I asked Elijah what he was excited about in terms of returning to school. He replied “mainly just seeing people. It has been a rough spring break.” Yes, Elijah, the world agrees with you, it has been a rough spring break to say the least.
During this time of isolation and change my children have gained an appreciation for the privilege that they have in being a part of Ambleside. With the absence of the laughter of playdates, the structure of school time, and the loving guidance of teachers, they have realized the absolute gift that Ambleside is.
It has been a joy for me to witness my children’s heartache and longing for their friends and teachers. That sounds harsh, but it is honest. The parent’s recurrent internal thought of “they don’t know how good they have it” has come to fruition. It is a case of “they didn’t know what they had until it was gone”.
And now it is back. But we are appropriately guarded.
We know the lengths the staff and families have gone to in order to reopen the “brick and mortar”. We know that it is now, more than ever, going to require our entire Ambleside family to treat our precious opportunity to return to our beloved school as the enormous privilege that it truly is. In order for us to keep our children flourishing in the environment that they long for, we must ALL consider the ripple effect our individual decisions will have on the rest of our Ambleside family.
Over the last couple of months, I have had the opportunity to serve on the task force for re-opening Ambleside in the midst of a pandemic. I am confident in the procedures and policies that have been put in place. I am at complete peace sending my children to school on August 12th because I know first hand the lengths the staff are going to in order to ensure the safety of our children. However, all of this will only truly succeed if we implement this care in our day to day lives away from school as well. On this note, I am so thankful for the team (parents, children, teachers) that we have because I know that each of us shares this common goal.
I read an article published in the New England Journal of Medicine tonight titled Reopening Primary Schools during the Pandemic. In the conclusion, the authors wrote “…..for the sake of the children.” I smiled and thought; you almost got it right, guys. It is “for the children’s sake” and we have been doing it all along.