How are independent schools to be useful to the wider world? Beyond their common commitment to educate their students for meaningful lives in service of the greater good, can they educate a broader constituency and, thus, share their resources and skills more broadly? Their answers to this question will be shaped by their independence. Any independent school that has set out to pursue a broad public purpose will have done so in its own way and at its own pace. From the author's perspective, this is the right approach. Each school exists in a unique setting with unique strengths and challenges. Each school must establish its own unique course. Yet, while the author believes that the range and diversity of programming is almost limitless, she has also come to see through her involvement with this work as head of two very different schools over the past 30 years that, when it comes to pursuing the common good, there are a few general principles to keep in mind. In this article, she discusses five principles: (1) Start with the basics; (2) Take risks; (3) Let a thousand shoots come up; (4) Welcome improbable ideas; and (5) Be opportunistic.