Head of School's Message: January 4
There was more hush than hoop-la on Pasadena’s streets as the old year passed away. Not since World War II has the Rose Parade been canceled, and the Rose Bowl moved to another state.
The Tournament of Roses has said it plans to roll over as much as possible into the 2022 parade, including what would have been this year’s theme: Dream. Believe. Achieve. With our annual civic celebration postponed, Chandler welcomes 2021 anyway, our old acquaintance of 2020 best forgot.
The alarming increase in infections and the strain placed on our health care system means that the opening weeks of 2021 will closely resemble the last month of 2020. While the transmission of the disease is more widespread now than at any time since the pandemic started, COVID-19 infections are still much lower in children. Chandler is moving ahead with plans for students in K-2 to return to the classrooms on January 11 and for the Middle School Youth Sports Program to begin during that week.
Evidence from areas that have successfully re-opened schools continues to indicate that schools are not COVID-19 hotspots. This may be because children, especially under the ages of 12-14, appear to have lower infection rates and may not transmit the virus like adults do. The keys to keeping adults and students safe on campus are rigorous adherence to our mitigation measures and staying home whenever there are symptoms. We have rules in place to help keep everyone healthy and safe, and we need to trust you to follow them.
Vaccines are on the way. The other side of the valley, the end of the pandemic, is coming in to focus, but we will not reach the destination quickly. On December 15, Pasadena’s Health Department notified area schools that teachers will be among the first groups to receive the vaccine after health care workers and nursing home personnel.
For students in Grades 3 – 8, Chandler’s distance learning program will continue for several more weeks. Jal Mehta, a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, writing in a recent New York Times article about how education may change when schools emerge from the pandemic, wrote that thriving classrooms during this time are ones where teachers have built strong relationships and warm communities, whereas those that focus on compliance are struggling without the compulsion that physical school provides. Even in distance learning, a school like Chandler is a place where students thrive thanks to small classes and dedicated teachers committed to building strong relationships.
During the break, I listened to an interview with the actor Michael J. Fox who has lived with Parkinson’s disease, a progressive nervous system disorder, for the past thirty years. He was talking about his latest book, No Time Like the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality. He said that life during the pandemic has been much like it was before the pandemic. He stays physically distant from people because he is prone to spasms, and if he gets too close, he can hurt himself and hurt others. He was asked how he has been able to remain positive living with Parkinson’s for thirty years and he replied without hesitating, “Gratitude sustains optimism.” That’s the kind of resolve we need as 2021 gets underway.
Let’s dream, believe and achieve this year. Thank you for being part of the Chandler community. All will be well. Happy New Year.
