The Buzz

The concept of "failure immunity" offers a powerful framework for understanding why struggle is essential to adolescent growth – and why Proctor's model of deep relationships, experiential learning, and self-knowledge is designed around it.

We have a choice how we handle the winter months. We can retreat indoors and curse the cold, or we can embrace the amazing outdoor recreation opportunities available to us. At Proctor, we choose the latter. 

For the last twenty-five years, Proctor has led the way in understanding how to teach health and well-being to its students. We enter an exciting new chapter of this work under the leadership of Dr. Nancy Turkington. 

Imagine every young person leaving Proctor with a clearer understanding of what brings them energy, how their brain learns and manages emotions, what helps them fully engage in their surroundings, and how they navigate adversity.

Proctor Academy is incredibly excited to welcome Dr. Nancy Turkington as its new Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Turkington shares her thoughts on the unique opportunity at Proctor to build a high impact student health and well-being program that transforms lives and teaches students how to be well in the world. 

In our rush to protect and guide our children, we often inadvertently limit the very capabilities they will need most in an uncertain world. This exploration of "lighthouse parenting" reveals how stepping back creates essential space for young people to develop agency, resilience, and the confidence to navigate their own path forward.

We often feel good about the short-term successes that result from our involvement in our children’s lives because it validates our efficacy as parents. But are we zooming out to focus on our children’s long-term development of life skills that will allow them to enter adulthood with confidence, self-advocacy skills, and a sense of adventure? 

Each young person works to establish an island of competence on which they can stand. We see this in children of all ages - they flock to activities where they find success, and in that success, they begin to form their identities. Read more in today's blog! 

The Hays Speaking Prize showcases Proctor students' remarkable courage as they share personal narratives before the community. Beyond teaching public speaking, this 26-year tradition cultivates vulnerability, authentic self-expression, and a culture where students celebrate each other's successes.