Back-to-School Night: A Community Celebration

Thursday, September 22—Head of School Sarah Pelmas welcomed families to Winsor's first in-person Back-to-School Night since 2019. The evening was designed to give families a glimpse into their students’ classes, classrooms, and curriculum as well as the supportive landscape of mental health and wellness resources available. The evening fostered renewed feelings of belonging and connection as everyone gathered to meet teachers, school administrators and staff, as well as other parents/guardians in a more traditional setting.

Both Upper School and Lower School families gathered in two separate Upper School and Lower School blocks in the David E. and Stacey L. Goel Theater to hear opening remarks from Head of School Sarah Pelmas, Head of Upper School Kim Ramos, and Head of Lower School Sharon Jones Phinney. Ms. Pelmas summed up the evening’s purpose in her welcome: 

 

“This is primarily a night where you get a glimpse into your daughter’s life, a moment of seeing the exciting education she’s immersed in, the extraordinary teachers she gets to be with every day, the beautiful building she calls her second home, and the worlds that are opening up to her all the time.”

Ms. Pelmas also discussed Winsor’s theme for the year, belonging, in the context of the school community. She noted that belonging is “particularly important when you have a community that is so diverse, and with such broad interests.” She went on to explain why as a community we have not defined belonging with the students, because “it’s a complex concept and the act of defining it helps us understand where and how we ourselves have felt we belonged.”

With the theme of belonging in mind, and how it relates to student mental health and wellness, Ms. Pelmas shared insights about her work for the past three years involving a small group of 30 business leaders, college presidents, and heads of secondary schools on best practices in responding to the mental health crisis in the United States. Recently, the group met in New York with Surgeon General of the United States, Dr. Vivek Murthy, to speak about the issue of mental wellness, which has been a focus of Dr. Murthy for years. He recently wrote a book about loneliness, which he calls “our most significant medical problem.” 

Ms. Pelmas shared thoughts from Dr. Murthy on ways to move in a positive direction and  change the landscape of the complex problems our children are inheriting. We can move in a positive direction if we help our children: 1) see progress and have hope that progress is possible; 2) be part of that progress; and 3) be together with one another, in communities with a common purpose. 

Wellness Department Head Amanda Santos Valenzuela came to the podium for a presentation with her team to discuss their important and individual roles in helping support the mental health needs of all students at Winsor. With this in mind, they covered the spectrum of teaching and learning, counseling, health services, and wellness education. To access their presentation, click here: https://bbk12e1-cdn.myschoolcdn.com/ftpimages/1082/misc/misc_214005.pdf

Homeroom meetings for all classes took place in the Lubin-O’Donnell Center: Epker-Sinha Wildcat Room, Dance Studio, Clark-Tandon Drama Studio, and the Baldwin Recital Hall. Giving a taste of the delicious and healthy fare provided to Winsor students daily, Culinary Director Chef Heather Pierce provided light refreshments for guests throughout the evening as they moved from space to space. A two-hour, end-of-evening window included class meetings where parents/guardians could tour their students' classrooms, see their work, and meet their students’ teachers face to face. 

What turned out to be a rainy Thursday, ended with a clear and celebratory evening for everyone in the Winsor community.