Message from the
HEAD OF SCHOOL Dear Friend, I am pleased to share the latest issue of the Gateway Express with updates from our vibrant, hardworking, and creative NDA community. As you can imagine, the pandemic has had a dramatic impact on how we serve our mission, but we ARE serving it! Our faculty, staff, and students have not missed a beat as we continue to find creative ways to teach and learn in these unprecedented times. Educating the whole person has never been as relevant and necessary as it is today, especially in light of the national conversation around racial injustice in America. The Academy stands with the black community, and I invite you to read our statement about the current events in our country if you haven’t had a chance to see it. Challenged by a global pandemic and presented with a powerful teaching moment, it has been our task over the last few months and the foreseeable future to ensure that our students continue to be educated, supported, protected, and valued, and for that I am so proud. We are developing plans to continue serving our students and area families over the summer through a reimagined Camp NDA, with virtual opportunities for students of all ages. As our school prepares to re-open this fall, the leadership and crisis management teams are closely following federal, state and local guidance as well as participating in webinars on best practices. We will be sharing our new expectations to reduce risk, keep our school community safe, and create contingency plans should there be a need to close for any reason. To put our plans into action and ensure students are able to return to campus, there will be needs, which is why I am hoping those who are able will join us on June 8th for our first Day of Giving, #NDAforGood. For those of you who have been on the Academy’s “frontlines” (I’m talking to you parents, teachers, and staff!), have kept NDA in your thoughts, have reached out with resources and advice, and have made gifts to benefit the urgent needs of our students and school community, thank you. We are grateful to you beyond words and we will continue to need you and others who care about NDA as we chart a brave course for the future. By coming together, we will emerge a stronger, wiser, and more compassionate community. Stay well, Dr. Vittoria Pacifico