The View From Here: Our Moment

The beginning of every school year inspires so much excitement and wonder about what lies ahead as we begin a new year. Our new classes, new teachers, new teams, new ensembles, and new classmates, among many other new experiences, remind us that this is a unique and opportune time in our lives. That familiar feeling of possibility is particularly evident this fall, and not only because of the many disruptions and challenges of the past eighteen months. 

 

At Convocation last week, we observed not just the start of a fresh school year, but also the dawn of a new decade for our school. It is a natural time to reflect on how far we have come as an institution in the twenty years since our founding, and also to think deeply about where the next twenty years might take us and how we will define that path. This is a pivotal moment for our school, and it is a defining moment for all of us. 

 

This is also a year in which we will closely examine our school culture—as we amplify our exceptional strengths and core values, while striving to address our faults and ways we can improve as a school. And, as I said to our community at Convocation, we will never shy away from the work required to build a community that is safe, inclusive, welcoming, and equitable to all. 

 

We have an opportunity in this moment to deepen our commitment to our mission and core values. Ours is a culture of inventiveness, deep thoughtfulness, and inspired vision. We are a connected community, one where students are seen and heard and where they can be their true authentic selves. We value play and humor, critical thinking and action, nature and movement, and we welcome challenge as a critical ingredient to defining opportunity. We explore, we take risks, and we celebrate one another in a culture of collaboration and connection. Each of these qualities are essential in building the next, future version of our school; and each member of our community has a critical role to play in defining our path forward. I cannot think of a more meaningful endeavor to launch at the start of our school year.

 

If we embrace this moment together, leaning on the many things we do so well, we will emerge stronger than ever: more true to who we are, better able to thrive and grow, and more prepared to fulfill our promise as a school. For this to happen, we need each and every one of you to share your voice, your passion, and your unique and authentic self. We encourage you to seize the possibilities before us now, to impact our community, our school, and our world. Your resiliency, your spirit, your creativity, your wisdom and, of course, your love for SA will help guide us as we take the first steps forward today and beyond, and I am so grateful to have each of you along on this exciting journey into our next great chapter at SA.