Head of School’s Report

St. Richard’s Episcopal School

David Amstutz, Head of School

This will be a different sort of annual report as this school year and the last portion of the last school year have been like no other. It’s been a challenging and stressful period, but we’ve persevered, modeled the Grit aspect of our 3G’s (Goodness, Gumption, and Grit), and grown as educators in the process.

Along the way we’ve experienced many unexpected blessings. This past summer, we were faced with the daunting task of opening the school year under pandemic conditions. There was so much that was unknown at the time, and public health officials were struggling to provide us with guidance. So we formed a Back-to-School Advisory Task Force and, along with our SRES Board Executive Committee, designed an approach that allowed us to be in-person while also optimizing the health and safety of our teachers and students. What was different about our new approach? Seemingly everything. Drop-off and pickup, with no parents allowed in the building, went from one site to four. It requires all of our teachers every day to run these multiple sites. Lunch has also become a logistical challenge akin to a major military operation. With students eating at their physically distanced desks, getting the right meal to the right student at the right time is highly labor intensive. We’ve significantly changed our teaching and learning processes, invested heavily in our facilities, and asked a great deal of our teachers, students, and families. They’ve all responded beautifully, allowing us to have a highly productive school year to date. This year has reminded us of the intensely social nature of education at our level. Our students were thrilled to open the school year in person. It was clear on the first day of school that they needed to be together. Likewise, despite the health risks associated with in-person learning, our teachers were delighted to be with their students. And, our parents were grateful they were able to focus fully on their work again. As we begin the transition to Dr. Leslie Hosey as our next head of school, I carry with me an image from our first day of school. We were anxious about all of the unknowns but particularly worried about whether our youngest students would be able to wear their masks . At drop-off that morning, I was stunned and deeply touched to watch our new pre-K students get out of their cars, strap on their masks, and bravely march into a building many of them had never been in before. Now that is gumption! My best wishes to the good people of Trinity Episcopal Church for a healthy 2021! Davidl!

The mission of St. Richard’s, an independent Episcopal day school, is to instill knowledge and values for a lifetime through the implementation of Five Pillars for Success: Faith, Classic Curriculum, Leadership, Civic Responsibility, and Global Readiness.