Head of School's Message: November 16

On Thursday morning, kindergarten students sat on their benches in the Johnson Courtyard distanced from each other and enjoying their snacks.
One of the girls asked the boy sitting closest to her what he was eating, and when he mentioned a peanut butter sandwich, the conversational floodgates burst open, and others joined. "I’m allergic to peanuts," "I’m allergic to cats," "I have a cat", "I’m allergic to flowers," "I’m not allergic to anything." The conversation went on for another minute before one of the girls stood up from her bench and loudly proclaimed, "I’m allergic to the coronavirus." Out of the mouths of babes comes wisdom.
 
"Childhood is still happening," said Chandler’s Social-Emotional Coordinator Adrienne Hollingsworth last week. In her meetings with students on Zoom, she finds that kids just want to be kids. They want to play, laugh and be silly and parents and teachers need to provide opportunities for children to do that. Last week middle school teachers talked about giving students the room to be themselves and how most students are working at a pace that’s comfortable for them. One teacher said that his students have a deeper appreciation for what they have as well as for what they’re missing. A lower school teacher described her connection with her students as being at a deeper level than if they were on campus. “I feel I know these kids more than any kids I have ever worked with in my career,” she said.
 
Having kindergarten students back at school this week has been uplifting for the Chandler community. For those of us on campus, the sound of their voices in the courtyard was simply beautiful. Watching the children talking together and enjoying one another’s company underscored the importance of being back on campus, if only for a few hours each day. Supported by Chandler’s Board of Trustees, many have worked hard to make this possible, including our teachers, our assistants, our administrative team, our maintenance staff and our support staff. As one of the boys left the campus on Tuesday he said, “Today is the best day of my life.” Tuesday was up there for me too.
 
Maintaining distance and teaching a blended program are complicated challenges for our teachers with most students in the classroom and a few at home on Zoom. Those in the classroom have called themselves the ‘roomies’ and those on Zoom are the ‘Zoomies.’ Everyone is a Zoomie in the afternoon’s distance learning program following the morning’s in-person program. Whether at home or on Zoom, the Zoomies and the roomies have equal status at Chandler. Meeting the needs of each family remains one of our goals as we manage continuing uncertainty.
 
This is the last Cloverleaf before the Thanksgiving Holiday with the next one coming on November 30. At Thanksgiving, we don’t celebrate ourselves as a nation as we do on July 4, we celebrate our good fortune. As crazy as the past eight months have been since the school closed in March, we have much for which to be grateful. We are managing our way through the pandemic as best we can, through ups and downs, good days and bad days, periods of desolation and of periods of consolation. Thanks for choosing Chandler for your child, and thanks for being part of the Chandler community. Happy Thanksgiving. All will be well.
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