Spotlight: Christine Lewis, Interim Head of School

Interim Head of School Christine Lewis on Kiwi Influences, the Science of Learning, and Feeling a Strong Connection to SSFS

After a year as Assistant Head, Christine Lewis has been appointed to serve as Interim Head of School at Sandy Spring Friends School (SSFS). A seasoned administrator and expert in the science of teaching and learning, she is energized for her new role on campus.

Read on to learn more about what experiences have shaped her educational philosophy, why SSFS’s campus and community beckoned her from day one, and why she is so committed to leading and supporting the school during “a terrific school year ahead.”

You are originally from New Zealand, having moved to the U.S. in 2003. How does your upbringing inform your approach to education?

I grew up in New Zealand’s capital, Wellington, and earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry — with a minor in math — from Waikato University. I went on to do additional coursework in anthropology at Auckland University and a year at the Auckland Teacher's Training College, focusing on teaching high school chemistry. New Zealand’s approach to education is very progressive, so that’s where my style comes from. Learning is hands-on and experiential, and the land and larger community are very much part of the classroom experience. All New Zealand families have the right to an education that aligns with their culture and way of being. Teachers are trained to work with students and families from a wide range of cultural backgrounds, with particular attention to tikanga-ā-iwi, in a way they can easily relate to. So while my approach is highly student-centered, I consider the whole family to be my client.

What were some of your most impactful experiences in education prior to joining the SSFS community?

While raising my own children, I became heavily invested in their learning and interested in the science of instruction more broadly. When I moved to the U.S. in 2003, I decided to enroll at Drexel University to earn a master’s in the science of teaching and learning. For 16 years I worked at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School, as a primary classroom teacher for Grades K, 1, 2, 3, and 4, and, starting in 2013, with their Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning, The Center was established to address the fact that even though the brain is the primary organ of learning, educators aren’t taught much about how the brain works and how emotions are interwoven into intellectual processes. As their Lower School Head of Research (2019-2023), I led projects like the MBE (Mind Brain Education) Early Childhood Placemat and Elementary Roadmap, and collaborated on the Face the MBE Facts: Neuromyth Buster Card Set for Parents.  

My training—and, since 2010, my work as a trainer—in the Responsive Classroom approach has also informed the way I teach. Responsive Classroom is based on the idea that students learn most effectively and respond best when they’re engaged in meaningful, challenging activities based on their developmental needs. By creating and practicing classroom routines around these needs and behaviors, which take the whole classroom community into consideration, students buy into their own learning, and interpersonal disruptions are reduced.

What attracted you to SSFS?

Because of my childhood in New Zealand and my experiences there as an educator, SSFS’s progressive pedagogical style and goals are very familiar to me. Building lifelong learners who are self-directed, self-driven, and self-aware—these goals align with my own educational approach. Similarly, I notice a good deal of overlap between some of the cultural traditions of New Zealand and the Quaker values that SSFS lives by, like settling into stillness, leaving space for reflection, scrutinizing your thinking before you speak, offering space for others, and upholding community.

I will also say that in addition to the community, the physical campus was a strong draw. I was raised to have a relationship with the land and surrounding environment. In fact, I was deeply homesick for about 10 years when I came to the U.S. I missed the quality of the light, the smell of the sea air, the contours of the landscape, and the birds. Here at SSFS, from the preserved Open Space to the natural pond—one of only two in Maryland—to the plentiful fauna and flora (which flourish due to the School’s avoidance of harmful pesticides) to—my favorite—the Heron that flies over and roosts in the trees behind Scott House, the sense of the land hosting and supporting an incredible amount of positive human activity is magnetic.

With a year under your belt at SSFS, what strikes you the most about its students?

I’ll answer that question with two examples. At the end of last school year we had our final Meeting for Worship [the Quaker ceremony in which people gather as equals to sit in silence and speak as God/the Spirit leads them] for seniors. The class sat on the stage of the PAC [performing arts center] while the rest of the Upper School was seated, facing them. Everyone settled into stillness and silence and reflected. If they felt moved they stood and shared. Students gave kudos to seniors as a whole and then shined a spotlight on individual seniors who had directly impacted their lives. In all my decades being in schools I can’t say I’ve ever witnessed students stand up in front of their peers and tell another teenager how much they value their friendship and how big their impact has been.

Here’s another example from last school year: At the end-of-year assembly, all the students gathered together to sing the “George Fox Song” a Quaker song that has unofficially become SSFS’ school anthem. I’ve been in schools where only Lower School students sing, but here everyone was singing at the top of their lungs with such passion. Both of these examples signal the culture that exists at SSFS. And they are a real affirmation for me of who we are as a school and why this place is so meaningful to me.

What strikes you the most about the faculty and staff?

Every single adult on campus has a deep desire to provide the very best education they can for the students. Faculty motivation is exemplary here. We’re not a place devoid of disputes, but whenever there’s disagreement, it’s because those involved are passionate and may disagree on how to achieve the same goal. I appreciate that about our faculty. They all want to belong to an institution that prioritizes community. People here really care for each other.

As Interim Head of School, how would you characterize your vision for the curriculum across Preschool to Grade 12?

SSFS already has a thorough process in place for all curriculum changes to ensure that they are purposeful and align with our strategic plan. Any change to an academic program must be done in a thoughtful way, along a long arc. That said, we’re in the midst of an AIMS (Association of Independent Maryland and D.C. Schools) self-study and re-accreditation process, so every teacher is documenting their curriculum, units of study, objectives, standards, experiential elements, and assessment approaches.

You have a track record of commitment to institutional equity, justice, and belonging (IEJB). Why is this important to you?

First, I am the mother of two indigenous children, both of whom belong to the Ngai Tahu Iwi of New Zealand. It mattered to me when they were young that they had lessons in the language and understood and embraced their culture. My daughter went on to marry a Japanese man and my son, a woman from El Salvador. We are a multicultural family.

Second, I come from a country with three female prime ministers, a country in which women received the right to vote well before they did in the U.S. Moving to this country at the age of 40 was a bit of a shock to my system in the sense of having to understand the different role that women hold in society here—but this makes me proud to be SSFS’s first woman head of school. Lastly, I have helped train Teach for America teachers who were working in D.C. schools. Navigating through some pretty intense cultural differences between teachers and students has fueled my interest and concern about the need to grow in this area. There’s a real need to continuously scrutinize unconscious patterns.

What excites you most about stepping into your new role?

So many things! With experience as a classroom teacher of students elementary through high school—as well as training teachers—I am passionate about Preschool to Grade 12 education. I’m eager to continue to connect with and learn from all members of our community, to better understand and support our collective needs. Building on the momentum of professional development opportunities that [former head] Rodney nurtured is also important to me. And I’d like to continue increasing parent engagement to pre-COVID levels, so families and caregivers feel more connected and involved in the school.

SSFS teachers are tremendously committed, dynamic, knowledgeable educators. Their expertise combined with clear vision, strategies, and systems will make for a terrific school year ahead. I am really excited for it, especially for what the students are going to experience.