Dear MPH Community Members,

Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures . . . and extraordinary people!
And the MPH community is teeming with special individuals who are stepping up to lead and support our collective efforts to prepare for the 2020-2021 school year.
Let me highlight a few examples:

MPH Summer Camps — Today is the final day of our modified Summer Programs experience, and by all accounts, the last eight weeks have been successful. Kudos and congratulations to the leaders and staff members, who ensured a healthy, safe, and enjoyable experience for our campers.

MPH Personal/Professional Development — Today is also the final day of two weeks of MPH-designed and -led personal and professional development sessions that were instructive and deeply appreciated by our classroom teachers and non-teachers alike. By my back-of-the-envelope estimation, we had over 90 percent of our full team attend at least one of the sessions, and most of my colleagues attended most of the numerous and varied offerings. 

Imagining and Repurposing — The various extraordinary “measures” underway include facilities, programming, scheduling, and staffing implications, such as these:


  • The construction of two temporary classrooms in the library to support enrollment with our physical-distancing standards in place.

  • The imagining of our library program to accommodate the academic and personal interests of our students given a very different environment and daily schedule.

  • The strengthening of our student life program and leadership team.

  • The strengthening of our capacity for technology innovation and direct support for students and educators.

  • The bolstering of our teaching and support team through additional hiring.

  • The identification and repurposing of physical spaces, such as the gym, the dining room, the tennis courts, the STEAM Park, and our fields for classroom spaces. 
  • 
Student Belonging — Meeting weekly since June, our Student Council members have been valuable partners in developing plans to best support all members of the student body this year. Through their creative “public service announcement” initiative and student “welcome and support” programming, these MPH students are taking responsibility and largely informing our plans, which will be communicated in more detail in the days ahead.

Family Partners — With thanks to many of our parents who are staying in close contact, asking questions, making suggestions, and otherwise offering support in various ways, please know how grateful we are for your partnership. To share updates, to elaborate further on plans for the school day, and to address questions and concerns, we will host two community meetings next week:

  • Wednesday, August 26, 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. — Lower School parents

  • Thursday, August 27, 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. — Middle and Upper School parents

Student Information — To fully inform our plans for the upcoming year, we have requested, through family surveys, information that is necessary to support each and every MPH student. In the areas of transportation, technology, and dining, we have received feedback from about 80 percent of our families. As noted last week, that response rate is impressive; thank you to the vast majority of our families who completed the surveys. However, because we need this information for all of our students (including the remaining 20 percent or so where it is missing), we must now dedicate limited time and staff resources for follow-up outreach in order to achieve the requisite 100 percent standard for this year.

I need to draw the line here, although there is so much more to share. Please know that I meet daily with a transition team comprising 22 individuals, all of whom are focused on preparing for the upcoming year. In the days ahead, we will provide more detailed information via the MY MPH parent portal, as well as during our upcoming community meetings, through discrete-topic communications from our three division heads, and in broad-based school messaging using this distribution channel.

There is a lot to absorb, I know. Our goal is to plan for all contingencies, and we are methodically working through that process. While the task in front of us is daunting, I believe we’re on the right course and taking the right steps. When we see examples where schools and colleges experience outbreaks, it’s usually due to some combination of individual or collective disregard for physical-distancing protocols in large groups, noncompliance with face-covering requirements, lack of proper hygiene (especially regular handwashing), and/or improper cleaning and sanitizing procedures. In each of these areas (and many more), we will make a full commitment to help ensure individual responsibility, which, if successful, will greatly improve our chances of good health in the community. And, if and when we need to, we’ll pivot to distance learning and continue educating our students with the use of technology tools and our growth mindset!

Thanks, and best wishes to all!

Sincerely,
 
Dave McCusker
Head of School