A Letter to Middle School Families

Dear Middle School Families:

My first job when I graduated from college was working in the administrative offices of a chamber orchestra in New York City. I was not a musician, but I was reasonably good at making photocopies and booking hotels for musicians. The day-to-day tasks were frankly boring, but they were rewarded by evenings I spent in the wings of Carnegie Hall, listening to concerts I never knew would move me so deeply. All in all, it was a pretty quirky and delightful first job. But as my first year came to a close, I started to feel an unsettled sadness. It was September, and all my photocopying and flight bookings blurred into an endless stretch. I realized that for the first time in 18 years, I didn’t have a September feeling. When I ultimately moved toward education as a career, I was thrilled to regain the fresh rush of September. This year, I anticipate September’s possibilities, building a new step upon the foundation of those that have come before, more strongly than ever.

September brings the joy of a new beginning but also a feeling of return. Whether you’ve spent the last decade at Wheeler or this is your first year with us, you know the signs of renewal. Clean binders, the smell of wooden hallways, the sound of busses roaring to life. This fall, I believe we will collectively be enveloped by something more profound than ever, a feeling of reunion. It’s been a hard year. First, coronavirus isolated us, then it flung us far: six-feet of distance, club gatherings only on Zoom, and 6th graders on a different campus. As all of us who tensely follow every development in the news know, coronavirus isn’t done with us yet, and we will need to continue to live and learn with contingency plans ready. But we are reversing the disbursement and returning to each other. Six feet of distance will become three. Clubs will meet face-to-face. Our intrepid 7th graders, who spent the past year in a different state, will come back to our Rhode Island campus. As we find each other again, we will rediscover joys of community togetherness that we’d missed so deeply last year. Our after-school sports will run fully. Class meetings and assemblies, including performances, will once again be a feature of our week. Our Aerie program, in which kids can elect to take enrichment classes from a large buffet of options, will be back up to full speed. As these and other facets of the Wheeler Middle School return to normal, we will find joy in reuniting.

Something that has brought me joy in the past week is watching coverage of the Olympics. One of my favorite parts is when athletes dole out ecstatic congratulatory hugs among their competitors. I get to see the same spirit of cooperation from middle schoolers. As we move forward together, we will pay special attention to continuing to help our kids navigate their social and emotional lives, especially given the upheaval of the past months. To that end, each grade’s teaching team is working to build and enrich the advisory program, balancing social and academic advising goals. These include whole-grade and small group activities geared toward helping our kids understand themselves and exploring meaningful engagement with our wider community. Our hope is that our kids will, like Mutaz Essa Barshim and Gianmarco Tamberi, pour everything they have into their own growth, while simultaneously celebrating the growth of others.

Watching the families of Olympians cheer them on from thousands of miles away in their living rooms reminds me that we are still bound by regulations that are designed to keep our kids and our world safer. But one aspect of Wheeler’s reunion that feels particularly exciting is reconnecting as a community of parents and guardians. My proverbial door is always open, so please reach out whenever you have questions. In addition, I am planning a series of parent/guardian coffees to gather in conversation about our programs, adolescent development, and goals for the year. If you have a topic you’d like us to explore, feel free to suggest away! I love any opportunity to talk about middle schoolers and can’t wait to be together with you again.

Here’s to a beautiful September and beyond.

Warmly,

Vanessa O’Driscoll

P.S. Looking for resources, calendars, directories, and an archive of the forms and downloads we’ve sent? The parent portal of the Wheeler Website is for you! Let me know if you need help logging in.