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Letter from Head of School
Dear Friends,
The 2021-2022 school year is well underway, and I can’t begin to tell you what a joy—and relief(!)—it was to open our doors on September 8 to all students, grades PK-8, for five days of in-person learning for the first time since March of 2020.
Like schools across the country, we had hoped the COVID-19 numbers would be in a better place (and they looked like they would be earlier in the summer), but we launched the new year with great enthusiasm, optimism, and the confidence that we have the right layers of protection in place to run school safely and successfully.
This issue of the magazine celebrates the exciting things happening at Norwood School. First and foremost, we celebrate the 57 members of the Class of 2021 whose many talents and accomplishments were showcased on Class Day and Commencement in June. I am immensely proud of the many ways this resilient class rose above pandemic-related disruptions and found creative ways to maintain most of the signature events that mark the end of the eighth-grade year. They worked together to hold a Class Day recital with an in-person audience; they challenged the faculty and staff to an Ultimate Frisbee game after the traditional kickball game had been cancelled earlier in the year; and they came up with some clever ideas to support their class charity project, the Dr. Susan Love Foundation. They are a fantastic group of young people, and we look forward to hearing about their many accomplishments at the 25 high schools they now attend. We celebrate the Norwood faculty and staff who look out for the well-being of their students by creating as normal a school experience as possible, while also putting into place a number of support systems to address a wide range of complex emotions and reactions related to the pandemic. As you will read in this issue, teachers have moved the social-emotional learning aspect of our program to the forefront to promote student success. Through their hard work and genuine care for our students, Norwood teachers are going above and beyond their normal duties to create safe and comfortable learning environments where children can thrive academically, socially, and emotionally.
We also celebrate the exciting progress on the Marriott Early Childhood Building. Last spring, on Founder’s Day, we held a festive groundbreaking ceremony to mark the start of construction. Today, just five months later, we are wowed on a daily basis by the large, three-story steel framework that has risen between the Steuart Building and the Murray Arts Building. The structure doesn’t yet have walls, but we’re already picturing the amazing learning spaces inside! It’s remarkable to think that in less than a year, this beautiful new building will be abuzz with the learning our students in grades PK-2. As we celebrate big things, I also find myself being particularly grateful for some of the little things that make Norwood so special. I love greeting our students as they get out of their cars in the morning. Handshakes are still sidelined, but we find creative and fun (and funny!) ways to greet each day. I am grateful for lunch service, which is back in action in the middle school, and for the tent that provides a safe space for eating lunch. I am grateful to see our middle school students enjoying fall sports again. I am grateful that our parents can enjoy time together at outdoor fall socials and are beginning to ease back into volunteering on campus.
Most of all, I am grateful for the Norwood community, past and present, that continues to wrap its collective arms around this wonderful school, supporting its mission to inspire confident, compassionate, independent, and creative thinkers who embrace lifelong learning.
Yours sincerely,
Matthew A. Gould, Ph.D. Head of School
embrace lifelong learning.” -MATTHEW GOULD, HEAD OF SCHOOL
