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A Grateful First Week

As the first week of school draws to a close, it is exciting to have the HOS blog up and running once again. Today we formally kick off the school year with Convocation, Community Circles, and our PK-12 opening assembly. I plan to focus my comments a bit on gratitude, as this is certainly a year when the Schneiders are feeling grateful for all that Berwick Academy has done for our family. But I must say thinking about gratitude immediately whisks me into the national news and the wreckage generated by Hurricane Harvey - with Irma close behind. It is always a challenge for us to find the proper PK-12 response to these kinds of national events, but I know that Berwick will do so in the days ahead.

Just yesterday, I heard from beloved 40 year Berwick teacher and old friend Jim Sullivan, who has relocated to Florida upon retiring from BA. In his email, he expressed his annual good wishes on the start of school while sharing sadness in knowing this would be my final year. Jim has always been someone who could appreciate the complexity and responsibility of the Head of School role. More importantly, his family was packing up and bracing for the oncoming devastation of Irma – in his own words: “I would take a good ole Nor’easter over this any day.”

In following these mighty storms, one can’t help but be drawn back to Katrina and the devastation in New Orleans. Ironically, I will be traveling to New Orleans next week to offer a talk on leadership and financial aid to admissions and financial aid professionals – weather permitting. What always strikes me in these moments is the kind of temporary equalization these regions experience in the shared human need for survival. Many political, financial, and religious divisions melt away in the face of Mother Nature. Yet in the weeks and months of recovery that ensue, we often see the divisions of socio economic class more brightly than ever as regions attempt to bounce back. I hope that Berwick can make a small dent in assisting this recovery in the days ahead.


Most of all, the scary news feeds remind me to be grateful for the time we have to share and learn on this Hilltop. September brings with it the energy, hope, and optimism of young people in our lives once again. And when I exit the inner circle of Fogg field today, hopefully with a daughter or two holding my hand as we exit the ceremony in silence for a final time, I will be reminded once again of all we have to be grateful for at Berwick Academy.

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