Written by: Josh Griffin, Principal
On Monday, my wife Fran and I dropped off our 3-year old daughter Josie for her first day of preschool. As you know, the apprehensions of first-time school parents are numerous, and at least in our case, are not all particularly rational. Will she have fun? What will she learn? Will she listen to her teacher? Will she make new friends? Will she be safe? Questions raced through our minds as we prepared for Day #1. On the night before school started, as we were trying to get Josie geared up for her first day, I asked her, “What is it about school that you are most excited about?” She said, “Uh, I like to eat dinner, is my favorite choice … and, learning coloring is my favorite, and reading about numbers is my favorite.” I found her answer to be a refreshing reminder of the insightfulness and earnest nature of children, as well as a reminder that I should probably lighten up a little bit. Josie wants to learn, she wants to have social interactions with her peers, she wants to make friends, and she wants to listen to and learn from her teachers. She is curious and wants to understand her world as best as she can as a precocious three-year old. The traits I describe in Josie are common in children. Children want to learn, they want to spend time with their friends, and they want to connect with teachers, coaches, and mentors. However, at times, children will struggle with challenges in their lives, and have to persevere to overcome those challenges. During this school year, there will be plenty of challenges for our students, our teachers, our staff, and our parents and families. In fact, we face a historic combination of challenges - the Covid-19 pandemic, economic hardship, and questions of justice and racial equality in our nation. In the midst of these great challenges, we are tasked with reinventing our school. The health and safety guidelines placed upon our school are going to create an entirely new model for the D’Evelyn education, one that will limit many of the commonly held practices and routines of students, staff, and families. We are asking each of these groups to fundamentally change the way that they engage in school, based upon a plan that was finalized just over four weeks ago. This is no small task. There will be challenges, struggles, frustration, and anxiety among all groups in our school. With that in mind, it is important as a community that we all work together to: · Ensure the safety, health, and wellbeing of all D’Evelyn students, staff, and community members · Address all members of our community with care and respect · Commit to a sincere, acute focus on student learning The purpose of our school is to provide our students a rich liberal arts education that will prepare them for happy, full, and successful lives. We seek to educate children in a manner that they will be informed citizens and good people. I am abundantly confident that as a school, we can deliver on the promises laid forth in the D’Evelyn Founding Document, in spite of the challenges we face, if we focus on safety and health of all community members, treat each other with care and respect, and commit a strong emphasis on student learning. There will be bumps in the road, and at various points in the school year, the bumps may become severe. I hope that we can all commit to keeping our focus simple - let us all ensure that we are supporting our students as well as we can so that they can learn, grow, and develop during this academic year. In my time as a teacher, coach, and administrator, it always seems to be the kids that make the most out of the potentially challenging circumstances that they face. Fran and I are fortunate that Josie reminded us of this truth just this last week. While we were concerned about 100 things, Josie kept her focus on learning and making friends. As principal, I have many concerns and thoughts on my mind as we set out to launch our new school year, but I know our students will get us through these challenges. I am inspired by the resilience, grit, and optimism our students showed to complete the 2019-2020 school year, and I know that if we allow those important traits in our kids to shine, this will be a successful year. For those still wondering, how did Josie’s first day of preschool go, she and I can both assure you it went well. When I picked her up after her first day of preschool, a nearly 8-hour day, I asked her, “What did you do today at school?” She said, “we ate lunch and played.” A successful first day, indeed. On behalf of the D’Evelyn faculty, staff, and administration, please accept my sincere best wishes on a successful start to the 2020-2021 school year. Comments are closed.
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