I was delighted and proud to welcome you all to Baruch College’s Engelman Recital Hall this week for our traditional End-of-Year shows. There are always such moving moments when children showcase their many talents, and have us laughing one moment and tearing up the next. The shows are also an opportunity for us to see just how involved our parents are—it might seem like a given, but believe me, it isn’t! At The École, even grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, family friends, and nannies show up for the occasion! I would like to thank all my colleagues, especially Cécila, Ryan, and Waylissa, for their remarkable work in class all year; we are all incredibly impressed by the results.
The shows are proof, if proof was needed, that our staff—the teachers, their assistants, and our staff in general—are the heart of The École. They are the ones that make this school so unique; they are the ones that make the difference. I’ve been writing these weekly letters for six years now, and I worry about repeating myself, but when it comes to my colleagues, I feel no qualms about saying (almost) the same thing year in year out. It is why, of all the things I do at The École, I believe the most important is recruitment. You will find the traditional end-of-year document here, introducing the new recruits who will be joining us in August and letting you know who from this year’s team will be heading off to new horizons.
The team remains very stable, which is a source of great satisfaction. That said, every end of the year tends to bring its fair share of changes, and this document will undoubtedly be updated over the summer; you can return to it at any stage to see the latest version at the same link. I’m delighted that The École’s reputation is as strong as ever and that we continue to be an attractive employer for some of the best educators in New York and beyond.
In the midst of this relative stability, most of the changes are taking place in Middle School and within the Counseling Department. In Middle School, the changes are owing to the opening of a second 7th Grade class and the departure of two colleagues. As well as our new Middle School Principal, Emily O’Hanlon, we’ll have three new teachers—four if you count Ms. Millan’s maternity leave replacement. I’m pretty excited about these new additions to a team that has shown once again that it can guide our middle schoolers to the very best high schools in town.
As for the Counseling Department, I would like to reassure our families that the well-being of our students remains our absolute priority. Although the department is being restructured and will not center on the counselor’s role, it will not be diminished. Quite the opposite. Stéphanie, Sophie, and I are currently exploring several avenues to make the Counseling Department more effective and to connect it more closely with our students, their families, and their needs.
I close out this week tonight with one of my favorite events of the year: the reception welcoming new parents to The École. It is usually on the rooftop of 206 that they begin to understand that we are not a school like the others.