Gray Matters, February 2025
All About Love
Happy February!
Late last week I took a walk through our campus. Our buildings’ large windows, open spaces, wood floors, warm light, and exposed brick create a welcoming atmosphere. As educators, the aesthetic of our learning environment matters to us greatly. As we often say, space is the third teacher. If our walls could talk they would have told me a terrific story.
Several years ago I read the bell hooks book “All About Love”—a wonderful essay about the unparalleled significance of love in our lives. Throughout the book, hooks implores readers to love as an action and to allow love to frame our communities. As hooks states in her writing, “To begin by always thinking of love as an action rather than a feeling is one way in which anyone using the word in this manner automatically assumes accountability and responsibility.”
On my stroll through our spaces, it was clear to me that love is in action at Capitol Hill Day School. As I moved through our School what I observed (and attempted to capture through the photos below) spoke volumes regarding what we value and hold ourselves accountable to. Student voice is an essential element of our program. Creativity and critical thinking are integrated in ways that captivate and challenge learners. Curiosity and wonder are fostered through exploration and the opportunity to ask questions and seek answers.
On my walk, our walls did not talk to me, but love, as a verb, was on full display.
