Dear Upper School Families,
I'm sitting here this afternoon, thinking back on Monday's Demo Day, today's Class Day, and the celebration for Cooper's Troopers Day of Service, and I can't help but be thankful to be part of a community like Calhoun. Paradoxically, I feel more connected to you all in quarantine — it has required us to pull together and communicate in a way we've never had to before, and I am proud to work alongside our amazing faculty, who created distance learning curriculum and a sense of community in a matter of days and weeks.
I am also thankful for our students, especially at this time. This morning, after our Class Day ceremony, one student reached out to me to let me know that the positive message I ended the year with (that we have come together as a community both in response to COVID-19 and to support Black Lives Matter), was not nuanced enough, and I agree. So I'd like to end my final email of the year with a more nuanced comment.
I am proud of what we have been able to achieve in the past few months, whether it is with regards to distance learning, or holding our various members through an incredibly difficult time (and recognizing that, for people of color — and more specifically, Black people, it has been an incredibly difficult time for a long time). With that said, we can do better. If there is one thing I know about our community, it is that we are not going to stop striving to improve. I am spending the summer working with students and teachers to think of new ways we can engage our community in examinations of systemic racism and how those structures exist within our (sometimes virtual) walls. We are going to be spending the entire summer preparing our curriculum, both academic and social/emotional, to look at what worked well and what we can improve with regards to distance learning and diversity, equity and inclusion work. I am also meeting with a small group of students to help me understand how I can better communicate our successes and growing edges clearly with the student body, as it is clear to me that I have some work to do in that area.
I love working at a place where "we can do better" isn't a problem, but instead a challenge, an opportunity, a learning moment, and something to look forward to. We tell this to our students every day, and I'm excited to continue to practice what we preach.
Please be safe and well this summer.
Danny