Speaker Series

LifeCompass Speaker Series

The LifeCompass Speaker Series for parents hosts speakers throughout the year in the evening to support the School's aim to build authentic, collaborative relationships with parents and offer parent enrichment. These seminars are designed to offer expert information and resources to parents. The LifeCompass Speaker Series at Montrose School is open to the public and free of charge.

Inaugurated by the Head of School, the LifeCompass Speaker Series for students was established to bring to campus speakers whose inspirational stories give witness to greatness of mind, heart and character in action. Their life portraits become part of our ongoing conversation about what matters most in life and the call to respond nobly to the challenges and opportunities before us.

Recent speakers include

Arthur Brooks on "Love Your Enemies"

Montrose School hosted Dr. Brooks for an afternoon and evening of presentations on his widely acclaimed book, Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America from the Culture of Contempt.

Montrose juniors and seniors joined Dr. Brooks for a roundtable discussion on everything from building bridges across the political divide to the radical prospect of really “loving your enemies.” He also spoke to the wider parent community about “The Most Important Thing in Life” and captivated the audience with his wit, his moving stories, and his research into how expressing love can help us forge deeper, more meaningful connections with friends, family, and strangers -- and those we struggle to embrace.

Hear more from Dr. Brooks on Montrose Podcast.

Dr. Brooks is Professor of the Practice of Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School and Arthur C. Patterson Faculty Fellow at the Harvard Business School and columnist for The Washington Post. Before joining the Harvard faculty in July 2019, he served for ten years as president of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a public policy think tank in Washington, DC. An economist by training, he has spent decades studying culture and public policy. His work in topics from technical economics to the sources of human happiness has established his reputation as a bestselling author, a prolific social scientist, and an original thinker.

Kerry Cronin on "Friendship and Dating"

In an era of texting, social media and swiping left or right, has dating for young people become outdated?

Montrose hosted an evening with Dr. Cronin of Boston College, star of the documentary The Dating Project. After a screening of the 70-minute film, Dr. Cronin discussed how we can help young people bring back the “social script” of dating.

Earlier in the day, Dr. Cronin met with groups of upper school students and spoke with them about friendship and dating. "One thing that I really admire about Montrose...is the beautiful vision of education and of personal and intellectual and spiritual flourishing here," she told Montrose Podcast host Mary Cahill Farella.

Listen more on Montrose Podcast.

A popular and frequently requested speaker, Dr. Cronin is known on the Boston College campus as “the dating professor.” Her assignment for students to ask someone out on a date has been covered in the Washington Post, Boston Globe and Chicago Tribune. Dr. Cronin is the Associate Director of BC’s Lonergan Institute and Philosophy Fellow at the Center for Student Formation.

Dr. Leonard Sax on "Instagram Ate My Daughter"

Recent research demonstrates that the more time a girl spends on social media, the more likely she is to become anxious or depressed. Dr. Sax addressed why this effect is so strong for most girls and what parents need to know - and do - about how their daughters are using social media, as well as a variety of other questions on adolescent development.

Dr. Sax is an internationally sought-after speaker and author of four books on child and adolescent development, including Girls on the Edge and Boys Adrift. He has appeared on the Today Show, CNN, NPR, PBS, Fox News and other international news outlets. A graduate of MIT with an MD and PhD from the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Sax maintains a clinical family practice in Chester County, PA.