VIRTUAL BREARLEY
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The concept of a virtual Brearley would form the outline of the next chapter in the School’s storied history.”
break, the School, out of an abundance of caution, made the decision to cancel classes in all divisions. The week would instead be devoted to faculty, students and families getting acquainted with their virtual classrooms. Three days before the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic, and a week ahead of the governor’s and mayor’s announcements that all city public schools were closing, Operation Virtual Brearley officially launched. Though the School remained hopeful that classes would resume as normal after break, following the governor’s directive, we are staying closed for the rest of the academic year. While navigating our new cyberscape has, at times, posed challenges, the speed at which the community has adjusted has been astounding. These past few months have been all-hands-on-deck to create a positive and welcoming virtual experience for our students. Staying true to our goals of fostering adventurous intellect, a passionate exchange of ideas and overall wellness of our students, we are delivering an online program that balances synchronous and asynchronous learning and facilitates the student connection to teachers and peers. Maintaining classes, advisories, town halls, all-important assemblies—even extracurriculars—also enables students to keep a routine, though in an effort to ease the burden of their being tied to their devices as the sole medium of learning as well as the number of hours teachers are spending preparing lessons and sitting in front of a computer, class length has been shortened and the expected amount of asynchronous work reduced. Managing academic work and physical and mental health is always a priority and is especially vital during this crisis. This time has also shined a light on our community at its finest. We have been supporting our most financially distressed families with food and other necessities. Funds have been created both for faculty and staff who have been financially affected by the virus and for families for whom tuition may now be a hardship. Our counseling and wellness team has made itself accessible to students, parents, faculty and staff, hosting drop-in group meetings for students and initiating yoga, mindfulness and origami sessions, among other activities. Teachers are offering individual and small group support in transition, organization and executive functioning and have instituted “office hours” to continue those casual conversations that used to take place with students in the hallways. Upper 4
SPRING 2020
School students are assisting teachers with young children at home by reading stories or helping with homework during teachers’ classes and as well as holding story time for young children of teachers at the Clarke School for Hearing and Speech. They are also sewing masks to donate to recipients in need. Lower School students have collaborated with the Stanley Isaacs Neighborhood Center to bring cheer to homebound seniors by making cards and letters for them. The Facilities and Securities Departments continue to come to school, once a week, for maintenance inspection—in 610, 590 and the Field House—and to pick up mail from the post office, bring it to school and sort it, and return to the post office with our outgoing mail. And, while we are unable to enjoy eating the delicious meals whipped up by our Kitchen, we have been treated to some of their prized recipes (although admittedly my pizza won’t be winning any culinary awards anytime soon). While Brearley is eager to resume its physical life at school—to engage together, to read together, to solve problems together, to conduct experiments together, to act and sing together, to make music and art together, to play sports together, in person—the “new normal” that the
Virtual fireside chat, April 30, 2020.
pandemic has forced us to create has also reinforced the strength of our community. Even if separated from one another and our schoolhouses, connected only by screen, we are not alone. We have been with each other all along, providing support and guidance, familiarity and routine. Together we form the lifeline of the School, one that becomes more united and unbreakable with each passing day. Lately I have been taking comfort in the poetry of Robert Frost, himself a survivor of the 1918 flu and a longtime resident of Vermont, where I have been working since the early days of Virtual Brearley. His words have always resonated with me, but I find them especially reassuring now amid so much uncertainty and strife. As he writes in “The Tufts of Flowers,” which serves as inspiration for this issue’s cover and which I’ve taken the liberty to adapt to serve our entire community: “[People] work together . . . whether they work together or apart.” Brearley continues to stand the test of time. I can’t wait to be with all of you again, in 590 and 610, soon. Your devoted Head of School,
