November 1, 2026
Information for the Next Attempt
WHAT
There is something interesting about asking for feedback.
We say we want to learn. We invite people to tell us what they think. We ask questions, collect responses, and look for patterns.
And then the feedback arrives.
I wonder how often our first instinct is to determine whether the feedback is good or bad, rather than what we might learn from it.
Recently, we invited our Mack community to participate in our first Pulse Check, a brief, anonymous survey intended to help us understand how people are experiencing our school’s identity, communication, priorities, and direction.
Forty-six people responded.
One result was especially encouraging: 41 of 46 respondents (89%) agreed or strongly agreed that Mack is moving in a positive direction.
I am grateful for that encouragement. Deeply.
But there were other important signals in the responses, too.
In an optional space for written comments, some respondents expressed uncertainty about our priorities. Others asked for greater clarity about whom we serve and how consistently we are meeting the needs of gifted and twice-exceptional learners. There were also expressions of appreciation and recognition of progress.
These voluntary comments don’t tell us how widely any particular perspective is shared. But each offers something worth understanding.
And I have found myself returning to a question of my own:
What if feedback is most valuable not because it tells us how well we are doing, but because it helps us understand what to do next?
SO WHAT
Earlier this week, I recorded a conversation for the Parent Engagement Network’s Parenting Well podcast. Among the many topics we explored was a distinction I have been thinking about for years.
The difference between performing and learning.
For some children, especially those accustomed to being recognized for their intelligence or their ability to get things right quickly, the distinction can become surprisingly consequential.
When success becomes part of our identity, feedback can feel like a verdict.
A correct answer confirms who we believe we are.
A mistake threatens it.
But learning asks something different of us.
Learning requires us to remain open to discovering what we don’t yet understand, to experimenting with possibilities, and to revising our thinking when new information arrives.
Feedback, in that sense, is not primarily a judgment.
It is information for the next attempt.
I wonder whether the same distinction matters for schools.
If our goal is to perform as a successful school, we may become particularly interested in evidence that confirms our success.
But if our goal is to keep learning as a school, then both encouragement and constructive criticism become useful.
We want to understand what is working.
And we want to understand where we can do better.
That distinction was on my mind during another experience this week.
Mack Boulder recently applied to and was accepted into the Association of Independent Schools for Gifted Students (AISGS). As part of this exciting new connection, we welcomed Terry Lee, Associate Head of School at The Nueva School and director of AISGS, for a site visit.
Liz Rippey and I walked with Terry through our garden and farm, discussing permaculture and the possibilities of learning from living systems. We visited the seventh graders’ Civil Rights Arts Museum, where students had created powerful artistic interpretations of historical events, laws, and struggles. And we joined Spooky Science, where eighth graders were teaching fifth graders through Halloween-themed science investigations.
These were wonderful glimpses of Mack.
Students creating. Investigating. Teaching. Making meaning.
Terry was especially complimentary of the students’ showcases of learning and the depth of inquiry they demonstrated.
We also shared the Mack Compass, a visual representation of our identity that we have worked thoughtfully to develop. It captures something essential about the experience we want every Mack learner to have: being known, affirmed, challenged, supported, and empowered.
As we talked about our school’s distinctive identity, we were also witnessing examples of that identity coming alive.
But a morning’s visit, however inspiring, cannot reveal the entire experience of a school.
Neither can a survey.
The deeper work is to become curious about what these experiences are telling us.
What conditions made those powerful learning moments possible?
How might we create more of them?
Where are our aspirations not yet consistently matched by students’ daily experiences?
And what might we need to change?
NOW WHAT
I hope our Pulse Check becomes more than an occasional measurement of community sentiment.
I hope it becomes part of how we learn together.
That means recognizing and celebrating what is working without allowing celebration to become complacency.
It means listening carefully when someone describes an experience that does not match our intentions.
It means being clearer about our priorities, more transparent about our progress, and more willing to experiment with improvements.
And it means returning to the community to share what we are discovering and doing.
We have already begun that work with intention. Our six annual strategic priorities emerged from a synthesis of Mack’s ACIS self-study and accreditation findings and responses, IB reauthorization work, and the winning aspirations developed through previous Board and school leadership efforts. Organized around Purpose, People, Prosperity, and Place, they address our identity, program excellence, adult culture, consistency and trust, financial sustainability, and future campus and systems.
We shared this framework at Mack Forward and in the accompanying materials. And we are using the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) to translate those priorities into quarterly commitments, clear ownership, and regular reflection on our progress.
There is a kind of reciprocity here.
We ask our students to be inquirers. To take intellectual risks. To welcome feedback. To reflect, revise, and try again.
Surely the adults and the school itself should be willing to practice those same habits.
Perhaps that is one of the most meaningful ways we can model what learning looks like.
Not by presenting ourselves as finished.
But by making our own learning visible.
So, thank you to those who participated in the Pulse Check. Thank you for the encouragement, the questions, the appreciation, and the constructive challenges.
All of it gives us something to learn from.
And perhaps that is the most important question any of us can ask when feedback arrives:
What will I do differently because of what I am learning?
The view from here: Feedback is not the end of the conversation. It is information for the next attempt.
Rooted & Rising,
Bo
Mack Pulse Check | At a Glance
October 30, 2026 · 46 anonymous responses
The percentage of respondents who agreed or strongly agreed with each statement:
| Pulse Check Statement | Positive Responses |
| Our direction: Mack feels like a school moving in a positive direction. | 89.1% (41/46) |
| Our communication: Communication helps me understand what is happening and why it matters. | 89.1% (41/46) |
| Our identity: I understand what makes Mack distinctive more clearly than three months ago. | 69.6% (32/46) |
| Our priorities: I have a clear sense of Mack’s most important priorities. | 63.0% (29/46) |
Of those responding, 17 attended Mack Forward, 17 reviewed the follow-up materials, and 12 had not yet done either.
These results represent the 46 community members who chose to participate, rather than a representative sample of the entire school. Written comments were optional and provide additional perspectives for our ongoing learning.
