The Seasonal Nature of Schools

''Tis the season, as the song goes, and certainly this is one of my favorite times of the year--both in terms of the actual calendar year and the school year.  By and large the very nature of schools is seasonal, or more precisely, cyclical, so that we have distinct associations with every different turn of the calendar page.  Late August and early September are full of the newness of the year, with everyone fresh and ready to go.  Anything is possible!  By October the routine of school has settled in and students and teachers are building relationships, working through their new challenges; the general optimism of the start of the school year shifts to a more sustainable steady state.

 

By November and early December, even as the days get shorter and the weather turns cold, everyone is generally buoyed by the holidays and associated festivities.  Students are sometimes feeling a little bogged down by now, having battled through at least two or three tough five-day weeks where the demands have probably pushed them to their academic limit.  Seniors are occupied by the various pressures and excitement of the college process; most of them will have sent at least one application if not multiple apps by mid-November.  Teachers have settled into certain routines, as their August energy may have given way to a less ambitious, more pragmatic approach.  I don't see that as a downside, actually, but an important "correction" to the unbridled optimism of the early part of the year.  Teachers zero in on what is most essential to their students' learning and continue to build on the momentum they have established thus far.  I hear many teachers (and students too) talk about "getting into a groove" at this point in the year.

 

I could go on and on, month by month, but the point is that school years definitely have their own sort of rhythm.  I have noticed that school years with the fewest interruptions to this rhythm typically feel more fluent and go by more quickly.  Interruptions can come in many guises: perhaps a teacher or student leaves the school unexpectedly or a disciplinary issue rocks our sense of community.  On another note, sometimes weather or other outside factors can cause a certain amount of disruption.  I am pleased to note (knock on wood) that we have had very few of those sorts of bumps in the road thus far, and therefore the school year thus far has gone along quite smoothly.

 

I have been lucky enough to follow the seasonal nature of school much longer than most.  Whether as a student or a teacher/principal, I have been in school for almost as many years as I have been alive.  I'm not sure what I would do if I didn't have the wonderful opportunity to "re-boot" every late August and set forth on a new academic journey.  Here we are now, on the verge of closing out 2016, and I can already look ahead to the many aspects of school life that return every winter and spring. 

 

Happy holidays and see you all in 2017!