August 27, 2025
Dear Blake Families,
I hope everyone is looking forward to the first day of school.
During our opening faculty meetings over the last two days, we took some time as a staff to outline the school year and our hopes for our students. This year I asked the staff
(in addition to acknowledging our hopes and fears)
to share their responses to this prompt:
In your subject/role, what could exploration look like for our students?'
There were a few common themes that came forth: asking questions, providing new opportunities for students, fostering interests, listening, reading, and hands-on learning
(amongst other responses as well)
. We look forward to diving into this theme as a community of learners throughout the year. We also took the time as a staff for some individual and collective reflection, outlining our goals and vision to begin our formal work for the 2025-2026 school year. Here are a few 'shares' that I hope will help with the transition into school...
I encourage all families to take some time to watch the two links below as a fun way to welcome the beginning of school at Blake...
(A compilation of messages from Blake teachers to all of our students)
(a message from John Green that I share each year)
The podcast below is a great 'listen' for anyone who interacts with teens...
(23 min) from Life Kit Podcast
Today's teens struggle with perfectionism and mood swings, and their parents struggle to have hard conversations with them, according to a 2024 Walton Family Foundation and Gallup poll. Teen psychologist Lisa Damour explains how parents can better support their kids as a new school year begins.
Please try not to worry or stay up all night thinking about school supplies/devices/etc. - we fully anticipate that some students will not have everything, and we will work with them to iron out the wrinkles. The first few days/weeks are a little bit messy and we need to 'welcome and embrace' the mess!
If you have any questions/concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.
We are all looking forward to an exciting year and the work that lies ahead!
Take care.
Nat