The Grey School's Virtual Campus

Well met, Faculty, Pupils, and Friends of GSW all, I hope that the day finds you in good health and high spirits.

For nearly twenty years, our Virtual Grey School of Wizardry has stood as part of our identity. Since its earliest days in 2005, vGSW has been a meeting ground for lessons, conversations, and discovery. Over time, its shape and purpose have changed with the School itself, adapting as technology evolved and our needs grew. Yet since the vGSW Renaissance of 2024, we've entered a new era. What began as a supplement to our coursework has become a cornerstone of our mission as a living campus that unites the intellectual and communal sides of our School.

Of course, that transformation has not been sudden or accidental. It is the result of countless hours of work from our faculty and apprentices who have chosen to build something lasting together. The Cohort Program, live-taught classes, and scenario-based learning initiatives have all grown from a single premise: that knowledge is best understood through experience. A page of text can teach theory, but a space can teach presence. When we learn in a shared environment, we are reminded that education at GSW is not a private pursuit but one steeped in community. After all, many of the lessons we teach at The Grey School such as wisdom, adaptability, service, and reflection, all depend on community. vGSW gives us that community in a form that is both practical and enduring.

I've spent a great deal of time reflecting on this... And the question before us to my mind is not whether vGSW should exist, but rather how fully it should serve as the seat of our School’s daily life. The answer, to me, has become clear. So, from 10/13/25 onward, the vast majority of GSW online events, clubs, and meetings will take place within vGSW. This includes moots, faculty gatherings, and apprentice-led activities of every kind. The forums and Discord will remain valuable tools for coordination, announcements, and record keeping, but the virtual campus itself will now stand as the center of our shared GSW experience.

I understand, this change will present challenges. Some will need to update their computers, others will need help learning to navigate the space, and I know that a few may even step back for a time as they adapt to this change. I do not take that lightly. Change, even when one feels it is right, often asks for patience. I want to be very clear when I say that my goal here is not to make anyone’s participation at GSW harder than it needs to be. I'm fully committed to make our collective work more meaningful. It is because of that commitment I believe this transition will lead to a stronger sense of identity for us as a school. Not through the removal of familiar tools, but through the unification of our School within one living environment and experience.

There is something essential about learning in place. Every university has its halls, its courtyards, its landmarks that carry memory. When a pupil walks through Ozmeade or gathers with peers at the Millstone Tavern, they are not entering a fantasy. What they're doing is stepping into the cultural center of a real institution. Without a shared campus, we risk becoming (or, perhaps even risk staying) a collection of individuals who study alone rather than a true school that studies together. vGSW resolves that divide, my good Wizards. It turns our distance learning into something participatory and, dare I say it, makes our study more real.

This change is also part of a larger vision for how The Grey School will continue to mature as an academic body. Our model has always been unique, neither bound by the rigidity of conventional institutions nor lost to the informality of hobby circles. We're a university that teaches the disciplined study of wizardry as an applied trade. For such a study to thrive, it needs both structure and a unique space. vGSW provides that balance. It's a place where our formal instructions can meet the living dialogue of the class room instead of being trapped behind the proverbial glass box of the essay response; Its a space where a written lesson can become an enacted one. It allows GSW's pupils and lessons to move beyond theory into demonstration, and collaboration... qualities, I must say, that have always defined the work of true education and Wizardry.

Now, it must be noted that our work at Highspire continues and reminds us that a school should also have a home in the physical world as well as the virtual. Though smaller for now, the campus holds importance. Those acres in Whitehall are a beginning and will serve us as a foundation upon which much will be built. Highspire represents the tangible side of our vision, a place where our pupils can gather and experience the living tradition of wizardry together in person. Yet, it is also true that the walls of any building can only hold so many...

vGSW, by contrast, has no such limits! It's open to every apprentice and magister, wherever they may be, offering nearly the same sense of belonging that Highspire gives to those who visit us in person. In many ways, the two campuses reflect one another. The tapestries, banners, and symbols that adorn our virtual halls are mirrored in the rooms of Highspire itself. Each gives meaning to the other. The physical lends weight to the virtual, and the virtual keeps the physical alive in our daily lives.

In time, as Highspire grows, the lessons learned through vGSW will guide its development as well. The Cohort Program, which has already shown us how to build structure and community within the virtual campus, will serve as the model for what physical cohorts at Highspire may one day become. In this way, both campuses, one of stone and wood... the other of pixels and code, work in harmony. Together, they offer us the tools we need as educators to continually evolve and offer the best we can for our charges.

There will, of course, be an adjustment period. Some may find the shift unfamiliar, and a few may question why it is necessary. To them, I say this: The world of learning is changing rapidly, and we have the opportunity to help shape how that change unfolds. Most online education has become impersonal, transactional, and detached from any sense of place. And in all frankness, that's just not the path I'm keen to see us follow. We've seen a need, and we're keen to fill it! We're building something different in an environment that values interaction, and presence. When we meet within a shared space like vGSW, we strengthen the bonds that hold us together. We see each other as more than names on a screen, but as the places, and experiences that surround them as well. That recognition builds a shared sense of belonging, and a space amenable to true growth and education, the very qualities that sustain any true university of note.

In time, I believe this will bring benefits far greater than the inconvenience it first presents. Pupils will find greater connection with one another and with the faculty who guide them. Clubs will develop traditions that endure from term to term. And the School itself will feel more tangible as a place that can be visited, and indeed, remembered.

Every era of the School has built upon the last, and each new tool we have adopted has expanded our reach. So I ask each of you to take part in this new chapter. Walk our virtual campus, attend a club, host an event, or simply explore and meet a peer. Let yourself experience what we've built together free of any baggage or hesitation. In doing so, you'll be helping to shape the next chapters of this School for years to come.

We're entering a time of great change here at GSW and beyond, and in such times of transformation it is the bonds of fellowship and community which prove most valuable. As we continue to improve all that GSW is and offers, this change will enable us to truly embrace all that it means to be a Wizard in the World Today.

Wizardly Regards, Headmaster Kingsley ᛞ Learn more About vGSW here: https://www.greyschool.org/vgsw