Inside the Ethics Institute: Summer Recap & What’s Ahead in 2026–2027
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Summer Recap
Summer 2026 was an exciting season at the Ethics Institute at Kent Place!
In June, students participated in Ethics and the Arts, exploring the many ethical considerations curators navigate when planning a museum exhibition. They then applied this ethical lens while examining exhibits at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York City.
In July, students from KPS and beyond participated in two additional programs: Ethics & Economics and Bioethics for High School Students. Participants heard from renowned economists and bioethicists and took their learning beyond the classroom with visits to Bloomberg headquarters, in New York City, and Summit’s Overlook Medical Center.
If you’re interested in next year’s summer programs, details will be available on December 4 — so mark your calendars and stay tuned.
Looking Ahead
Now, the Ethics Institute is turning its attention to the year ahead.
The 2026–2027 academic year is set to be full of lively ethical dialogue, workshops for parents, challenging Ethics Bowl competitions, unique summer programs, and opportunities for our entire community to engage with some of the world’s most pressing topics. Students will also have opportunities to explore ethics in the classroom through a variety of courses offered across our K–12 Course of Study. Here are some of the initiatives to look forward to.
REBOOT: Resetting Ethical Boundaries on Our Technology. The student-led group that empowers their peers to take charge of their digital lives continues to grow within and beyond our Kent Place community. Middle and Upper School REBOOT Summits involving schools from across the region are held annually and focus on a timely topic of interest or concern. And our award-winning podcast, Kent Place’s very own Tapping In, is preparing to launch its next season. Listen to previous episodes here. Read more about REBOOT here.
Lodestar, the Ethics Institute’s student-run journal, is in its third year of publication. Editors-in-Chief Kara Hoang ’27, Katie MacKay ’27, and Laila Gandhi ’27 are hard at work planning for the Fall 2026 issue. Learn more about Lodestar here.
As artificial intelligence continues to be a dominant issue in our classrooms and our lives, the Ethics Institute is expanding its work around the ethical questions it presents. Ethics Institute Director Karen Rezach and Director of Technology Kimberly Pearson have already led faculty training on ethics and AI for area schools. They’re also working with the Kent Place Upper School on an Ethics and AI Task Force and developing thought leadership pieces to help students navigate the new ethical challenges AI presents. Those in our community who have AI expertise are warmly invited to serve as advisors to the Ethics Institute.
The Ethics Institute continues to offer programming as part of Kent Place’s Empowered Parent Program, beginning this year with Ethics 101 on Thursday, September 24. We look forward to welcoming new and returning community members who are interested in learning more about the Ethics Institute and how to take part in ethical conversations about current issues. Register for this workshop and learn more about the Empowered Parent Program here.
The Upper School Ethics Bowl Team is looking ahead to a successful competition season. Currently the reigning champion of the Harvard High School Ethics Bowl, the team has five spots available for new members. Tryouts will begin the week of September 28, and students are encouraged to check their inboxes for application information. Learn more here.
Portraits of Empowerment: Leading with an Economic Mindset, one of our newest ethics offerings, is being held in the Bloomberg Lab in the Upper School. Throughout the trimester, students will use Bloomberg terminals to deepen their understanding of economic topics and engage in ethical dialogue around the issues they encounter. We’re also planning workshops for parents who are interested in learning more about our ethical approach to economics.
After a productive summer, the Bioethics Project will continue with its 2026–2027 cohort, who will work throughout the school year with mentors from Georgetown University as they conduct research and write scholarly papers exploring ethical issues related to food and water.
Keep an eye out for the Ethics Everywhere Newsletter, which you’ll receive monthly starting in the first week of October. All Kent Place parents are included in this distribution. If yours doesn’t arrive, please email ethics@kentplace.org. In the meantime, catch up on previous newsletters here.