Message from the Head of School

“A book is like a single tree in a forest, in that it exists in conjunction with and because of a great many others around it.” — David Suzuki, scientist, author, and activist

We’re fortunate in Puget Sound to see the beauty of trees and the wonder of forests almost literally in our backyards. A walk in Seward Park reveals towering Douglas fir leaning into the light beside Sitka spruce, tall and droopy western red cedars sheltering western hemlocks beneath them, and big leaf maple carpeting the forest floor in orange and red in the fall. 

Whenever I’m lucky enough to be able to walk through those amazing trees in our incredible forests, I’m struck by the unique character and story of each tree, and their collective power and potential.

And on each walk, I think about the similarities between the growth and individuality of trees and the unique growth of students.

Schools should be forests, in all of their biodiversity, in the community they nurture, and in all of the ways that growth occurs beside fast streams and still ponds, in bursts and cycles, and over seasons and years. 

SAAS is, I believe, a healthy forest. 

SAAS is not a tree farm.

Tree farms don’t nurture traits like resilience, adaptability, and uniqueness; those are traits that characterize a healthy forest and that we deeply want for our kids and communities.

If you walk through the forest that is SAAS, what will you see?

You’ll see students in a group planning and organizing, big-picture thinkers who brainstorm and imagine, and pattern thinkers who weave the disparate ideas of the group into a coherent whole. 

You’ll see students who excel at seeing patterns in data, writers who wield language with deftness and precision, and speakers who distill complicated topics with grounding clarity.

You’ll see kids who can make magic happen with a spot welder in their hands, and performers who bring worlds to life on stage… thanks to the kids who build the set and who run the lights and sound.

They’re learning about each other and from each other. They’re growing individually, but are connected in the same way that the roots of aspen groves connect in the soil.

Henry David Thoreau, that great fan of walking, writing, trees, and forests, once noted that “I took a walk in the woods, and came out taller than the trees.”

That perhaps best sums up what we want for our students as they grow together like trees in a forest, becoming capable and aware young adults who can speak and listen, who can act and reflect, and who recognize the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Rob Phillips
Head of School