. While I cannot always fix the disconnect, acknowledging it is often the first step to reconciling the relationship. Given each student’s unique history with the subject, it is important to understand where they are coming from when they walk through the door to my classroom. To achieve this, their first assignment completed in high school math is to write a “Dear Math” letter, in which students are prompted to “ write a letter to math, as if it is an old friend or acquaintance that [they] have not seen in a while. ” Read more on our blog.
SNAPSHOT: UPPER SCHOOL SCIENCE BY:CAROLINE In the upper school, with the second week of school firmly under our belts, life in the science lab is moving along smoothly. But what exactly does it mean to be in motion? Are you moving now as you read this? How do you know? What are you using as your reference point? For 9/10 science, students are just beginning to dive into the world of physics and kinematics. The study of motion without considering its causes is their first task. Is the motion of the tennis ball different if we remain stationary and look at the person bouncing the ball compared to if we walk alongside the person bouncing the ball? What changes? What remains the same? Why are there so many questions in physics? In experimental chemistry, students are learning just how prevalent chemistry is in their everyday life. From what they ate for breakfast to how they got ready for school, you can’t separate chemistry from the everyday world. Read more on our blog
Learning with
SNAPSHOT: MIDDLE SCHOOL ENGLISH BY: JAMIE Every year, I trot out the same plea about reading to my students and their families, so I apologize if it feels like an old chestnut, but it’s the hill I’ll die on as a teacher: read more, read everything, and read together. Since I’m an English teacher, this probably sounds like something I have to say. And it’s true that I found my way to this line of work via my love of literature. But the reason I say this over and over comes less from loving books and more from observing the differences between the students who read widely and the ones who don’t. The gap between the two groups continues to grow every year, and it isn’t just obvious in English class; it shows up in other contexts, too. Decades of work by cognitive researchers have found that volume of reading strongly predicts stronger general knowledge, vocabulary usage, verbal skill, and connection-making across disciplines, and that these effects compound over time. Read more on our blog.
PURPOSE
RISING VOICES SANDY KENNEDY CLASS OF 2028 WHAT’S ONE QUALITY YOU ADMIRE MOST IN OTHER PEOPLE? Curiosity about the world around them is arguably one of the best traits anyone can have. I find people who are endlessly curious the most interesting and delightful people to be around, not only because they can never seem to run out of questions, but anyone who desires learning in all aspects of their life is someone I want to be around.
WHAT’S ONE THING THAT INSTANTLY MAKES YOUR DAY BETTER?
WHAT’S A TINY THING THAT BRINGS YOU DISPROPORTIONATE JOY?
Any morning that I get to walk into school and sit next to all of my friends instantly makes my day so much better. Although it may be simple, the amount of sheer joy it brings me to be surrounded by peers and teachers I love is immeasurable. This community is like a family and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
Anytime I drive in the morning, the fact that the island looks different everyday depending on the season, weather and time, makes me immensely happy. This island is one of the most beautiful places I know and I continue to be in awe of the vast amount of nature that surrounds my everyday life.
WHAT’S SOMETHING YOU WISH YOU HAD KNOWN WHEN YOU STARTED SCHOOL?
WHAT’S ONE THING YOU THINK THE WORLD COULD USE A LITTLE MORE OF?
Up until recently, I realized, my alleged joy stemming from being perfect, was not my own joy, it was a belief system I had taught myself that other people would find me more valuable if I performed perfectly. This past year I have focused so much on finding what makes me happy and balancing that with school because I have reflected that life is far too short to spend it producing false happiness for others around me. In concise words, I wish I had known that school is a means for learning, and expanding curiosity and capabilities, it is not a measure of your value nor personal worth, and your success is determined by how well you fulfil your intrinsic values, not those put upon you.
The abundance of hate is astonishing to me in a world that has so many beautiful things. I think kindness and awe are lacking in many situations, and despite the many atrocities of society, there are also many wonders as well. Although it is conflicting with human nature, taking time to appreciate the good things in life and spreading kindness beyond when necessary are highly underrated skills.
What’s one thing you hope students feel when they walk into your classroom? Insatiable curiosity and appetite for more vocabulary! What’s the best lesson your students have taught you? Put them in the drivers’ seat, let them do the talking, and they will come through. One word your students would use to describe you? Affable
TOM NEAL
I’m a sports nut! What’s your unofficial teacher superpower? Making students hungry through food references in my lessons. What’s one classroom moment you wish you could bottle up forever? Joining my students for their Spanish classes with Catalina on our Granada immersion trip, and watching them impress a native speaker!
EDUCATORS INSIGHT
EDUCATOR INSIGHT
What’s something students would be surprised to learn about you?
Quick Facts about Tom Morning person or night owl? Morning person Favorite school-day snack? Bagels Coffee, tea, or neither? Coffee Favorite school supply? White-out strips Dream classroom guest? Barack Obama Favorite childhood book? Chronicles of Narnia Favorite field trip destination? Museum of Pop Culture If you weren’t teaching, you’d be…? Cultivating an orchard One thing you’ll never stop being excited about? Musical instruments 10
SPANISH 9-12 & ACADEMIC DEAN
LEARNING TOGETHER
AT OUR AUGUST IN-SERVICE, WE ASKED OUR FACULTY AND STAFF: WHO IS HYLA? WHAT DEFINES THIS PLACE? WHAT DISTINGUISHES IT? WHAT DO WE WANT HYLA TO BE FOR OUR STUDENTS?
Life at
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