Head of School, Leanne Reynolds, shared this letter with the ROBS community on August 16, 2019.
Dear ROBS families,
You may not be ready for summer to be over, but I am! The empty hallways have felt, well, empty. When your children aren’t at school, we just think about when they are—great moments from the year before, milestones we had the privilege of experiencing with your children, which lessons worked better than others and why.
Then we think about all the things we’re going to do when the students come back. How we can make learning even more engaging and impactful? Are we fulfilling the intellectual, emotional, physical, social, and spiritual needs of ALL of our students? How do we ensure every new family (and returning family) feels seen, heard, and valued as part of the ROBS community?
These are some of the questions that guided our
Progress on the Strategic Plan
Last fall we embarked on a journey to create the School’s next strategic plan. Four themes consistently emerged during this process: 1) Differentiation; 2) Diversity & Inclusion; 3) Health & Wellness; 4) Programming & Scheduling. This summer the ROBS leadership team synthesized the ideas and input from the focus group discussions, researched industry best practices, and developed actionable goals within each priority area. During in-service earlier this week, our faculty and staff helped us identify gaps and/or opportunities to clarify action items. We continue to refine the plan for board review and approval later this fall. This is all to say: we are moving along and are very excited about how this work will advance ROBS and the students we serve.
What to Expect This Year
This year will be one of transition as we work to complete projects set into motion as a result of the last strategic plan (translation: new Middle School building!) and begin exploring our current strategic goals. A transition can be frustrating, as this year may be a
2019-20 Character Theme
Also not to be missed… the 2019-20 character theme. It is “Live Like You’re Loved,” adapted from 1 John 4: 10-12: “True love is God’s love for us, not our love for God. He sent his Son as the way to take away our sins. That is how much God loved us, dear friends! So we also must love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us. If we love each other, God’s love has reached its goal—it is made perfect in us.” I can’t help but interpret this verse as a call to empathy. We can only love others as much as we open ourselves to God’s love. We have to feel it first. Similarly, we have to open ourselves to others—their pain, their joy, their humanity—so we can love them fully. Not coincidentally, empathy is often the starting point in both diversity work and student differentiation. I look forward to exploring the depth of the character theme and its many connections to our mission and strategic initiatives. What does the verse mean to you? How do you see it manifested in our community? Tell us using the hashtag #liveloved1920.
Let the Fun Begin: First-Day-of-School Instagram Challenge
My favorite thing about the first day of school is seeing your sweet children. My second favorite thing is seeing pictures of them… which brings me to the ROBS First-Day Instagram Challenge. I’m challenging our community to show their ROBS love on Instagram on the first day of school. Here’s what you do… next Wednesday (Thursday for Kinder & PS) take your first-day-of-school photos in front of your ROBS yard sign. Post your pic on Instagram using the hashtag #ROBSfirstdayofschool. That’s it! If ROBS is tagged 200 times or more, the School will post a picture of me in a school uniform in front of my yard sign on Friday. My team tells me I will also have to wear the uniform all day including during carpool. Wait, what?!?
Patience
What a lesson in patience this year will be for me. I can’t wait for our student engineers to design prototypes in the new maker space and for our musicians to have dedicated rooms for choral and instrumental music. I can’t wait for our staff to park on campus in the new garage instead of taking the shuttle every day. I can’t wait for parents to enjoy breakfast at school with their children. Meanwhile, the message of 1 Samuel echoes in my head: “lack of patience can cause you to miss blessings.” I don’t want to miss any blessings this year and I don’t want you to either. Our kids will continue to grow through exceptional learning experiences. Let’s not miss the beauty of their growth. And let’s not forget to have fun!
It’s going to be a terrific year. See you at Get the Scoop! Day. You’ll probably find me at the Community Closet sale getting my
Onward,
Leanne Reynolds
ROBS Head of School
