Kingsley’s Head of School, Steve Farley, reflects on conferences, Professional Development, AI, and more. 

In the second week of school, you joined Upper Elementary on their traditional AMC Field Trip in the White Mountains. What were your takeaways from the trip? 

One of the most eagerly anticipated events of the fall in Upper Elementary is the three-day trip to the Joe Dodge Lodge in New Hampshire's White Mountains. Here, students have the opportunity to engage fully with nature and experience alongside their peers the glory of New England's highest peaks and, this year, some of its bluest skies. For me personally, it was a chance to check off one more item from my Kingsley bucket list!

"There must be provision for the child to have contact with nature; to understand and appreciate the order, the harmony, and the beauty in nature." –Maria Montessori

While I am always inspired by our students and their courageous approach to learning—demonstrated here in abundance through half-day and full-day hikes, sleeping away from home (for the first time for some), and forging new connections with classmates—my larger takeaway was seeing my incredible colleagues at work. Watching these teachers build connections and nurture courage student by student, doing so with genuine joy, reminded me once again of a simple but profound truth: our teachers truly love their work.

What better foundation could we ask for as we begin this year together?

Visiting each classroom and reading to our students is one of your most beloved Head of School responsibilities. What’s on your Circle Time reading list this fall?

I have some great new stories to share with friends across the school! Here are some of my recent favorites: 

• The Leaf Thief by Alice Hemming (Author) and Nicola Slater (Illustrator) is a funny look at fall through the eyes of Squirrel, who thinks everybody is stealing his leaves!
• I Am a Tornado by Drew Beckmeyer is a creative depiction of temper tantrums presented as a tornado and the cow who helps dispel the storm with his kindness.
• The Gigantic Turnip by Aleksei Tolstoy (Author) and Niamh Sharkey (Illustrator) is a farm folktale where all the animals pitch in to work together with the old man and old woman farmers to pull said turnip from the ground.

We know that being a lifelong learner, and cultivating that practice within each of our Kingsley students, is very important to you. What are you learning about lately?

For the past few months, I have focused my learning on gaining familiarity with AI in the workplace, specifically, how AI can serve as a strategic thought partner and allow my colleagues and me to increase and maximize the value of our time spent together in person with each other, our parents, and our students. This past summer, I completed a "Mini MBA for Business" through Section, an education and workforce transformation company founded by Scott Galloway with the goal of helping professionals and organizations adopt, understand, and leverage modern skills—especially around business strategy and AI. As part of my coursework, I developed deep skill in prompting as well as the ability to create personal AI agents.

I complemented this work with reading that focused on enhancing in-person interactions. Books that were part of this curriculum included Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect by Will Guidara, The Last Human Job: The Work of Connecting in a Disconnected World by Allison Pugh, and You Look Like a Thing and I Love You: How Artificial Intelligence Works and Why It's Making the World a Weirder Place by Janelle Shane.

Together, these books reinforce a critical insight: as AI handles routine tasks and administrative work, we have an unprecedented opportunity—and responsibility—to devote more energy to what makes us distinctly human. Guidara's exploration of memorable, over-the-top, bespoke hospitality reminded me that exceptional experiences come from deep attention to individual needs. Pugh introduces the concept of "connective labor"—the intentional work of creating and sustaining meaningful human bonds—which becomes even more valuable in an increasingly automated world. And Shane's examination of how AI learns, fails, and adapts shows us that these machines reflect both the best and worst of humanity, underscoring why human judgment, empathy, and connection must remain at the center of everything we do. My intention is to harness AI not as a replacement for human interaction, but as a tool that frees us to be more present, more thoughtful, and more connected within our Kingsley community and the larger world.

Relatedly, what have faculty and staff been learning on Kingsley’s recent Professional Development days?

This commitment to deepening human connection isn't just guiding my own professional development, it's also shaping how we're approaching faculty learning this year. Our opening professional development sessions were intentionally designed to build on last year's work around restorative practices and to reinforce the skills our teachers need to connect authentically with students and families.

Our first session focused on storytelling, bringing in a workshop facilitator to help our teachers explore how we model the very behaviors we hope to instill in our students. The central questions we wrestled with were powerful ones: How can I raise my voice and also be part of a diverse and powerful community? How can vulnerability bind us together? 

When teachers help students find their voices and tell their stories with confidence and empathy, they're doing the essential work of building trust and connection—the foundation of all meaningful learning. As a bonus, this work also empowers our faculty to tell Kingsley's story more compellingly to prospective families and friends in the community. Our second session addressed anxiety in children, equipping teachers with tools to identify intervention-level anxiety and partner effectively with families to ensure children get the support they need to thrive. Both sessions reflect my belief that as we become more efficient with administrative and operational tasks, we must become more skilled—and more intentional—in the deeply human work of understanding, supporting, and connecting with each child.

Today and tomorrow are Kingsley’s Goal-Setting Conferences, where parents and teachers come together to discuss their hopes and plans for each student’s growth this year. What do you remember about your own children’s school conferences? 

Looking back on Sam and Elise's school conferences over the years, what stands out most are not the grade reports or skill assessments, but rather those moments when a teacher truly saw my child—their quirks, their passions, their unique way of engaging with the world. I remember the history teacher who legitimized Sam's license plate collecting by inviting him to teach a lesson on Native American plates as a means of demonstrating tribal sovereignty, transforming what could have been dismissed as an odd hobby into a gateway for confidence and empathy. 

I recall teachers who, during those parent-teacher conferences, didn't just report on what my children were learning, but shared genuine excitement about who they were becoming. Now, with Sam at 25 working as an award-winning journalist in New Brunswick and Elise at 22 pursuing a career as a naturalist educator, I can trace their confidence and self-advocacy directly back to those early partnerships between school and home—to teachers who took the time during conferences to understand not just their academic progress, but their passions, their struggles, and their potential. Those conversations contributed to the foundation of the independent, purposeful adults they've become.

And just for fun… If you could play one song over the Kingsley intercom, for all our students and faculty to hear, which would you choose? 

There’s no way I can pick just one. Sorry, not sorry!

I would choose:

• “Fou du Fafa” by Flight of the Conchords. This is a silly, nonsense song that makes me feel better about my struggles to learn French with Duo Lingo.
• “Virtual Insanity” by Jamiroquai. A great song for dancing!
• “Call me Al” by Paul Simon. He is the maestro of clever song hooks, and the video with Chevy Chase is hilarious. Although, I suppose we would need a video intercom system to make that one work!

This has been the Kingsley Blog: Head of School Edition. Thanks for reading!