Finding Our Center
What keeps us grounded when the world around us gets noisy? What guides the choices we make, the people we become, and the impact we have on others?
Those were the questions at the heart of Head of School Kristy Kerin’s message as the Brewster community gathered on Brown Field for the opening All-School of the 2026-27 academic year. With more than 160 new students joining the community, along with new faculty and staff, Kerin introduced a word she hopes students will return to throughout the year: Center.
The word builds on last year’s theme of Commitment, which challenged students to consider what they were willing to work for and stick with, even when things became difficult. This year, Kerin asked the community to go a step deeper.
“Before you can decide what you commit to, you have to know what drives your choices at your core,” she said.
For Kerin, finding that center is especially important at a time when so many things compete for students’ attention. Friends, family, teachers, coaches, news, and social media all provide a constant stream of ideas, expectations, and distractions. The goal, she said, isn’t to shut out that noise, but to know yourself well enough that you don’t lose yourself in it.
A strong center, she explained, is what you return to: the values that guide difficult choices, the people and relationships that keep you grounded, and an understanding of what matters to you when no one else is watching.
That doesn’t mean staying the same. In fact, Kerin reminded students that growth and change are an essential part of the Brewster experience. Throughout the year, students will encounter people who challenge their thinking, discover ideas they haven’t considered, celebrate successes, and experience failures. Each of those moments offers an opportunity to learn more about themselves.
As students move through those experiences, Kerin encouraged them to return to a few questions: What do I stand for? What anchors me when things get hard? What kind of person am I becoming? What kind of impact do I have on others?
That final question, she said, is particularly important because having a strong center isn’t only about knowing yourself. It also shapes how you contribute to the people and communities around you, a reflection of the interdependence that is central to the Brewster experience.
Kerin closed by turning the idea of Center back toward the School itself. With faculty gathered around students on Brown Field, she reminded them that students are quite literally and figuratively at the center of Brewster.
“We’re a student-centered school. We’re a mission-driven school,” she said. “Our job is to make sure that we know you, that you feel valued, that you’re challenged, that you’re supported.”
And she left the community with one question to carry into the year ahead:
What do you put at the center of your life?
