Dear Parents,
I want to express my profound appreciation for our community as we continue to engage in courageous conversations around equity and inclusion as well as the protests and activities in response to systemic racism. We believe Black Lives Matter and are deeply committed to bringing an anti-racist approach to all that we do. I invite everyone in our community to engage in this work with us. We also need to hear your stories to understand how we can be better. I encourage you to share your thoughts with me directly or by joining the Wellington Community Equity & Inclusion Panel by clicking here. To learn more about how to have courageous conversations and explore resources on racial injustice, click here.
In what has at times seemed like a surreal adventure, we have finished the school year with a variety of commencement activities, including Moving Up ceremonies for 4th and 8th grade students as well as a rousing outdoor graduation ceremony for our seniors. I even had the pleasure to “attend” two lower school play productions during our final week. The creative energy, and high-quality acting, singing, and dancing gave us all a welcomed boost of optimism and energy. One example of this is the combined work of our band students to pull together a beautiful version of our Alma Mater. I encourage you to watch and listen by clicking here.
Although we had to re-envision a few of our traditional events, it was important and meaningful to honor the Class of 2020. This is an extremely accomplished group, both inside and outside the classroom. It gives me hope to know that our school continues to send forth students with invaluable experiences working in biomedical research, exploring their civic leadership roles in political science and government, and discovering creative forms of self-expression through the arts. All of these experiences position our students for future success and, without question, the world needs their dynamic problem-solving skills. I’m excited to see many of these students now continue the work they began at Wellington at some of the top schools in the country.
Summer Programming Updates
Child Care Option
We are pleased to offer a child program from July 6- August 7. We will follow the child care guidelines provided by the state, while offering supervision and activities for our youngest students, age 4 through 4th grade. Please note that there are limited spaces still available and spots are being filled on a first come first serve basis. To sign up click here. To learn more about our childcare offering, please click here to see this note from Julie Lovett.
Academic Support Program
Our supplemental academic program is designed to help support students by reinforcing and reviewing some of the work that was done in the spring, while also keeping an eye on the return to school in the fall. A combination of small group tutoring, along with unique mini courses should help students to find some interesting ways to engage with academic work. These programs will be offered to Wellington families with no additional fees. You can respond with interest to the offerings presented, and then the teachers will reach out to you with the specific details of the programming format and expectations. The July offerings will all be online, and we are waiting for additional guidelines that will help us determine whether some of the August offerings can be on campus. All the courses are optional.
There are additional for-credit courses that are offered for upper school students as well. These are courses that had been designed for the original Summer Program and have been redesigned for an online format. These courses have specific requirements resulting in academic credit and have a fee. Please see this list of offerings and sign up forms for each division.
Fall 2020 Campus Reopening Plan
Our plan is to have students on campus in the fall. We are eager to share our 2020 Reopening Plan, with specifics, after we respond to the guidance that will be issued to schools in the coming days.
Our plans continue to focus on leveraging our small class sizes and agile curriculum to build a model that will have students on campus while also maintaining our unique academic and extracurricular activities as well as meaningful connections that make our school so unique. The learning model will include optionality so families can have flexibility based on whether they prefer to have their child on campus or learning from home. Our academic team is building curricular models and class schedules that can easily conform to the forthcoming guidelines. In building those models, we are incorporating feedback from our parent surveys and from the distance learning task force, that has helped to identify current strengths and areas of need from our current work. The parent task force will also be utilized to provide feedback about the proposed models. Until the guidelines for school reopening are shared by Governor DeWine, it would not be prudent to commit to specifics.
We Continue to Stand Together
The challenges we have faced together in the last few months are a reminder to us all why Wellington is such an important place. I am indebted to the trust and partnership of our parents and am in awe of the outstanding commitment to students our faculty show each day. The Jags Together Fund has been a critical tool, allowing us to support our families in need. I believe the events we have all been navigating together will bring more wisdom and empathy to each of our relationships. Our work is definitely not over, and we will be using the summer to create a learning model that serves each of our families well, while also bringing a necessary diversity, equity, and inclusion lens to the people, programs, and policies that we utilize at Wellington.
I remain deeply grateful to be a part of a community that views change as opportunity for growth and progress. Wellington has always only moved in one direction, forward, and together we can move this school farther than ever before.
Warm regards,
Dr. Jeff Terwin
Wellington Head of School
Media Contact
Danielle Turkovich
Director of Marketing & Communications
turkovich@wellington.org
614-754-4263
For all information related to how Wellington is monitoring and addressing COVID-19, click here.