Head of School Mar 8, 2024
Dear Seven Hills Families,
Four years ago, when we opened The Schiff Center, one of our fondest hopes was to provide frequent opportunities to bring together our students to celebrate the arts. Last Friday was one such occasion, when some 350 students in grades four through eight gathered for a performance of “Matilda Jr.,” staged by the Middle School. What a fantastic experience!
Based on a novel by Roald Dahl and adapted by Tim Minchin and Dennis Kelly, the musical tells the story of a bright and precociously bookish little girl who rebels against the unjust constraints of both her family life and the English day school to which she is consigned. Matilda Wormwood is raised by two neglectful parents. Her father, an unscrupulous used car salesman, is embroiled in a plot to sell high mileage vehicles, unknowingly, to the Russian mob. Her mother is a self-absorbed wannabe actress who devotes her time to practicing dance numbers with her flamboyant pseudo-Italian partner, Rodolfo. Contemptuous of Matilda’s creativity and intelligence, her parents forbid her to read and park her in front of the “telly” as they pursue their own meretricious avocations.
Her school life is no better. Crunchem Hall is run by Miss Trunchbull, the jackbooted headmistress (why is the Head of School always the villain?), who trained for her career in education by competing in the Olympic hammer throw. When her authority is questioned, she recites the school motto “children are maggots“ and insists on “rules, Honey, rules,” singing, at one point, “if you wanna throw the hammer, stay inside the circle … you don’t need happiness, or self-esteem.“ In a meeting with one of her teachers, she offers this advice: “to teach the child, you must first break the child,” and when she senses rebellion in the ranks, she takes over the physical education classes to “wash away the sickening scent of rebellion … and dissent.“
Matilda’s plight warms the heart — and the imagination — of her teacher Miss Jennifer Honey, who advocates for Matilda, defends her students against false accusations, and protects them from “ the chokey,” a kind of medieval torture chamber that awaits those children who color outside the lines. In the end, Matilda’s courage and eagerness to stand up to injustice inspire both Miss Honey and her classmates, who, during the show’s climactic number, “Revolting Children,” celebrate their success in running off Miss Trunchbull and replacing her with compassionate and empathetic Miss Honey.
In the end, the show is about our obligation, not only as children, but as adults, to fight the injustices we see around us. In “This Little Girl,” with the passion and conviction that animate so many of our teachers here at Seven Hills, Miss Honey sings: “But this little girl/This miracle/She seems not to know/That’s she’s special at all…/And what sort of teacher would I be/If I let this little girl fall through the cracks I can see/This little girl needs somebody strong/To fight by her side.”
And later in the show, as the children look forward to their futures, they sing “When I grow up/I will be strong enough to carry all/The heavy things you have to haul around with you/When you’re a grown up … And when I grow up…/I will be brave enough to fight the creatures/That you have to fight beneath the bed/Each night to be a grown up.”
What a lovely message and how charmingly delivered! Thanks to our Middle School theater team, Jacob Hauser, Trey Tatum, and Kathryn Rosenberg, and to all the cast and crew who worked so hard to create this experience for our students.
Christopher P. Garten
Head of School
Key Dates & Events
Saturday, March 9 — LGBTQIA+ Family Social, 12-2 p.m.
Sunday, March 10 — Daylight Saving Time Begins. Move clocks ahead one hour.
Wednesday, March 13 — Board of Trustees Meeting, 6:30 p.m.
Friday, March 15 — Spring Break Begins at 3:15 p.m.
Monday, March 18-Friday, March 29 — Spring Break. No School.
Monday, April 1 — School Resumes