Dear Urban Families,

In his novel All the King's Men, Robert Penn Warren uses the metaphor of a spider's web to describe interconnectedness: touch any part of the web and every part vibrates. So too with the world, and so too for each community, each constituency, within it. Before delving into logistics, then, I want to express my admiration and gratitude for how each of you has exhibited resilience and optimism that connects and sustains all of us through these unprecedented times.

 

At this point, it seems we'll need to sustain this resilience and optimism for the foreseeable future. Here's our current, broad-brush thinking as it pertains to the Urban calendar:

 

1) While we began with a two-week horizon ending on March 30th, we now plan to continue in our "virtual" state for a minimum of three weeks beyond that point -- Friday, April 17th, which is the beginning of our spring break. Many will say this is still overly optimistic; it might be. But optimism is important.

 

2) We will continue to modify the weekly schedule, our teaching pedagogy, and our expectations to best serve an extended period of Virtual Urban, regardless of duration. We are fortunate to have an expert and energetic faculty, staff and academic administration working on this, almost (and literally, it seems) around the clock. While we hope we won't need them, we are beginning to contemplate virtual versions of almost every school event and milestone, all the way through to, and including, graduation.

 

3) Knowing each family will approach this new-and-changing "normal" differently, consider establishing some unplugged routines with your child(ren), while they maintain "social distancing" from the outside world. Family dinners, scheduled afternoon walks, poker night, charades -- whatever work for you; it may seem a bit old-fashioned, but amidst all the challenges, perhaps there is opportunity here as well.


 

Please continue to monitor the website for ongoing and updated information. I also encourage you to open and read This Week at Urban, as that will be yet another important resource. Students will be receiving much more detailed emails directly from Charlotte and Geoff. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out.

 

With best regards and wishing all of you safety and good health,

Dan

 

Dan Miller
Head of School