You cannot imagine how excited I am to be starting the new school year. I know that the time can be chaotic, anxiety-producing, and even difficult, yet I find it reinforcing and revitalizing. Schools are meant to have students in them, and I am glad that our students will be here very soon.

I hope you had a great summer. For me, it has been, as it often is, an opportunity to spend more time with my family. I loved being able to play football on the beach, take a few bike rides, go to the movies, visit family in other cities, and go to a Broadway show. (Wicked, is definitely worth seeing. It will make you smile and change your perspective on The Wizard of Oz forever.) I will miss all of those things!

The most important time I had all summer was with my wife, when we spent five days together in Maine about an hour north of Bangor. We loved visiting Bar Harbor (Acadia National Park is fabulous!) and Northeast Harbor, and we had some wonderful meals. My favorite part was a trip to Rockland, Maine, where, in addition to enjoying a sensational meal at a nationally-renowned restaurant, we also visited the Farnsworth Art Museum. Although I am not by nature a museum buff, I found the Farnsworth welcoming and inspiring. It holds many works of the Wyeth family—you need to see it!

Time and again I write about the importance of spending good quality time with our children. This time in Maine reinforced for me the importance of also making time for yourself to meet your own needs, and, if you are involved in a relationship, time with your spouse or significant other to strengthen the bond between you. Such time and strengthening enables us to become more effective with our children.

As we approach September, many students feel ambivalent about the start of a new school year. While they may be disappointed to have the summer ending, they are usually looking forward to seeing their friends and getting involved in their classes and activities. At the same time, they face the challenges of starting a new year, having new teachers, meeting new students, and getting into a whole new routine. While it would be wonderful if every student made the transition without any difficulty, there is potential for issues to surface. When they do, it is important for parents/guardians and teachers to do what they can to listen and observe and to find ways of helping each other and the students.

Of course, parents and guardians are also ambivalent about the start of the year. As excited as we may be to have our children in school, we are at least a little nervous for them. We want them to have a great year and avoid any major difficulties. In fact, we really want them to avoid all difficulties. And, while this would make life easier on many levels, it would not necessarily be better for the children in the long run. It is through working to overcome difficulties that people learn the skills and develop the perseverance, resilience, and strength to deal with the challenges they will face in life. In turn, while we want to listen and be there for our children, we also need to fight the urge to resolve their problems for them. If adults always come to the rescue, the student becomes disempowered and unable to deal with the challenges that he or she faces. Rob Evans, a nationally renowned educational psychologist and the author of Family Matters, writes extensively about this in his book. He will address our entire faculty during our opening faculty meetings.

Having had the opportunity to read a number of books over the summer, in addition to Family Matters, I’d like to recommend two of them to you. Thomas L. Friedman’s The World Is Flat provides an interesting perspective on globalization and the economic realities of the world. It is something for which we all need to be prepared. David McCullough’s 1776 gives wonderful insight into the Revolutionary War and George Washington’s role as the commanding general of the troops. The book completely altered my perspective on Washington and the qualities that made him such an effective leader. It’s clear that he was a remarkably patient, persevering, and resilient man. He took responsibility for his successes and failures. He understood his and his troops’ limitations and developed strategies to minimize them. He was willing to do the unexpected! Is it a surprise that many of these qualities are exactly the ones that we strive to have our children develop?

And of course, I also saw a few movies. Two that stood out for me are Crash and March of the Penguins. Crash is intense and provocative; it speaks to the assumptions we all make and captures the impact of bigotries, racism, and stereotyping that are endemic to our society. I found it thought-provoking and powerful. March of the Penguins, on the other hand, is a wonderful documentary about the survival and reproduction of penguins in the Antarctic. It is one of the few movies I’ve seen in the last few years that is appropriate and educational for a wide range of age groups. Our entire family saw it, and everyone enjoyed it.

As you know, we constantly strive to help our students become the best students and people possible. We will work hard to make the 2005-06 school year the safest and best year we can. In light of that, I want to remind you of the statement that our three student councils (Lower, Middle, and Upper Schools) developed to describe the Shipley experience:

A strong student-faculty relationship is fundamental to a positive Shipley experience. Faculty encourage and support students to take risks, work hard, and seek opportunities for leadership and service. The school environment, PreK-12, is one where trust is essential and where achievement, diversity, honor, respect, and integrity are celebrated.

With that in mind, we commit ourselves to communicating and developing with you a partnership that makes a productive difference in the lives of your children—our students. In order to enhance that communication, we invite you to participate in our Heads’ Forums, the first one of which will held on Friday, October 7, from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. at Beechwood. This is an informal gathering in which the Division Heads and I will answer any questions and talk about any issues that are on your mind. 

We are, as always, committed to asking you and ourselves the difficult questions and to doing what is necessary to help us become a better school and better meet the needs of your children. With this in mind, this November you will be receiving an online survey. When we did this a few years ago your responses helped us to make some important changes that have made a difference in the lives of our students. I expect that the same thing will happen again. Please fill out the questionnaire when you get it.

Finally, thank you for sharing your children. They are your lifeline and ours. It is my hope that they, you, and all of us will have a wonderful year. I look forward to seeing you soon.

Warmest regards,

Steven S. Piltch
Head of School

P. S.
Please do bring the whole family to our All-School Welcome Back Barbecue on September 10 starting at 3:00 pm. It will be a wonderful opportunity to connect with old friends, make new ones, and start the year off in a true community spirit. You can sign up online at www.shipleyschool.org/diversityevents/index.html. Please do so by September 5.