The evening before the New Hampshire, IPA hosted the weekly meeting of the Rotary Club of Kapolei Sunset, the sponsor of our Interact Club. Their normal meeting site—Roy’s at Ko Olina—was temporarily out of commission because of a kitchen fire. Several of us are members of the club, so we offered to hold meetings here until the club can return to Roy’s.

The speaker was former Lt. Governor (Kapolei resident and St. Louis grad) James “Duke” Aiona, now an Executive Vice President at St. Louis School. St. Louis is the only all-boys school in the state of Hawaii, now that Damien has decided to become co-ed, and Duke’s topic was boys’ education. Many of you are aware of alarming statistics regarding boys and education in the U.S., and Duke’s presentation to the Rotarians sparked concerned conversation.

One might think that one independent school hosting the representative of another, speaking about the attributes of the latter, might be awkward. But, as Duke pointed out, it is an article of faith in the independent school world that, as mission-driven schools, we create and sustain unique school environments, occupying myriad niches in a broad educational market. So he could say, and we could agree, that his school and ours are not in competition with each other in any significant way. Even though we both have the purpose of preparing students for college, our schools have differentiated programs and emphases. Any given student is likely to find that one school fits him better than another, for whatever reason, and the attitude of professional admissions people is that their job is to help all kids find the right school for him or her.

The 10 p.m. TV news that night, and NPR radio the next morning, featured candidates for the Republican nomination for President warning the voters of New Hampshire about the duplicities, shortcomings and character flaws of their opponents. Only one candidate was shown saying that the campaign should be about how best to serve the country rather than about the shortcomings of everyone else in the race.

The contrast was striking. There are Principles of Good Practice articulated by the National Association of Independent Schools and regularly adhered to by principled member schools that the representative of one school does not engage in the verbal trashing of another. It just isn’t done. It is not the right thing to do. Of course we are interested in full enrollment in our schools, and of course we will make every effort to connect our school with appropriate candidates for admission. However, nobody wins when the “fit” between a student and a school is not right but the student enrolls anyway.

This letter comes to you on January 20, the date prescribed in the Constitution for the inauguration of a President every four years. Many of you know that I have written about Presidents and inaugurations and would qualify as something of a “political junkie” about the American Presidency. So, as I contrasted what happened in our MPR that night with what was happening in New Hampshire that same night, I wondered what it might be like if IPA were challenged with something analogous to running for President. How would we approach the “voters” and what would we see as important for the “electorate” to understand about us, hoping that, when the moment came, they would “elect IPA?” What do we say that makes the case for serving the constituents rather than highlight the shortcomings of everyone else?

I think the “voters” (our constituency):

• Want to have confidence in our judgment, understanding that exigencies present unique circumstances with regularity.
• Value the IPA school culture based on kindness, respect for others, generosity of spirit and helpfulness.
• Hold safety, emotional and physical, as the highest priority for their children.
• Want to know that IPA holds paramount the interests of those being served.
• Want the school to encourage initiative, inquiry, invention and academic risk-taking, developing in students the creative and collaborative skills needed for success in the 21st century.
• Expect the school to be clear about its mission and to have success in meeting the mission.
• Appreciate a school that can acknowledge mistakes and correct them where possible, but keeps mistakes to the minimum.
• Value the spirit of community implicit in collaboration with the school for a common purpose.
• Expect IPA to be good stewards of scarce financial resources, not charging more than it needs.
• Demand that the school not promise more than it can deliver.
• Will judge the school on results, like what graduates do when they leave IPA and how those young people conduct their lives.
• Will continuously evaluate the school’s record in living up to the attributes above.

Campaigns often feature bumper stickers. How about: “IPA: Where Curiosity and Creativity Burn Bright?” or “IPA” Where Values Matter,” which can fit on a smaller sticker?

I can only dream that campaigns for public office might mirror my imagined campaign to Elect IPA, but I can work actively toward the goal of having our school be worthy of election.

In truth, every tuition payment and every gift to the school is a vote of confidence. We pledge to be worthy of the trust they represent.