Headmaster's Weekly Newsletter -- Week 28

This last week’s mild temperatures and sunshine is transforming the campus. Crocuses (can say croci too for plural) are blooming, buds are appearing, and the morning sunrises are spectacular from up here on campus. The fields seem a little greener each day, and twice this week I have been able to exercise outside in shorts. It has been a fitting post-Easter week…resurrection is in the air in more ways than one.

 

I am sure you have heard stories of how people in India are seeing the Himalayas for the first time in their lives because of the decrease in air pollution. Or, that the water in Venice’s canals is clear and for the first time dolphins have been spotted swimming through them. Maybe you have seen some funny memes entitled “Nature is healing”? Because people are staying home, nature is coming out of hiding and venturing forth.

 

I am seeing this on campus too. The deer are out and about. The birds are chirping and fluttering around. The spring peeper frogs are starting their annual chorus in the waterways. Turtles are basking in the sun by Turtle Pond and the goldfish are schooling together in the shallows. The crows barely move when I walk by them now and when they look up at me it is as if I am an intruder on their property! The seasonal rejuvenation of Spring and the quiet campus are definitely combining to make the campus more natural than it has been.

 

This is definitely a time of new “normal”. This is as true for the campus as it is for you. I am thrilled with the effort all the students and teachers are putting into their lessons online. Simply fantastic! From our youngest Grade 7 students Zooming through their classes to those in IB submitting their major “IA” papers and completing their oral exams, it is clear to me that everyone is doing their best to make the most out of this challenging time. As time passes, it is looking less and less likely that we will be able to return to the School this year, but we have been told today by the Chief Medical Officer of Health’s office today to keep planning to open the School as usual in September. How wonderful that would be! We might be overrun with animals by then (lol!), but that would be rather nice in its own way too.