March, as they say, comes in like a lion.
Typically, in the Northeast, that expression is a comment on Mother Nature and her stubborn refusal to move away from winter. As March begins, a slushy mix of snow across our fields and beneath Big Blue reminds us of the lion’s cold roar.
For me, however, ‘the lion’ changed as March arrived in 2020. Five years ago this week, I was among colleagues at the NAIS (National Association of Independent Schools) Annual Conference in Philadelphia. The conference has always been an opportunity for educators from across the country to gather, attend workshops on best practices in teaching and school leadership, hear compelling keynote speakers—that year, Jonathan Haidt presented on The Coddling of the American Mind—and build professional connections. In 2020, however, the conference had a noticeably different feel.
Among fellow heads of school who had arrived the evening before the conference, stories circulated about the confusing and mysterious illness that was starting to impact schools along the West Coast. “The coronavirus is coming,” various peers warned us, “and chances are, you’re not ready for it.”
I left the conference a day early to return to school in time for our Friday afternoon faculty meeting. I usurped the agenda and explained that the faculty would need to spend the time building out a two-week remote curriculum just in case. Twelve days later, BDS would move off campus, and despite our belief that two weeks would be enough, we wouldn’t return for on-site learning until September.
Now five years later, while I may be disinterested in dwelling on details such as remaining six feet apart, the difference between a PCR and rapid test, how to effectively share your screen with a six year old, or what the latest COVID updates from DESE (Masachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education) might be, I cannot help but look back fondly on the way the Belmont Day community responded.
More than 100 staff and faculty members went to work. Supported by infectious disease professionals within our community, our operations crew created a safe learning environment for our students, and our teachers found novel ways to deliver their lessons. Parents put their trust in Belmont Day as we reopened at a time when many others did not. And our students found the courage during a global pandemic to learn and to support each other.
Though it may be hard to believe, today, it’s easy to forget the lengths to which this community went five years ago. Upon reflection, it served as the ultimate pressure test of our mission. Inspire and challenge? Check. Foster intellectual curiosity? Check. Honor differences? Check. Empower meaningful contributions with our six core values? Check, check, and check.
Belmont Day rose to the moment in every way, and today, as we welcome hundreds onto campus for events like Friday Night Hoops and last night’s STEAM Expo, we continue to feel the positive ramifications of that challenge. Our community is connected and celebrating the whole child experience of students at Belmont Day. Our faculty continues to innovate and respond to the world’s changes. And our students continue to arrive each day ready to learn, play, and find joy as only a child can.
Now I suppose that’s why they say March goes out like a lamb … a Belmont Day School lamb! Baaa! We’re ready for anything. Caring, thoughtful, and as tough as any lion.
Have a wonderful weekend, everyone. I’ll see you in March.
