Dear Alumni,
As you may know, in September we are scheduled to return to in-person learning for all of our boys and teachers. We will also be in our new, state-of-the-art schoolhouse. And, you are likely aware that the School is in the process of searching for a new Head of School.
What you might not know about is the School’s decision to convert its present three divisions into two: Lower Division (K-4) and Upper Division (5-8), along with three class sections in each grade as opposed to two. (You older alumni may remember a similar two-division arrangement from your day). This will allow us to have a smaller student-faculty ratio and make better use of our new building spaces.
I’m excited to see how this changes things, not just for those directly affected-fourth graders now top dogs, fifth graders at the bottom of the pile-but for all of us. Will teacher expectations change? Will more be expected of fifth and sixth-grade boys? Will this make scheduling easier or harder? What are the effects of doubling the size of the Upper Division? Many of my colleagues have been urging this change for several years. How will they react when it is put into place? How will boys react? The parents?
All of which is to say that there will be a lot of action at 78th Street this year and it has me, at midsummer, with an optimistic eye to September. Not so much, mind you, that I will not cherish the month of August here in Maine. You do the same where you are. I’ll let you know how things are going in my October letter.
Fortiter et Recte,
David Kersey
