A Letter from Dr. Williams
Dear Families,
It was wonderful to see you all last night at Meet the Teachers Night. As I said at the start of the evening, having everyone together in community is so energizing. It felt so good to see our campus full of people. I hope you had a chance not only to spend time with your child’s teachers, but also to connect with other parents.
With student groupings and schedules really settling in, we now begin the steady rhythm of the school year. While we always strive to stay nimble and responsive to the nuances of students’ success and struggles, we also recognize the importance and usefulness of routines. This morning, I popped into a middle division homeroom and chatted with students about the day ahead. They walked me over to their posted Friday schedule and shared their thoughts and feelings about the day. One remarked that they’d have a long stretch in the morning, with back-to-back academic classes. Another added that the morning break would feel great, especially with the fall weather arriving. They all got excited when they noticed double specials in the afternoon. It was a simple conversation, but one that emphasized the importance of structure, the helpfulness of predictability, and the role it can play in productivity and patience. Even at a very young age, these students were sharing their understanding of the ebbs and flows of the day, the energy they would need to muster or would get to expend. It’s a helpful skill, perhaps even a mindful activity, to create routines and consider your day as a whole at its start.
If conversations of routines get you excited–or maybe even if the topic has you squirming in your seat–I recommend Daily Rituals by Mason Curry. It’s a tiny book (I listened to it on Audible over the course of just a few days) that shares the routines of history’s greatest creators. Night owls and early birds, pilers and filers, talk-it-out-ers and quiet ruminators…there’s a routine for everyone. It’s a fun read for history buffs and artists alike.
So as we set off on this school year together and tuck in to the to-and-fro of the school year, I wish you great luck on your family’s own routines. May you have uneventful mornings and easy bedtimes, may the chores get completed and the car get loaded, may you always arrive on time with everyone’s hair combed and shoes on. And if none of those things ever seem to happen, may you find loving joy in the process anyway!
Warmly,
Alli
