As the lazy days of summer are drawing to a close, the faculty and staff are thoughtfully planning for the 2005-2006 school year. Schools are one of the few organizations designed with a clear beginning, middle and end. I hope that the summer provided you with sufficient rest and rejuvenation and that you are eagerly anticipating the chance to begin a fresh new school year on September 5.
Our mission at St. Margaret’s is to educate the hearts and minds of young people for lives of learning, leadership and service. As we enter this new school year, I ask that you keep this mission at the forefront of your mind as your child encounters the many dimensions of our program. Wonderful test scores, an impressive grade point average and a top-notch college acceptance are certainly worthy goals. Yet, our program is so much more than simply the end product of where we send our students to college. If your only focus is on the final grade, your child may miss the larger life lessons present in the process of learning. It is through the struggle and failure that the most significant growth occurs. The content of the character, leadership and service curriculum is certainly not delivered in the same manner as a math class. There is no textbook, no grade and no set curriculum. The curriculum is delivered through authentic relationships, through mistakes and through reflection and conversation. As your child encounters struggle over the course of the year, be mindful of the larger potential lessons and give your child some solid advice but then allow them the independence to work through the solution and build their resiliency.
Over the course of the summer I met with each of the fifty new families joining our community. Each year, we expand from three sections in the fifth grade to five sections in the sixth grade and then from five sections in the sixth grade to six sections in the seventh grade. In each of these meetings I had the pleasure of getting to know the new students and their families and the chance to share our program, our philosophy and the kinds of things these families could expect to encounter in their years in the middle school. These meetings affirmed the fact that our school is thriving and that our mission is clearly embraced by all of our students, parents and faculty.
During the course of the year I look forward to getting to know each student and family better. Please mark the upcoming Back to School Night and grade level coffees on your calendars. I thank you for entrusting your children to our school and I look forward to working in partnership with you this year.
Sincerely,
Jeannine Clarke
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