This month’s lovely commencement ceremonies at Newton’s high schools naturally brought out the smiles and tears of many proud parents. 

And their pride is well-placed. Their children had just wrapped up an education from what state officials and news outlets such as Boston Magazine and U.S. News conclude is one of the most rigorous school systems in Massachusetts. 

I say “one of the most rigorous,” but not number one or maybe not the number from some other year. And that, despite the parents’ pride, has some in the community worried. Are we slipping?

The school district has sought to assuage concerns about rigor with a vision statement of competencies called the “Portrait of a Learner,” implemented over the past two years.

Like some of the speeches the students suffered through while awaiting their diplomas, the Portrait has its worthy aspirations but also its platitudes. Its high-minded language could simply obfuscate a call for the usual cluster of basic skills, or it may also hold out the promise of maintaining what makes a Newton graduate unique.

The Portrait is Newton Public Schools’ own spin on a nationwide set of competencies called a “Portrait of a Graduate” adopted by more than 20 states and dozens of districts within Massachusetts. It envisions graduates as end-products fitting neatly into the workplaces of the future. 

At least one part of Newton’s version includes the requirement of “compassion.” It asks teachers to make sure students are “taking risks, seeking opportunities to learn, supporting others, and approaching tasks with a focus on growth and understanding rather than outcomes.” 

It’s important that these goals are not pushed aside as we standardize curriculum and wring our hands over test scores. Of course, we want the “outcomes” of high skills and technical knowledge, but “understanding” makes our kids the people we want them to be as they enter their adult lives.

I recently had a chance to get a picture of the kind of person Newton has been sending out into the world for decades. 

At my daughter’s own graduation from Grinnell College in Iowa, just a few weeks ago, I felt an additional swelling of pride in my already overfull heart when I realized it was a Newton graduate who took to the podium as her commencement speaker. 

Chase Strangio, Newton North class of 2000, had been asked to speak given his acclaim as the first transgender attorney to argue before the Supreme Court.

In arguing United States v. Skrmetti last year as an ACLU lawyer, Strangio sought to expand the boundaries of the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause. As a high school student, he was “drawn to understanding history and power dynamics and was just sort of very curious about why things are the way they are,” according to an interview he gave to students at North.

Admitting to a “nonlinear” path after his own four years at Grinnell, Strangio told my daughter’s graduating class, “There will be plenty of people reminding you to work hard, push yourselves, never give up… So put that aside from time to time and sit in the softness, be gentle and curious, laugh and go find art.” 

He added, in what was the biggest applause line of the speech, “I cared a lot about my grades at the time, but I don’t remember what they were and no employer has ever asked.” 

Finally, he said, “Find your people and do not go at it alone.”

Against those who have claimed that Newton’s schools lack the rigor they once had, who claim our standards have been blanched by efforts to guarantee that all kids are part of the picture, Strangio’s presence and remarks reaffirm that our direction is sound.

We work hard to incorporate multi-level courses at the high schools and select texts throughout the grades that represent students from all walks of life. Those are examples of efforts to make sure our students learn functional skills and at the same time become people of understanding ready to contribute to their community.

It’s never wrong to reassess what we want as a school system for our students, and the Portrait of a Learner presents some admirable ambitions for them. 

These goals articulate preparation for the workplace, but they also allow us not to forget the qualities of humanity that have always carried graduates, like Strangio, into adulthood. That humanity is our tradition and our strength. 

I’d be remiss as a father not to mention my Grinnell graduate’s twin, who walked in the same busy weekend at Macalester College in Minnesota. 

Her speaker was the noted bioethicist and nurse Christine Grady, Ph.D., who addressed the crowd with a speech delivered, delightfully, in tandem with her husband, former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci. Grady sent the graduates off to their futures with these parting words: 

“Listen not only to your brains but to your hearts. People with a healthy, functioning moral compass are more grounded, productive, focused, and content with life and have nurturing and positive relationships with their environment and the people around them.”

In framing our aspirations for students’ portraits upon their graduation, let us not forget to provide them with the sound compass they’ll need for the day after.

Tom Fabian is an English teacher at Newton North High School and faculty advisor to its student newspaper, the Newtonite. He can be reached at tfabianteaching@gmail.com.