Back-to-School

Thoughts & Reflections

Although we’ve been at school throughout the summer, camp is just a bit different. This past week was Back-to-School, and we’ve been crossing off the days, counting down to our absolutely favorite time of year. There’s so much wonder and magic, fresh pencils and new journals, goal-setting and reflecting. We thought we’d share a few of our favorite things about back-to-school.

The returning children, who seem to have grown up. Their hair is shorter, their shoes are bigger, and they’re suddenly ready to be the biggest ones in the class. They left capable, they’ve come back even more incredible. You remind us to dream big.

The returning children, who are still so teensy. When you start when you’re two-and-a-half, even a year later, you’re still little! You remind us to stay humble.

The brand new children, who are eager and tentative, ready to learn and to work and in awe of it all. You remind us to start small, that every achievement is incredible, and we all started out even having a hard time hanging up our coats. It’s not all grammar and long division, first we have to figure out how to put on our pants.

The families. The first or the fifth time you’ve been back-to-school, you’re also preparing, laundering, lunching, band-aid-ing, consoling, rejoicing. The promise every parent makes to their child is to do their best to prepare their child not to need them, and this incredibly generous, selfless, patient, careful work humbles our own work. We promise to take the best care of them we can, for the minutes, hours, years we have them in our care. You remind us that we are only one step in the long and wonderful journey.

They all remind us why we do this. Thanks for that. Here’s to the best year yet.