A Look Back: From World War II to COVID-19, a History of Resilience at NCCS

From World War II to COVID-19, a History of Resilience at NCCS

By Archivist Mark Macrides

FRAME©MILANARES/AVS-IMAGES orld events have indeed brought many challenges as well as many learning opportunities to our campus during the school’s 105-year history. Country School has met each of these events with a focus on providing a safe and secure environment for our students and families, and leveraged them with opportunities for personal growth and a greater understanding of our place in the world. As we

navigate this extraordinary time in history, I have been thinking about the beginning of the 1940s, which stood out as a time, and in many ways seemed very similar to these last several months on campus.

World War II was starting to engulf Europe, and Henry Welles had recently arrived in New Canaan. The proceeds from the March 1941 issue of the Frogtown Monthly supported Greek War Relief, and by February 1942, student editors were calling for the entire community to work together for the war effort. The fourth grade sold $1,400 worth of war bonds and stamps that contributed to the school raising enough money to purchase a “Quack” amphibian Jeep for the Army. By the mid-1940s, much of the school’s focus was on the war, including extensive plans for teachers and staff members to move children out of buildings and into low-lying areas of the grounds in the event of an air raid.

Through all of that fear, anxiety and uncertainty, due to the incredible efforts of the NCCS faculty and staff, school continued and students learned not only their lessons, but also a greater sense of their role in the world and their responsibility to contribute positively. Recent events have had a similar impact. In spite of the pandemic and the challenges of balancing our own needs and concerns with those of our students and families, school has continued to thrive on campus. The world of COVID-19 has brought hardship, fear and a sense of loss to the corner of Frogtown and Ponus, but it has also brought opportunities to engage our students differently, chances to try new ideas and reasons to challenge our students to think beyond the norms. Our teachers have embraced these moments not necessarily by choice but clearly by desire — desire to be present on campus, working with children and continuing to be the physical representation of our mission and values. Challenge and uncertainty have inspired creativity and determination!

As I think more about the faculty and staff of the early 1940s, I applaud their courage, determination, selflessness and dedication to their responsibility. Not unexpectedly, today we see the same care, compassion, determination and selflessness from our current faculty and staff — characteristics that have sustained NCCS during unexpected and unprecedented events. My hope for this incredible group of educators is that 75 or 80 years from now, they continue to be honored and remembered for their vital role in the same vein as our amazing 1940s colleagues. Fortune Favors the Bold!

Above: During World War II, roller skating parties in the Assembly Hall were held to raise funds for British war relief. This photograph was taken in the fall of 1941, before the attack on Pearl Harbor.

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