F E AT U R E S
LETTER FROM THE HEAD I
n 2016, UHS unveiled a strategic design that was based on a vision for the school. One strand of the design was to remain a strategically nimble institution, engaged in learning, reflection, and growth on all levels. We knew that maintaining a posture of self-reflection and curiosity would be critical as we took deep dives into issues around student wellness, sustainability, assessment, equity and access, research-based decision-making, and curricular design. When early stories about the coronavirus began popping up in our newsfeeds, most Americans watched from a comfortable distance and carried on with life as usual. On February 27, several senior UHS administrators boarded planes for the National Association of Independent Schools annual conference in Philadelphia. An impromptu session was held that evening, giving advice about this novel coronavirus and answering legal and operational questions about spring break and international travel. The session addressed crisis leadership and reassured school heads that “you’ve got this—this is not unlike crises we have been through before…” School heads across the country were a mere fortnight away from closing our campuses; conferencing with the health department and medical and epidemiology experts; and partnering with our boards and legal counsel as we faced significant educational, financial, communication, and human-resources questions. In a matter of days, we adapted to the seismic shift of delivering our programs remotely while also maintaining equity, access, and security for our families. At UHS, the combination of a strong leadership team, dedicated faculty and staff, tireless parent volunteers, and a resilient student body made for successful
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U H S J o u r n a l | FALL 2020
transitions, not only to this new mode of teaching and learning, but to a whole new way of being as a school community. Wellness and connection were central to our work as we organized clubs and affinity spaces online, sent care packages to students and teachers, and planned a virtual graduation for the Class of 2020. The admissions team changed its policy on standardized testing and spent the summer completely reimagining the way it will recruit, admit and enroll the Class of 2025. College counseling has been keeping pace with the shifting sands of college admissions, and the development department had to redouble its efforts to meet and exceed the annual fund goal and move the San Francisco Decorator Showcase (whose proceeds go to our financial aid program) launch to fall and online. The technology team secured up-to-date devices and internet access for all students (including our Summerbridge students who had a virtual summer), and deans delivered grocery gift cards to families in need. The Board of Trustees approved an additional $300,000 for emergency tuition assistance and retooled the 2020–21 budget for durability in the face of numerous unknowns. Academic leadership turned on a dime, as we revised the schedule to modulate the pace of online learning in the final spring quarter, and then restructured the 2020–21 academic calendar to allow for a more effective and flexible way to pivot between virtual and in-person teaching and learning. Over the summer, our faculty offered enrichment and for-credit courses to more than 300 students (including incoming ninth graders) and took a two-week course themselves to prepare for delivering an even more effective program this fall. Leadership during a crisis requires keeping on top of
Julia Russell Eells, head of school
the facts, remaining in regular communication around decisionmaking, building trust, conveying preparedness and reliance on expertise and relevant information, and responding to concerns with honesty and openness. Not only was I called on to meet that leadership challenge; I was privileged to watch leadership in action in every corner of our virtual campus. Perhaps the most impressive was the leadership displayed when a second crisis befell us on May 25, when George Floyd was killed at the hands of the Minneapolis police. Our students, faculty, staff, and families all put that tragedy, as well as the realities of the pandemic’s impact on marginalized communities, on the front burner, as we gathered in affinity spaces to process, discussed evolving stories in the media, and held our school and ourselves accountable for redoubling our commitment—and taking action on it—to live the words of our Equity and Community Statement. Our Black Student Union leaders have called for curricular change and enhanced antiracist training, and
our alumni are holding up a mirror for us to further examine the necessity for a shift in our culture. When we built our strategic design four years ago, there was no way to predict that the commitment to be (and to practice) being nimble and self-reflective, with a focus on learning and growth, would strengthen UHS’s readiness and resilience in this unprecedented moment. The most seasoned leadership knows that during a crisis, the vision and core values of an institution are stress-tested in ways that can be affirming to the endurance of those key words and phrases. We are by no means through the crises of the pandemic and the structural racism that is endemic in our country. However, UHS students, faculty, staff, families, and trustees are committed to steering through this unique storm together, aided by the guideposts we built during fairer weather.
Julia Russell Eells
