Are we there yet?

More than once this week, I’ve had people ask me, “How are you doing?” and then pause, giving me that that I know the end-of-the-year is near look. Each time I’ve answered honestly, “I’m feeling a little tired.”

To be clear, it’s a happy tired, the feeling you have when you know you are near the end of something that has been really worthwhile, something that has required commitment, energy, and perseverance; something satisfying because it has had moments of difficulty and setback, as well as of great joy; something rewarding because it has required real effort.

As I reach the end of my second year at the school, I know that we have accomplished some significant work as a community in the last two years – revised our mission and philosophy to more clearly articulate who we are and what we do, adopted a new strategic plan – Vision 2015, implemented new math and social emotional learning programs, successfully completed our first programmatic audit – English/Language Arts – and started to implement changes including the creation of a Writing Coordinator position, piloted iPads in the 7th grade with plans to start a full, take-home program across the Middle School next year, launched an effort to build a better middle school by expanding our enrollment.

Looking at the list, I am proud of what we have accomplished but also mindful that it is only the beginning of the exciting work we hope to do as we more fully implement Vision 2015 in the years ahead. As a school we are a dynamic and evolving organization, always striving to be the best we can be, never content to rest on our laurels.

Spending time on campus this week, I was struck that the same dynamic is at play with our students. Several times this week I saw students almost sink into their seats as I helped them into the car at the end of the day. Many were lugging bags of items – treasures from the classroom that they were taking home to share with their family. As they sat down, it was clear that they were tired.

Evidence of why they are tired was in full display this week on campus.

Touring the Art Show, for example, I marveled at the exceptional work that our students had produced. Looking at the various pieces – from the ceramic penguins created by our Kindergartners to the exquisite busts, photographs, drawings, chairs, and ceramic pieces of our middle schoolers – there was ample evidence of craftsmanship. Touring the work of our oldest students, I marveled at the attention to detail and the hours of meticulous work that had to be done in order to produce such high quality artistic pieces.

Wednesday’s Author’s Walkabout provided a remarkable showcase for the writers and readers in our 1st and 2nd grades. Despite the weather, the enthusiastic and unflappable students read their stories to an eager audience of adults. Students – some that had not even been fluent readers in September – proudly shared the product of several months of hard work and effort.

Across the campus similar scenes have played out over the last month, some big, some small. For each student, there is undoubtedly a moment they can look back on over the course of the last few months when they recognized that they have grown and changed. Take a few minutes this weekend and ask your child. What was the biggest challenge he or she faced this year? A moment of accomplishment? A time they took a risk? Perhaps a failure….what did he or she learn from it?

As a school, we strive to challenge students and provide them opportunities that will allow them to reach their highest individual potential in school and in life. All of that hard work however is, in the end, tiring, which takes us back to where I started today’s column.

Look at any great athlete’s training schedule. You will notice that there is a balance between intensive workouts and focused practice, on one hand, and significant time for rest and rejuvenation, on the other hand. All of us – students, faculty, and parents – need to make sure we maintain that same balance.

In just a few days, we will say good-bye to the fabulous Class of 2011, put students in the car for the last time for the summer, and then take a few days to hold end-of-year meetings, clean-up classrooms, and close out gradebooks. By the end of next week, the faculty will have started scattering for their summer adventures. Some of these adventures involve intensive work – a significant number of our faculty are engaged in meaningful summer fellowships – but the rhythm, the pace, and the intensity of summertime will be different from what we experience during the school year. This shift is a good thing.

It is important to work hard and it is also important to disconnect, to relax, and to provide time for reflection and rejuvenation. I hope that everyone has an opportunity this summer to take some time to disconnect with your family. I’m looking to take advantage of the slightly slower pace of summer to get out of the office a little earlier on many days, spend more time playing outside with my family, read books that are not connected to school, and maybe even take a risk and try something new.