Head of School's Message: April 13

Well, that was a Spring Break, unlike any other, wasn’t it? A friend of mine wrote, “To withdraw from the community for the sake of the community seems absurd and counterintuitive.” Social distancing is working nonetheless, and although there is still no defined end to staying at home, we have more of a grip on the situation when before we were just grasping.

 

An article in last week’s Cal Tech Matters covers the recent work of neuroscientist Dean Mobbs who is examining anxiety during the coronavirus pandemic. His work explains why we may be feeling less anxious after four weeks at home. Mobbs says, “We think there is going to be a peak of the fear and anxiety, and then even though the danger of the threat of the virus is higher, we’re going to see people habituate to the threat and become less anxious.” We are getting used to these abnormal circumstances. The more we are presented with a threat, the more we get used to it, so we don’t react as strongly. “People can only keep anxiety levels high for a certain time.” That doesn’t lessen the need to remain steadfast as we continue social distancing.

 

We are ready to resume Chandler-at-Home. Led by Chandler’s Division Directors Jill Bergeron and Emily Brown, Chandler faculty have done an extraordinary job creating and delivering the online learning program. Act I has concluded and Act II begins today. Last week I participated in a Zoom meeting with three heads of independent, international schools in Beijing, Tokyo and Hong Kong. They shared insights into the initial challenges of establishing a distance learning program. Based on their experience, the three heads said it was important to remind school communities that teachers were not trained to do what we are asking them to do now and that it’s vital for everyone to be patient and kind. One of the heads referred to this as ‘reciprocal empathy.’ The leaders emphasized that as time passes and schools gather data, the right balance manifests between synchronous and asynchronous classes. We are interested in your candid feedback as Chandler pursues that balance.

 

This week Chandler’s Social-Emotional Coordinator Adrienne Hollingsworth will be hosting three more Zoom sessions for K-2, 3-5, and 6-8 grade parents. Adrienne’s expertise, good humor, and practical advice have helped the community address student well-being. Nothing is more important to us. I will continue to host a Zoom session for K-8 parents every Thursday at 6:30 p.m. to answer any questions you have and to solicit your feedback.

 

Last week, When This is Over, a poem by Laura Kelly Fanucci, a parent of five young children, went viral. It ended with this stanza, “When this ends/ may we find/ that we have become/ more like the people we wanted to be/ we were called to be/ we hoped to be/ and may we stay that way/ better for each other/ because of the worst.”