Dear Storm King Community;
As we begin our second semester, I want to take this opportunity to welcome everyone back to school! We hope that this extended winter break allowed everyone to get some well-deserved rest. Many of our families and staff members have told us that they are ready to get back to work.
As you all know, the COVID-19 pandemic has continued to challenge the world. In the United States, the surge in cases began after our Thanksgiving holiday. As of this writing, new case numbers in our region are declining once again, and our campus and the townships immediately around us remain a safe environment. The School will certainly continue to monitor this, but as we begin classes today, the numbers in our area are trending in the right direction. We will also continue to follow and improve upon the plan we devised last summer to manage school operations during the pandemic through the end of the semester.
Recently, our country has elected a new President and a new administration is now in place in Washington, D.C. This is one of many important events and issues that have captured our attention over the last year and beyond. As classes resume, our faculty and administration will find ways to address all of these events and help our students learn both about them and from them.
Education is a cornerstone of all democratic societies. As the holders of this responsibility, our school is committed to helping our students learn how to thoughtfully consider and weigh issues such as these. We do this so that they become better members of our community today and more thoughtful and responsible citizens of the world tomorrow.
Above all, we want our students to remain open and keep thinking as they mature. Knowing how to approach and understand events in our world as they occur is vital to their growth. Developing the ability to critically examine information and events and ask good questions before accepting or drawing conclusions, is essential. Equally important is the growth of emotional intelligence. This includes the ability to listen well, to manage appropriate patience and balance, and to foster a sense of empathy.
Our faculty spent time this past week attending several workshops and exploring ways to improve our work with students. In two sessions, we looked at ways to improve our hybrid classes with a focus on digital applications and tools in Google Drive. In two other sessions, faculty members also looked at ways to develop some more engaging assignments and different approaches to assessments.
One workshop for faculty was led by the Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA). The ideas shared in this session helped us identify a critical area of learning for all of us. Author and speaker Brene Brown notes that a key characteristic of strong leaders is ‘their ability to reset after a setback.’
Over the past year, we have collectively faced a tremendous challenge. Our students and faculty have practiced and demonstrated the ability to work successfully in the face of adverse circumstances. We will continue to work together to build this key strength. We want our students and staff to emerge from the pandemic crisis stronger and more resilient than they were before.
In the weeks and months between now and graduation on June 5, 2021, our primary goals remain the same– to deliver the mission of the School and to keep everyone in our community safe and healthy. We hope that as we move into the spring, and as more vaccines are administered, we can increase the interactive experiences of our students and faculty. But while we will be flexible, we will also stay vigilant in order to maintain the safety of our community.
Once again, welcome back to our beautiful campus which is now covered in snow. I wish everyone in our community a positive, productive, and successful Semester 2.
