Taking adolescents seriously - A Conversation with Chris Balme

For new parents and early years educators, there’s a wealth of
guidance and support for how to understand what’s happening for
our babies and toddlers, but when it comes to the stories we tell
about adolescence, an equally important period of significant
change, sometimes it’s more just get your head down and get
through it! As millions of young people make the big transition
to Middle School, I was very curious to learn from one of the
real experts, not only of the patterns of change and development
at this time, but also of how to create educational environments
that really take these young people seriously! 


Chris Balme is an education leader, writer, and school founder,
passionate about helping young people discover more of their
human potential. He is the author of Finding the Magic in Middle
School: Tapping Into the Power and Potential of the Middle School
Years, which was published in 2022. 


Chris currently serves as Founding Principal at Hakuba
International School. He is also the Founder & Director of
Argonaut, an online advisory program for middle schoolers around
the world. Prior to this, Chris co-founded and served as Head of
School at Millennium School, a highly successful lab school in
San Francisco.


Chris has received the Ashoka Fellowship as a leading changemaker
in education, and regularly speaks, trains, and writes for
parents and teachers around the world. For more, see Chris’s
newsletter, Growing Wiser.


Social Links


LinkedIn: @chris-balme - https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisbalme/


Instagram: @chrisbalme -
https://www.instagram.com/chrisbalme/