We're glad you're here
Welcome to Touchstone
I’m so glad that you’re exploring Touchstone!
​Choosing a school is a big decision. You might ask: Will my child be known? Will they be challenged? Will their curiosity be taken seriously? Will they have teachers who see who they are and help them discover who they are becoming?
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For more than 40 years, Â鶹´«Ă˝ has been an environment where students have had these opportunities and more. We believe that education is not just about preparing students for the future; it’s about equipping them to actively engage in the world today. We believe school should be a place that is inspiring, empowering, and centered in community. A place where education is an adventure, students are seen as individuals, and where learning is both vigorous and full of joy.
If you walk through Touchstone on an ordinary day, you'll see that learning takes many forms.
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You might find some of our youngest students in their rain boots and gear investigating the natural world. Outdoor Learning Choice gives preK and Kindergarten-aged children time to play, learn, and explore together in their outdoor classroom, no matter the weather.
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You might notice elementary students working on their presentations as they finish up a thematic study on birds. As they learn about birds’ habitats, migration patterns, and diets, they also dive into geography, animal behavior, and food webs while building important public speaking skills.
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You might walk into the middle school to find students deep in discussion about the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950’s and 60’s and comparing it to current social justice movements. Students at Touchstone don’t just learn dates and facts; they learn how to think critically and engage in open-ended discussion.
Relationships across ages are an important part of growing up at Touchstone. Children here belong not only to a classroom, but also to the wider Touchstone community. Younger students look up to older ones, and older students discover what it means to be someone a younger child looks up to. Over time, children move from being among the youngest members of the community to becoming its leaders, carrying a growing sense that they matter to others and have something meaningful to contribute.
As they move beyond the Touchstone campus, our graduates are curious and confident learners who know how to ask good questions, think critically, advocate for themselves, collaborate with others, and approach unfamiliar problems with creativity and persistence. They notice the people and world around them, understand that their choices matter, and believe that they are capable of contributing to a more innovative, just, and sustainable future.
I hope you'll come see Touchstone for yourself. I invite you to walk around our campus, step into our classrooms, meet our teachers, and see our students at work and at play. Most importantly, imagine your child here - where they will be known, challenged, curious, connected, and fully themselves.
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I look forward to welcoming you to Touchstone in person!
Warmly,
Elisabeth Swain
Head of School
Elisabeth Swain
Head of School
Elisabeth was appointed Head of School in July of 2025. She brings with her experience as an educational leader committed to progressive, student-centered learning. She is passionate about cultivating schools where curiosity, creativity, and compassion thrive.
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Elisabeth’s first classroom was in an Agway steel building in the middle of a field. It was there - exploring vernal pools, building forts with her students and learning and sharing the history of the land the school was on - that she fell in love with place-based, thematic learning. Bringing that with her to independent schools in East Providence, Exeter and Portsmouth, Rhode Island, as well as to Saipan in the Northern Marianas Islands, Elisabeth continued to connect students with the wider world and find ways to integrate social justice, nature-based learning and real-world experiences into the curriculum she was building. Elisabeth has had the opportunity to take on various roles outside of teaching and has experience in curriculum coordination/design, development/advancement, AISNE accreditation, and enrollment.
Outside of school, Elisabeth is an avid reader, a lover of the arts, and a parent who understands firsthand the joys and complexities of raising children in today's world.
From my earliest days as an educator, I have been drawn to schools that prioritize curiosity, connection, and transformative learning. The moment I stepped onto the Touchstone campus, I felt a connection to the engaged and joyful energy I found in every class that I visited.
Over the past two decades, I have fostered student-centered learning environments that empower young people to think critically and find their voices. Education is not just about preparing students for the future; it’s about equipping them to actively engage in the world today. I believe that school should be a place that is inspiring, empowering, and deeply human—a place where education is an adventure, students are seen as individuals, and learning is both vigorous and full of joy. Touchstone’s commitment to interdisciplinary, theme-based learning that is grounded in equity and inclusion is something I deeply admire, and I look forward to building upon this strong foundation.
As I step into this role, I do so with great appreciation for the work that has made Touchstone the vibrant learning community it is today. I look forward to listening, learning, and collaborating with the community — students, faculty, staff, and families — to honor the school’s traditions while embracing the exciting possibilities ahead.
