The joy of seeing each other … Sort of!
My takeaway from this week is that we have a WONDERFUL community. We have teachers who flexibly jump in and create an online school in an incredibly short amount of time; we have kids who are flexible and resilient and lean in to this new virtual version of school, and we have parents who are supportive of the kids and the school. In my opinion that is a trifecta!
Yes, there were some technical difficulties involving iPads and bandwidth, but on the whole, school launched, teachers taught, and kids started learning again. This is our goal; this is our purpose. I hope, on the whole, that the experience was solid for families. If your family is encountering “quarantine” anything like mine, having something to focus on and get after is a great help. My two kids are home, which is super, but they are experiencing all of the difficulties that come when college shuts down and they are asked to be at home 24/7.
I read a great article from the New York Times entitled “Quaranteenagers” which a CA parent sent my way (Thanks, Heidi). It outlined the many dimensions of disappointment that teenagers may be feeling at this moment. It also emphasizes how important it is for us to be empathetic about their loss of independence, freedom, opportunity, and connection that they may be feeling. It also points out just how resilient and flexible young people are. I have attached a link to the article here.
The long and short of it is that we are all trying to marshal our most flexible and positive selves each day to take on the challenges of the present. Your kids demonstrated this attitude beautifully all week in their various classes. To be honest, I think they truly enjoyed seeing each other, interacting, and getting back into the “normalcy” that school, even online school, creates.
We are eager to see that our “NEW” version of school continues to meet each student’s need for challenge and support. To this end, next week we are likely to invite you and the students to give us some feedback. You will also get an invitation from me to an open-door morning and then the following week to a Zoom MS parent session. I am eager to keep communication lines open and to hear how your children/families are doing and how we can support learning in all its forms in the coming weeks.
Best,
Bill
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