a letter from our head of school

dear friends

a letter from our head of school

Dear Friends,

For this issue of Among Friends, the theme of which is rediscovery, it was important to me to change my photo to one with students in the frame. After a year that required so many of us to do without so much of what we love, I suspect my words will fail to convey the meaning that the simple act of sitting and talking with students, on our campus, in

person, provides. I smile a lot, both doing it and thinking of it now. Of course, we wear masks. We keep a distance. We limit the size of our cohorts. And we continuously wash and sanitize our hands. We wonder which still matter, but we are together—meeting, agreeing, disagreeing, exploring possibilities, sharing ideas and interests, laughing and learning, creating and connecting. And that has meant more than words can adequately capture. In many ways, we have had to redefine what it looks like for us to be back at 250 Valencia Street, and the adjustments and innovations we’ve made are numerous, too numerous, in fact, to list in these pages. Far more inspiring than these adaptations have been the simple gifts we’ve rediscovered.

For me these gifts include friendly greetings in hallways, the sound of music, and classrooms buzzing; teachers like Suzanne and Gaby creating library and art carts and delivering the goods like those navigating the aisle of a ballpark selling hot dogs; walking meetings that afford me time outside and bring me to breathtaking city views at Dolores Park and the colorful brilliance of the flowers at the California Volunteers Monument; and your patience, waves, and smiles of understanding shared each morning on our own tiny carpool island— which thanks to Guybe, Tracie, and our Facilities Team, we’ve been able to transform into a lively daytime parklet for Middle-Schoolers to claim for some space and hold the occasional cornhole tournaments.

We’ve also rediscovered ways to per-

form and share our work, through the windows of 260 Valencia (the site of a rotating student art gallery) and impromptu Middle School drum concerts on the sidewalk. Our Lower-Schoolers have learned how to sing through sign language and, as I write this letter, our Middle School thespians are in final rehearsals for our school’s first-ever Zoom play, appropriately titled, Distance Learning.

“After a year that required so many of us to do without so much of what we love, I suspect my words will fail to convey the meaning that the simple act of sitting and talking with students, on our campus, in person, provides.”

Perhaps most importantly, we’ve rediscovered what matters most, the meaning of community, including both the individual opportunities and shared responsibilities it summons and provides. I will claim some time off this summer during which I hope to catch up on my reading (please see my current list to the right) and rediscover—and discovering anew— activities and connections that reignite meaning and joy—full-hearted smiles like those I experience with students at Friends.

thinking sffs, MIKE’S SUMMER READING LIST:

Back by popular demand, Mike is sharing the books he’s most excited to tuck into this summer:

Mike Hanas Head of School

• Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell

• Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know by Adam

Grant

• Dedicated: The Case for Commitment in an Age of Infinite Browsing by

Pete Davis

• Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment by Daniel Kahneman, Olivier

Sibony, and Cass R. Sunstein

• Effortless: Make It Easier To Do What Matters Most by Greg McKeown

• Manifesto for a Moral Revolution: Practices to Build a Better World by

Jacqueline Novogratz