一起开始新学年

Remarks by 校长 Julia Heaton at the start of the School’s 123rd academic year — August 31, 2020.

这是我们所有人的新年. 我们之前没人这么做过. 今天我们都是初学者.

School President Hannah Holt ’21 and Vice President Chelsea Canal ’21 are your elected school leaders, strong and confident and compassionate leaders who care deeply about MHS. 但 they have never been school leaders during a pandemic, never conducted Student Council meetings via Zoom, and never led Community Meetings from their living rooms and bedrooms at home — and the previous leaders never did either!

The Proctors have been training all weekend about how to support and guide the student body this year. The Bigs have been getting ready to welcome new students and help them understand our community values and expectations. 但, 即使他们接受了那么多训练, these students don’t have all the answers; in fact, they probably have a lot of their own questions, 太.

The MHS faculty and staff are the most dedicated, compassionate, and skilled educators I know. They are committed to making sure that every student feels that "Miss Hall’s Magic,“每个学生都有一个有意义的, 创新, 公平的, 快乐的, 连接体验. The adults at MHS are incredibly talented, 都是各自领域的专家, 但今年对他们来说是全新的一年, 太. They have been working all summer to reimagine every aspect of school — from schedule and curriculum, to health checks and new safety protocols, 我们怎么在大楼里走动, 我们在哪里吃饭, and how we 荣誉 our most important school traditions.

这是我们所有人的新年. 我们之前没人这么做过. 今天我们都是初学者.

今天我也是个初学者. 今年是我受教育的第23年, 这是我担任校长的第七年, but I have never led a school during a global pandemic and never experienced a year like this. I have spent almost every minute of my life in schools — first as a student, 然后作为老师, 管理员, 家长, 受托人, 和头部. I have grown accustomed to the rhythms of the school year, 每个季节的起起落落, the familiar sights and sounds and routines. 今年, the rhythms and routines will be different from before, different from what we might wish them to be. I wish a lot of things, and I bet you do, 太.

I wish that the world was not in a global pandemic, 这么多人没有受苦, that every single person in the world had access to adequate, 优质的医疗服务. I wish that travel restrictions were lifted, that the global community could unite across borders rather than build walls. 我希望在美国.S. 我们的法律平等地保护每个人, that we would see an end to violence against Black people and people of color and a new era of social justice. I wish I could do the things that I enjoy most, that you could do the things you enjoy most, without worry about my health or the health of others. I wish we could all be together in person today in Centennial Hall, greeting each other with hugs and handshakes and high fives. I wish that Zoom would let us sing in unison, 不要听起来像垃圾, because singing Happy Birthday is a big deal at Miss Hall’s. 新生们，你们很快就会知道的.) Most of all, I wish that I could make this year perfect for you. 我会尽力的.

I know that this year is different from what we would have wished for. The world is different from what we would have wished for. I choose to be hopeful about the year ahead, and the change we can make together.

So I am going to share some of my hopes for Miss Hall’s new year, 2020-21:

• 我希望我们能有耐心. We are all beginners, and beginners need to ask a lot of questions. There will be more than a few mistakes as we all learn the ropes. Let’s give everyone a little bit of grace and space, as we all figure things out.

• 我希望我们能出席. There will be many things that distract us, concern us or pull us away from life at MHS. 当我们在课堂上, 在社区会议上, in a hard conversation — let’s give each other full and true attention — it is a powerful gift.

• 我希望我们能大胆一点. It would be natural to approach this year cautiously, to stick to what we know. In terms of health and safety, I want you all to be careful, of course. 但, 在学习领域, 知识风险, 好奇心, 和宣传, 我希望你大胆而有创造力, 正如我们的使命所说. 在这一切都不同的一年里, 为什么不试试呢?, 尝试新事物, 分享你真实的声音? “向他们展示你是谁.”

• 我希望我们能在一起……在精神上. There will be many barriers that keep us physically apart this year, but that does not mean we are not a community. 现在, 更甚于以往, we need to unite around our core values — respect, 荣誉, 真实性, 和经济增长. We are all beginners, and we are in it together. We will help each other, share the load, maybe even share a laugh. This community has proven again and again that if we work together, we can emerge stronger together.

• 最后，我希望我们都能心存感激. There will be moments when we feel disappointed, 困惑, 愤怒的, 或害怕, 当事情很艰难的时候. Let’s be real — there are going to be parts of this year that are just going to stink. 但, 在这些时刻, there will also be someone at MHS who cares deeply about you, 谁相信你, who would do just about anything to share the load and make things stink a little bit less. Let’s be grateful for the people who love us and have our back, no matter what. 让我们经常说声谢谢. 事实上，我们现在就开始吧. “谢谢你.” If you want to say thank you to someone in the chat, please do so. Say it in your own language, in any way you like.

希望是一种强大的东西. In the words of poet and activist Arundhati Roy: “Another world is not only possible, 她在路上了. 在安静的日子里，我能听到她的呼吸.”

另一个更美好的世界正在她的路上. 我们将共同努力实现这一目标.

欢迎来到新的一年!