What a glorious first week! It was wonderful to welcome everyone back on Tuesday, September 8th. It has been an especially smooth start to another terrific new year at BCD. Credit for a smooth start goes to our talented and caring teachers, our committed staff members, and our new Associate Head of School, Dr. Susan Gebhard. Susan has embraced her new job and role as our academic leader with tremendous vision and energy.
We welcomed all members of our community at our opening assembly on Tuesday. My brief remarks to the community focused on two of BCD’s core values, “Respect” and “Community.”
Respect: We empower acts of inclusion and acceptance with due regard for the feelings, wishes, rights, and traditions of others.
Community: We establish trust, cooperation, and accountability within an atmosphere of belonging where we all invest in the success and well-being of each other.
We all – students, teachers, staff members, and parents alike – build community at BCD by rising to the expectations that we have for one another, by demonstrating respect and a regard for one another, by looking for every opportunity to invest in the success and well-being of one another, and by expressing trust and being thoughtful listeners and communicators.
To review BCD’s mission and philosophy statements, and to read more about all or our core values as a school, please go to https://berkshirecountryday.org/about-bcd-school/mission-vision-and-values/
The first few weeks are the most important time in the school year for all children, for the most part determining how the year will go. Students return from summer vacation to find new classes, new teachers, new books, and new friends. An atmosphere of excitement, renewed energy, and the potential for positive growth and change permeate school at the start of the year.
You can be confident that our teachers and staff are attentive to setting the stage for a positive, productive, and successful year. Parents, too, can support their child(ren) during this important time in countless ways. As the faculty will also do, be on the lookout for opportunities to speak with your child(ren) in support of their work, both at school and at home. The suggestions are too numerous to include here, but consider the possible yearlong impact of the following phrases:
- “I spoke with your teacher. They are so excited to be working with you, and they feel you are a terrific member of the class.”
- “I can see you are really committed to doing your best on your homework.”
- “It’s impressive that you know how to ask your teacher for help.”
- “I really notice how carefully you worked on that picture that is hanging in your classroom.”
- “I’m noticing how things seem to be more comfortable each day.”
- “I see that you have interesting ideas to contribute.”
- “I can hear that this is hard and new, and I admire how you want to learn this.”
The beginning of the year is truly an exciting and fertile time filled with the promise of success and positive achievement: academically, socially, physically, creatively, emotionally, musically, etc. We 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.