“WAB spirit, Gonghe. We’re the spirit of commitment and purpose. Each one of us contributes to the whole.”

Whether you’re new to WAB or have been around for a while, sooner or later you’re going to hear children singing those lines and start humming the tune. Gonghe holds a special place in the hearts and minds of the WAB community – to the extent that it has even been enshrined in our core values and informs everything we do.

The term was introduced by one of WAB’s founders Michael Crook, and has been an element of WAB’s approach since the very beginning.

“The Gonghe Spirit is not just a phrase. We live the Gonghe Spirit here at WAB,” WAB’s Head of School Dr. Marta Medved Krajnovic recently stressed at a staff assembly.

As important as Gonghe Spirit is to WAB, let’s be honest: it’s not a term that is easily guessed or intuitively understood. So what does it mean?  We reached out to our community to find out: