Consider the biological paradox of human childhood. A calf stands within an hour of birth; a fruit fly completes its life cycle in weeks. Yet the human child (evolution's most complex masterpiece) remains dependent for decades. Why? Because complexity demands time. This period of "neoteny" is an evolutionary strategy, granting us the unique neuroplasticity required to wire a brain for wisdom rather than just survival.

Most parents, much like today’s tendency toward over-parenting to manage every detail of a child’s upbringing, may be tempted to eliminate all uncertainty. They already curate their child’s social circles, schedule activities down to the last hour, and attempt to prepare them for every possible future. Choosing traits at birth would only seem like the natural next step in this pursuit of control. Yet such choices are often shaped not by the child’s future needs but by the parent’s own aspirations, fears, and lived experiences.

When we deny children this downtime, we short-circuit metacognition—the ability to think about one's own thinking. To navigate a future shifting faster than any syllabus can track, a child needs the mental "slack" to develop agency: the transition from being a passenger in their education to the pilot of their own mind.

Education is gardening, not manufacturing. You cannot pull a sapling to make it grow; you can only ensure the soil is rich and the light is sufficient. Let us prioritize the depth of their roots over the height of their stems.

Nature does not hurry, yet as we look at the world around us, it is clear that everything is accomplished.

- from the directors' desk