From the Head of School

Dear Friends,

In mid-November, our first grade students gathered outside the lower school for the annual monarch butterfly migration. This yearly activity is a culmination of curricular connections between their science and Spanish classes, and an important tradition that both the students and teachers look forward to. These young students learn about the transformation of the butterfly, how it starts as an egg on a leaf, turns into a caterpillar (whose job it is to eat and eat), and then forms a chrysalis, where it stays for weeks until the butterfly emerges. From Delaware, the monarch butterflies then fly back to Mexico to start the process from the beginning. Seeing this activity felt especially poignant this year, as we have watched the transformation of our school and community since last spring.

This magazine is different from any previous winter issue of Quaker Matters. There are no picture spreads of 700 people gathered for Homecoming weekend, winter concerts, drama performances on stage, fans in the bleachers at athletic competitions.

Approaching the 2020-2021 school year, we knew how important it was for us to physically be here and recognized that our primary focus had to be how to safely and successfully bring students, from preschool through twelfth grade, back to campus. I am incredibly proud of our remarkable faculty and staff. Their ability to rise to this challenge is nothing short of inspirational. I have watched them look at how a traditional school year would be delivered, and instead of saying, “This can’t happen,” they have said, “I will make this work.” They transformed curriculums and classrooms, found new ways to connect with their students and their colleagues. Not only have they continued to provide the learning experience that made WFS unique before, but they have also created new, meaningful experiences in the wake of a pandemic. They have rethought and reimagined everything, from virtual collaborations between grades and divisions to virtual field trips across the globe.

Many of these experiences were possible because of the enhancements to our one-to-one technology program. Laptops are now provided to every student in fourth through twelfth grade and iPads to preschool through third grade. The impact these devices have on our ability to instruct students goes beyond a pandemic. They provide new and innovative ways to deliver our curriculum, both in school and when we face the need for our students to be virtual.

Our traditions look different this year. The senior class introduced themselves to their first grade buddies over Flipgrid (an interactive website that promotes video discussions). Our college visits are virtual (more than 175 so far!). The Smith McMillan 5K was a Facebook Live event. But there has been so much joy: welcoming six new faculty members; Spirit Week; a fall sports season; three new alumni award recipients. We continue to serve our community: eighth graders helped remove invasive wineberry plants from Alapocas Woods; the lacrosse team volunteered at a Scoop or Treat event; third graders held a coin drive to benefit Wilmington families during the holiday season. We are thriving: we had two upper school students named National Merit Commended Scholars; another student was published in The Concord Review; our middle school band still took the field for Homecoming, cheering on our athletic teams in spirit, if not in person.

As we continue to address this year’s Quaker testimony of equality, we are making important progress with initiatives including our climate assessment and our commitment to ensuring diversity, equity, and inclusion in every aspect of our program. Our Lower School Project is moving forward, design plans were presented to the greater community earlier this year and it is our continued hope that in the coming years this new building will play a central role in having our community together on one unified campus.

Wishing you and your family joy and light in the new year!

In friendship,