Observations

All schools are given challenges to overcome and mountains to climb throughout their histories. We encounter moments, days, and weeks when we become so focused on the issues at hand that we forget to step back and see the bigger picture. We can safely say that the 2019-2020 school year has catapulted us into seeing the big picture as well as our entire planet in new ways. Our school, our city, and our nation were united with every other school and region across the world as we encountered the same experience and the same foe: COVID-19. Our mission has never been more vital as we work to solve the many new challenges facing our world. Each day I am reminded that our capacity for learning, ingenuity and creativity is vast. Our students are inspired to learn because they will be the generation digging in and solving these problems with new and creative solutions. As we developed a new way to deliver a Harpeth Hall education in a matter of days, our faculty displayed tremendous flexibility in transitioning almost seamlessly to distance learning. In addition, we have become increasingly appreciative of our school’s early emphasis on technology by launching our one-to-one laptop program over 20 years ago. Our encounter with the Museum of the Moon this spring was incredibly well timed as it implored us to take a breath before the realization that it would be one of our last experiences on campus this year. Its presence over the Leigh Horton Garden was one of those, perhaps not so subtle, messages reminding us that when we encounter something beautiful and wondrous together, we are moved and connected through the experience. It shouted to all of us to take a step back and savor the wonder of a symbol that has spoken to all cultures across the centuries. Our young scientists, writers, and artists experienced the awe of the moon in their unique way, and we are forever grateful for the gift of that creation by British artist, Luke Jerram, landing on our campus on March, 1, 2020. We began this school year with a remembrance of the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. During our convocation we harkened to President Kennedy’s resounding words from 1962, when he proclaimed, “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, and because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win.” Indeed, this message provided a call for courage before we realized the urgency of that call. The image on the cover of Hallways will always symbolize a sense of wonder, and it will remain our clarion call to do something hard together. As we embark on a new decade with energy and strength, our school continues to innovate and create, always moving toward what is better, never satisfied by what has been done. In this new decade, we have determined the best way for our students and teachers to learn alongside each other. By using a framework for learning called a “center”, they will contemplate the global and national issues of today. Our first center being the Center for STEM Education for Girls was the perfect way to begin this platform. It has been successful in bringing STEM education into focus both internally and externally for ten years. In general, a “Harpeth Hall Center” will build on what has been done and will continue to address priorities in girls’ education today. As our new definition states, these centers will “transcend the scope of a single discipline and engage our students and faculty in research, innovation, and collaboration as they seek solutions to the challenges facing our world.” In this issue of Hallways, you will encounter our faculty’s excellent work in designing curriculum that transcends the classroom walls through these nascent, yet promising areas of concentration. Additionally, you will find our commemoration of true bravery and progress 100 years ago, as our alumna, Anne Dallas Dudley, helped bring the women’s right to vote into reality. Finally, we will say good-bye and thank you to five faculty members who will retire after a combined 159 years of teaching our students and former students. They have truly “transmitted our school better, greater, and more beautiful than it was transmitted to them.” Here’s to the bravery of our students, the innovation of our teachers, and the strength of our school, in the midst of adversity!

Jess Hill Head of School