The Weekly Reflections From The Upper School
September 20, 2020
A “The Weekly” Welcome Message from Kamaya Prince-Thompson
Welcome, Friends!
I am so excited to meet you here in The Weekly at BFS – one more place where we will connect with you. I was grateful to be present during the pretreat so that I could meet our new 9th graders. I can tell already that they are a courageous bunch who will do great things. I am eager to bear witness to their growth. Our students, brand new to High School, came in ready to meet and make new friends and get started on our year. Families, you would have been proud of their attentiveness, curiosity, and willingness to lean into a school year unlike any we have ever seen. I am sure we will have both good and challenging days, but we will be there to support each of your children. Our school’s weekly newsletter is another place where we will feature divisional updates, reflections, pictures, and more to help you navigate this journey. We are excited to partner with you.
See you right here again soon,
Kamaya
A Reflection by Angie Adams, US Dean of Grades 9/10 & US Student Engagement
Throughout the summer we had been preparing for the arrival of our incoming 9th graders and new 10th graders. We had been anxiously awaiting and continuing to adjust our planning as the weeks went on. I had the typical first day of school jitters that morning. Once our students arrived on campus, not only did my jitters disappear, but I was overwhelmed with a sense of feeling once again grounded. Throughout our orientation together we got to know each other. Not only on the surface, but we also dove deeper into what are our gifts and our thoughts that make us special and offered that to numerous members in the community. We shared what is at our core individually that our hearts deeply care about whether that was racial injustice, climate change, homelessness and many more injustices in the world. Unfailingly, each time someone shared and allowed themselves to be vulnerable it was received with love. Each time we peeled back the layers of ourselves and allowed a peer to get a glimpse of our hearts and minds it was received with affirmation. We explored what are the pieces that make up our identity and contextualizing that in our world. We learned about the places where our Quaker values shine in our community and our day to day journey. We shared in a meeting for worship together where there was so much empathy and compassion in the room. We learned more about how special our cohort is and how special our community is. We began to lay the foundation of trust, care, respect and love. Once we left the building and went on our separate ways home, our cups had been filled with expectancy and hope and a sense of togetherness that we have carried into the first week of school. I am humbled by the support from the families that have embarked on this journey with us and the willingness to remain open hearted as we continue on together.