We'll have missed you.
Even if it was via countless Zoom calls or Google Hangouts, each of us has missed connecting with you throughout the summer. Whether you realize it, working with you -- helping facilitate your learning during the spring --brought each of us a daily purpose and focus. And while the summer break has been much appreciated, we're looking forward to time together again. We'll be building together toward that. Each of us will need to link arms, make choices focused on our individual health and wellness, and focus on public health metrics.
To be back on campus will be at once familiar, as we will each come and claim our space on Edgehill; laughs, smiles, and all that comes with being in the same space will feel good. And yet different, in that the ways in which we enter, move about, interact, and inhabit campus will be informed and altered by what we know about the Coronavirus. For some, it may be a sobering experience, as those alterations may represent constraint (detailed in A Day in the Life of a USN High School Student).
Know this, students -- despite the constraints, the following elements are so very true about what we'll do on Edgehill when we're together.
Relationships Remain at the Core: USN is all about relationships. Time and again we've considered how the relationships between teachers and students and between students and their peers were what sustained us in the spring. Joining together in the fall, we're recommitting ourselves to those relationships and making space and time for them to deepen throughout the year. Ask for what you need.
Data-Informed Practice: There's no preparation for leading school during a pandemic. As such, we rely on the generosity of a world-class medical team to help us gather and interpret relevant research findings, translating those findings into practice and policy designed to minimize risk. The dispassionate nature of science helps each of us who cares deeply about school make decisions in a rational, systematic manner.
Communal Regard for Self and Others: This plan only works if each us agrees to uphold it. Simply -- my actions have direct consequences on those around me. We have created both a faculty advisory group and a student advisory group to help create norms around communal commitments to health, safety, and well-being.
Flexibility: Each day, we learn more about the Coronavirus and how it works. We're learning more from our global neighbors who have opened schools in a limited capacity. We're learning more from the various fields of science who have all converged on enhancing our understanding of the virus. At USN, that learning will not be for naught; our plan will continue to evolve, pivot, and grow in unison with our deepened understanding of Coronavirus. Flexibility will be paramount. We recognize that this isn't something we can just ask of you -- we'll set up intentional conversations and learning experiences about strengthening your capacity for flexibility.
Fidelity to the Plan: For each of us, knowing the plan is important. Living out the plan is imperative. Throughout this guide, we've laid out guidelines for the why for the plan in conjunction with the what and the how. Communal accountability is paramount; control what you can and seek us out when others are not living up to the plan.