UNIVERSE
LETTER FROM THE HEAD
Julia Russell Eells, head of school
I
ntersections present us with opportunities that come with inevitable questions and occasional trepidation, relief, and joy. Entering an intersection and then stepping over a threshold to a new path is—in many ways— what the high school experience is all about. In my career as a
lifelong educator, I have found myself happiest when I am working with students and adults at those thresholds. Admissions, college counseling, faculty hiring, and creating new structures and spaces for growth and learning all incorporate choices at various forks in the road. The intersections and thresholds that we faced (and created!) in the midst of the pandemic, the presidential election, and the national reckoning of social and racial injustice challenged even the most seasoned and comfortable in the face of unexpected roadblocks and detours. As we entered the academic year in August 2020, we did so with guarded optimism that we might return to a somewhat “normal” school year, but we were thwarted, week after week, by rising COVID cases. Ultimately,
we were able to bring half our student body to campus by February, in rotations with the other half. As the school year wore on, our fierce focus was on our community’s well-being, academic growth, and safety. We closed out the year with the strong belief that we delivered a highly effective academic program that included space for deep dives on wellness, antiracism, and meaningful connection. With the growing rate of vaccination and the subsiding of COVID cases by May, we held commencement for the Class of 2021 at our stunning Paul Goode Field athletics complex, on a windswept morning in the Presidio. After sending off the seniors, the faculty and staff returned to campus for an outdoor luncheon with the Class of 2020, offering them an opportunity to say goodbye to
Members of the Class of 2020 finally getting to say goodbye to faculty and staff
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U H S J o u r n a l | FALL 2021
their campus and their teachers. More than 75 members of the class attended, and we learned that “last year’s seniors” had taken a variety of unconventional pathways in the fall of 2020. Some packed up and headed to college campuses; others traveled with friends, moving from Airbnb to Airbnb, while attending classes remotely. Some attended their first college classes from their bedrooms and kitchen tables at home while helping out with their families. Several took gap years to work on political campaigns or to intern in the tech, medicine, social services, or finance sectors. I believe the work we have done, as a school, to remain responsive to the needs of our students has resulted in the kind of creative agency that the Class of 2020 displayed at the height of the COVID crisis.
