Board of Trustees

The Wesley School: A Hybrid Year

Hybrid is a word we’ve all become very familiar with during the COVID pandemic and is defined as ‘composed of heterogeneous elements.’ It speaks most tangibly to the mix of in-person and virtual meeting spaces that have become the new normal in our lives. Over the last few years, many of us have embraced a hybrid work model that allowed us to split time between our homes and offices and subsequently discovered greater productivity and a better work-life balance.

During the 21-22 school year, The Wesley School also embraced the opportunities and advantages presented by our hybrid world to sustain and grow our connection and community. Many campus events returned to an in-person model with a palpable enthusiasm. Attendance at the Multicultural Potluck was through the roof, the 80s Prom Gala capped off a record year for Annual Giving, and there was hardly an open seat (or dry eye) during the Moving Up Community. But other events like the CODI Cooking Series, PA meetings, and Parent-Teacher conferences benefited from the convenience and efficiencies of hybrid technologies established during the pandemic and the school, therefore, chose to keep them virtual. And still others, like our monthly Trustee meetings, migrated from a fully virtual model at the beginning of the year to a hybrid model by the end of the year. While in-person connection is certainly vital, the pandemic challenged us to reimagine how we best support engagement and involvement among our parents, faculty and students while honoring the diversity of jobs, lifestyles, and families that make up our school community.

Hybrid is also defined as ‘energized by more than one power source’ and that interpretation speaks directly to the heart of The Wesley School. We are a delightfully heterogeneous community whose sum is greater than its individual parts and each one of us is a ‘power source’ that has the potential to inspire an investment in the future. As we move into what is hopefully a post-pandemic environment, the Board of Trustees looks forward to partnering with our newly permanent Head of School, Julie Galles, and working in conjunction with the many Wesley constituencies as we thoughtfully ‘write’ the next chapter of our beloved school. As we do so, let’s keep the lessons of our ‘hybrid year’ in mind, honoring what works and re-envisioning things that no longer serve us, while cultivating the many avenues we’ve created for passionate engagement all aimed at ensuring the already bright future of The Wesley School.

With gratitude, David Monahan • Parent to Cooper (4th Grade) board of trustees chair