09/11/2026
In our first weeks at Verdi EcoSchool, we spend a lot of time discovering the rituals that become part of the fabric of our days. Learning where we belong, how we contribute, how we listen, and how we repair when things don’t go the way we hoped.
This week, I noticed so many of those moments around campus: children settling into familiar routines, friendships taking root, small acts of care, laughter, moments of disagreement, and the equally important work of navigating those disagreements with honesty, empathy, and respect.
And today, September 11, carries another kind of weight.
Twenty-five years ago today, we lived in a city that was changed forever. As New Yorkers, we witnessed unimaginable loss and heartache. We remember the lives lost, the families forever changed, the courage of first responders, and the countless acts of humanity that emerged in the aftermath.
I also remember something else about those days: how people came together.
How, in some of our darkest moments, we saw one another more clearly. How neighbors helped neighbors. How strangers became sources of comfort. How the city could suddenly feel profoundly connected.
Twenty-five years later, that is the part I want to carry forward: remembrance as a commitment.
A commitment to connection. To belonging. To listening across our differences. To teaching our children that conflict does not have to divide us, that repair is possible, and that caring for one another is a strength.
Perhaps that is why this week’s ordinary, beautiful moments on campus feel especially meaningful today.
A child finding their place.
A friend reaching out.
A disagreement worked through.
A community learning, day by day, how to be a community.
These are small things. And they are also everything.
Today, I am holding both the heartache and the hope.
Remembering those we lost. Remembering the humanity we witnessed. And believing deeply in what we can build together when we choose connection over division, curiosity over judgment, and care over indifference.
In some of our darkest moments, we shine brightest, not individually, but collectively.
May we keep building toward that light.
