Chores at Northwood? It’s Stewardship

Northwood School has started a new tradition called “Stewardship” where every week, students from three advisory groups do chores around the school. This takes place after dinner for around 30 minutes. The goal is to teach students to develop the habit of helping around school and keeping our community clean. This emphasizes integrity, which is not only one of the school’s five core values but also this year’s school theme.

Last school year, during school meetings, frequent announcements were made stating that students needed “to clean up after themselves,” so it was becoming clear that we could not take care of our own spaces if nothing changed. “At Northwood, we believe that belonging to a community means taking responsibility for it,” said Mr. John Spear, Assistant Head for School Life. “I think if we have kids formally cleaning spaces, they will become a little more conscientious about those spaces, so when they graduate, they have the habit of always cleaning up after themselves and have integrity,” Spear added.

Spear researched similar chore programs at many other boarding schools. Northwood has been looking into this for years. “Once Mr. Riffle became head, he said, ‘Make it happen,” Spear said.

“I think it’s a great idea and it will engrave kids with integrity, teaching them to clean up after themselves,” Yosef Spear ’26, who was part of the first advisory group to participate in Northwood Stewardship, said.