Dear WMS Community,

I want to welcome you all to our 45th year, to those returning, to those who are with us for the first time, and to those who are with us but from away.

We have thought hard and creatively about physically opening the school this fall, as opposed to being only online. In our decision-making and our planning we have been guided by and remain true to two critical and inter-twined priorities:

• The school setting must be as safe as possible to prevent the incursion of COVID-19.
• The school must offer our young children the opportunity to relate to other children, to learn tolerance and develop friendships and to explore the physical world, develop and hone curiosity and learn respect for others. Accomplishing these multi-faceted tasks on- line is extremely difficult. As humans, our evolutionary development has programmed us to need to be with others, not just observing them on a two dimensional screen.

In the past, I have used the analogy of sailing to describe the WMS experience. To be a good sailor, one has to know a great deal—about tides and currents, charts and navigation, wind patterns, electronics, engines, sail adjustment and on and on. And, in our school setting this corresponds to the extensive knowledge and experience of early childhood that we have developed over 45 years. Our teachers are superb, always hungry to learn, and involved in best early childhood practice.

But beyond all the knowledge a sailor has, gained through study and over years and years of experience, a good sailor must be adaptable, and able to deal with unforeseen circumstances. As sailors say, one can’t control the wind, but one must be able to adapt to its vagaries and its challenges-sudden calms, squalls, major storms.

For WMS, COVID-19 is one of those major storms to which we must adapt and we are doing so, constantly learning and improving our ability to keep the virus at bay as we move ahead to teach our wonderful children. Our teachers and administrators have been absolutely amazing in their dedication and commitment to getting the school up and running safely in this quixotic environment. As field conditions, governmental guidance, and best practices shifted, we have adapted and modified our plans and truly believe, now that we have actually opened, that we are as prepared as humanly possible to deal with the multitude of challenges we will face.

To return briefly to the nautical analogy, I may be the captain, but without steadfast teachers, administrators, support staff and a well-functioning Board of Trustees, the school might, as with a poorly crewed boat, flounder. But we remain strong and so very happy that you are all on board.

We stay safe and strong together,
Ronnie