Grace and Peace,
This week the students of St. John’s school, and elsewhere, took exams, emptied out their lockers, and said goodbye for the summer, or longer. The school celebrated the past year at Baccalaureate, and sent the 8th grade off to high school at Commencement. It was a busy week that marked the end of a very strange and demanding year.
The St. John’s community can be proud of all the efforts to assure that the students of St. John’s School had a successful year. It was an all hands on deck moment and the faculty, staff, administration, students, trustees, and several church members accomplished much. I am thankful for Margery Bank, who in her first year as Head of School led these efforts. I am thankful also for God’s guiding light to show us the way.
Below is a reflection from Fr. Dan Heischman, Executive Director of the National Association of Episcopal Schools, I share his words of wisdom and reflection with you. While he is writing to a very large audience when I read this reflection St. John’s is clearly emerging in his description. None of us would have chosen the road we just traveled, though in the rear view mirror we can see that we were at the right place at the right time, and that God was with us.
Peace
Fr. Henry+
The Rear-View Mirror
The Rev. Daniel R. Heischman, D.D.,
Executive Director - National Association of Episcopal Schools
A head of school, recently and candidly, remarked to me, “I really look forward to seeing this school year in the rear-view mirror.”
At the time, I think this head was eager to put this school year to rest, a year in which even the most routine aspects of school life have taken on added complications. To be sure, nothing has been easy this past year.
As we close out this year of all years, what do we see in that rear-view mirror?
To be sure, there is exhaustion. Minus a real summer vacation for so many of our faculty, staff, and administrators in 2020—and on top of the extra precautions, the shifts in plans, and intensified anxiety—there has been little time to step back and pause, activities so necessary for a school being true to its very nature.
Still, our schools have done extraordinary things. In that rear-view mirror, we see teachers who have gone to remarkable lengths to make learning accessible and safe for students. Faculty and staff have stretched themselves beyond what they might have thought to be their limits. We have seen school leaders graciously balance conflicting expectations. So, too, we have seen boards of trustees roll up their sleeves and contribute in unexpected ways to the health and stability of their institutions.
Reflecting on the role of Episcopal schools in his diocese, the Rt. Rev. Peter Eaton of Southeast Florida recently observed that, “It has warmed the cockles of this bishop’s heart to see all our schools functioning not in desperation, but in hope; not stopped in their tracks by uncertainty, but taking bold steps in new directions; not giving up in moments of difficulty, but persevering to find the answers.”
In that rear-view mirror, we see schools that have been courageous, unflagging, and resourceful.
At the same time, we have also seen how, in the words of Margaret Wheatley, schools by their nature receive all of the issues of society. The polarization this pandemic has clearly surfaced in our schools; the national struggle for racial justice has been felt profoundly within our walls; the emotional health of students—a pressing issue prior to the pandemic—now looms as something that will remain with and increasingly challenge us moving forward.
Through it all, as Wheatley observes, we seek to be “islands of sanity” in turbulent and dehumanizing times. The struggle to be places where people work well together is at the heart of what it means to be an Episcopal school, and from the vantage point of the rear-view mirror we can take pride in what has been accomplished. God has been at work, and we have been strengthened through this struggle.
As we conclude the year, I ask of all of you: what do you see in that rear-view mirror?
