Dear Washington Market School Community,

Our superb staff is back and smiling at you under their masks. We are fully open, with our afternoon classes at Duane Street and our Hudson Street Afterschool program restored, and we look forward to a joyful and educationally exciting new year. At the same time, we all know that there are real challenges to face, but we feel confident that what we learned in our successful last year, supplemented by new guidelines, protocols, and vaccines, will allow WMS to function as close to normal as possible.

WMS has always been marked by intentionality. Nothing we do educationally or health-wise is an afterthought; we approach all aspects of educating and socializing our young children with a clear sense of purpose. Whether it is how we teach the children to have lunch, how we present new work at group meetings, our choice of words as when we call each other “friend”, or how we show delight in each other’s accomplishments, there is always a clear goal and intention.

In the past, while we have exercised care in keeping the school community safe and healthy, it was somewhat taken for granted that normal procedures were sufficient. That is no longer the case. This is the second year in which we are dealing with health and safety issues with the same intentionality that we direct toward educating our children. Whether it is twice weekly PCR testing, mask wearing, enhanced ventilation, extended cleaning protocols, contact tracing or quarantining preparation for a smaller but still school-connected online program, we are vigilant in doing everything possible to maintain the health and well-being of all associated with WMS.

Over these decades we are known for clarity of purpose, team collaboration, and taking nothing for granted. Our truly wonderful teachers and staff are fully behind our efforts and are each listening with their connected hearts and minds while navigating ahead carefully as we begin this new year. The delta variant, which was not really present during the last school year, has, in a sense, upped the ante, but we feel as well prepared to deal with it as is humanly possible.

Wishing everyone a Shana Tova, a sweet year of listening, learning, and remaining grateful for all we have,

Ronnie