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OPENING NOTE
The Spirit of a Start-up
For Independence, just as for the world at large, the recent months have been challenging, to say the least. But they’ve also yielded valuable lessons and presented opportunities for growth. This issue of Spirit explores some of those lessons and opportunities.
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Starting in March of 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted the course of our school year in as profound and sudden a way as one might imagine, we found ourselves faced with the task of essentially starting a new school—a virtual version of Independence. We had never done any of the things we were then instantly required to do, and I am proud to say that as a school community, we rose to the challenge with all the energy and resourcefulness of the best start-up.
In the weeks that followed, we learned lessons that ranged from the practical to the deeply meaningful. We became more adept at harnessing the power of instructional technology, and we became wiser in recognizing the limits of that power.
We also saw more clearly than ever the strength of our school community, the resilience of our students, and the deep commitment of our faculty. I cannot thank or praise our teachers enough for the ways in which they have stretched themselves to the limit for the sake of their students.
As I write, most of our students have now returned to campus and have done so with visible joy. It would be an overstatement to say life is back to normal. But what a phenomenal stride in the right direction this is—and what a powerful reminder these recent months have provided of the value of the experience we are privileged to share as members of this remarkable school community.
With Spirit,
Victoria C. Yatzus Head of School
