I write to offer a warm welcome to everyone and share a few thoughts as we begin a new school year at Berkshire Country Day School. But first, the big news is that 41 new students (and 26 new families) will be joining and contributing to the quality of our school community this year. Special thanks go to Director of Admission Alexandra Heddinger for her tireless dedication, energetic work, joyful interpersonal skills, and many successes in this area.
The promise of a new school year always excites me, and the resilient and inspiring energy of the children and the teachers during this time is moving as they return to begin new classes and (re)discover new teachers and friends. The feeling on campus during the past week has been particularly positive and exhilarating.
Each year, I am reminded that the first month of the school year can be the most influential and critical time for students. It’s important to remember that some of the basic needs of every child include the desire to connect with others, feel capable, and know that they count. The prospects for success and growth are especially accessible and significant for everyone in our school community in September, a time when the tone for the year ahead is established while everyone begins to forecast (most importantly in their eyes and for themselves) how the rest of the year will go.
The beginning of the year is truly a stimulating and fertile time filled with the promise of success and positive achievement: academically, socially, physically, creatively, emotionally, musically, etc. Our vibrant community of dedicated and talented teachers and parents can all work together to ensure that our appraisal of each child during the first few weeks is sincere and meaningful, based upon authentic examples of their efforts and abilities as learners, individuals, and community members. We can all help them frame and/or re-frame their sense of themselves while bolstering their confidence and excitement about the learning process and the year ahead.
All students (and learners of all ages) desire and deserve to feel good about themselves as individuals, learners, and community members. Therefore, all of us – educators and parents – can also remember and be mindful to do all that we can to envision and intentionally invest in the relationships that will define the quality of the home-school partnership. It is our shared endeavor to help every student succeed and feel successful in tangible, substantial, and meaningful ways.
I’m so eager to welcome everyone on Tuesday. Please join me and embrace a shared vision for a spectacular start of a new school year at BCD while supporting one of our care values: “community, …where we all invest in the success and well-being of each other.”
As always, please be in touch with your child’s teachers or advisors with any questions or special communications. Associate Head of School Leigh Doherty and I also stand ready to assist you in any way.
Until Tuesday, Paul
