A Decade of Making Good People

Celebrating 10 Years of Walden International School

“Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” — Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Ten years ago, we founded Walden International School. If I recall correctly, starting a school from scratch was probably the second impossible thought we had before breakfast that morning.

The first? That was my decision to leave a secure career in public education and venture into the unknown.

I had spent 20 years in education, and seen a great deal that made me proud to be an educator. But I had become increasingly concerned about the direction education was taking. Test scores, standardized measures, and academic performance were receiving increasing attention, sometimes at the expense of the children those measures were intended to serve.

I thought we could do better. More importantly, I thought we should.

And so, in 2016, Walden opened its doors.

Ten years later, I can say that taking that leap was one of the best decisions of my life. Not because everything has gone according to plan (it certainly hasn't!), but because I've had the privilege of watching an idea become a school, a school become a community, and that community become something much greater than any of us could have imagined.

Making Good People. Then and now.

From the beginning, our purpose has been to Make Good People.

It's a simple idea, although putting it into practice requires considerable thought, care and commitment.

Of course, we want our students to excel academically. We want them to develop strong foundations in reading, writing, mathematics and the sciences. We want them to ask good questions, work hard, discover their abilities and take pride in their accomplishments.

We also want them to understand that what they know is only part of who they are.

How they treat others matters. So does their willingness to listen, to question their assumptions, to stand up for someone who needs help, and to acknowledge when they've made a mistake.

These qualities aren't separate from a good education. They're essential to it.

Over the past decade, we've watched students grow in ways that can't always be captured on a report card. We've seen quiet children find their voices, confident students learn the value of listening, and young people discover that their actions can make a difference in someone else's life.

Those moments mean every bit as much to me as their academic accomplishments.

Ten years of learning. For all of us.

One of the most important milestones in our first decade was becoming an International Baccalaureate (IB) World School, offering both the Primary Years Programme and the Middle Years Programme through Grade 8.

Achieving that distinction took an enormous commitment from our teachers and staff. It was also an important affirmation of the educational approach we had chosen from the beginning.

The IB encourages children to be curious, to think independently, to consider different perspectives and to take an active role in their learning. Rather than simply memorizing information, students are encouraged to understand what they're learning, why it matters and how they might put that knowledge to use.

We live in a world where information is available almost instantly. With a few keystrokes, or a question posed to an AI assistant, we can find answers that might once have taken hours of research.

Technologies and opportunities we can scarcely imagine

That's remarkable. But I wonder whether we're sometimes confusing having an answer with understanding it.

Knowing something and understanding something are not necessarily the same thing.

Our children will grow up with technologies and opportunities we can scarcely imagine today. They'll also face questions and challenges for which there may be no easy answers.

They'll need to know how to think, not simply what to think. They'll need the confidence to ask questions, the patience to examine different points of view and the judgment to decide what deserves their attention and trust.

And they'll need the human qualities that no technology can replace: empathy, kindness, integrity and the ability to connect with others.

In many ways, that's what our commitment to Making Good People has always been about.

Still at the beginning

An anniversary naturally invites us to look back. And there is much to celebrate.

We've grown from an idea into a school offering a complete IB learning experience from the early years through Grade 8. We've welcomed wonderful families, worked alongside extraordinary educators and watched students move on to the next stages of their education.

I'm enormously proud of what we've accomplished together.

But perhaps the most important thing I've learned over these ten years is that education is never finished. There's always something new to understand, something to improve, or a better way to help a child discover what they're capable of.

The world has changed considerably since 2016. And Walden has changed with it.

We will continue to explore new approaches to teaching and learning, make thoughtful decisions about the role of technology, and pay close attention to our students' well-being.

But some things won't change.

We will continue to see children as individuals, each with their own interests, abilities, and possibilities. We will continue to value academic achievement without allowing it to become the only measure of success. And we will continue to make kindness, curiosity and respect part of everyday life at Walden.

Because after ten years, I'm more convinced than ever that helping children become good people is one of the most important things we can do.

And one more thing. Thank you.

No one builds a school alone.

To the teachers and staff who have brought such energy, imagination and commitment to Walden, thank you.

To the families who placed their trust in us, especially those who joined us when our school was little more than an idea, thank you.

And to our students, past and present, thank you for reminding us every day why we started this journey.

Whether you've been part of the Walden community for ten years or ten days, you've helped make this school what it is today.

Lewis Carroll may have been onto something with those six impossible things before breakfast.

Sometimes, the things that seem impossible are simply the things we haven't tried yet.

Here's to the next ten years of learning, questioning, growing and Making Good People.

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Questions Parents Often Ask Us

What IB programmes does Walden International School offer?

Walden is an authorized IB World School offering both the Primary Years Programme (PYP) for early years through elementary, and the Middle Years Programme (MYP) through Grade 8. This provides a complete IB continuum for students from early childhood to high school preparation.

How does an IB education at Walden differ from traditional schooling?

Unlike traditional curricula that rely heavily on passive memorization, the IB framework fosters inquiry-based learning, critical thinking, global awareness, and character development. Students learn to ask big questions, solve real-world problems, and take ownership of their education.

How can prospective families experience Walden before applying?

We invite parents to start by scheduling a private campus tour to explore our classrooms. Beyond the tour, we offer something you won't find at many other schools: prospective students are invited to join us for a two-day class visit before you make your final decision. It’s a wonderful way for your child to experience our community firsthand and see how it feels to be a Walden student.