Some of you will remember that last February, our Falcons basketball team had the honor of playing at Madison Square Garden. On the big day, Coach Soden, Andria, and I met the kids and their parents three hours before tip-off, sat courtside to watch the Knicks and the Clippers warm up, and made our way to the dressing room, where we tackled the thorny logistical question of how to make sure the kids looked cool on the court wearing Knicks Jr kits that were three sizes too big for them. When the time came, the kids made their entrance on the court and played their hearts out – we shouted, applauded, and encouraged from the sidelines, congratulated everyone, and made a beeline back to the changing rooms so we could accompany each of them to their seats before the Knicks game started. We dashed to the other end of MSG to pick up the French Heritage Night hats that we’d promised the families in attendance and finally made it to our seats, a little out of breath and very late. We had just sat down when a dad who was sitting behind us tapped me on the shoulder and whispered, “You guys missed the kids’ game! They played just before! It’s such a shame; they were great!”

I love this story. It highlights the work that is done backstage to ensure the students bask in the limelight when the moment comes. It also perfectly illustrates what happens at school during the summer and the (often overlooked) efforts that go into making sure everyone is ready for back to school – checking and triple-checking the schedules, cleaning the classrooms, improving the facilities, ordering supplies, moving material around, chasing down medical forms, negotiating with After-School instructors, and making sure new families are well informed – work that takes place in the wings but is vital preparation for next week.

You’ll see the new furniture in our Elementary classrooms and the storage in the Maternelle Building that provides space for even more toys and more materials. Also in Maternelle, we’ve expanded the classroom on the 5th floor and installed new restrooms (on the downside, it looks like we’ll have an out-of-service elevator for the first few days.) In the Elementary and Middle School Building, along with some splashes of color, we’ve opened up more space for sports equipment storage and separated the kitchen from the multi-purpose / theater space so we can make better use of it. We’re also maximizing the potential of the external space available to us – our 5th and 6th graders will be doing Sport in Baruch’s superb gymnasium with Coach Soden – just like our middle schoolers (who in turn, as announced here, will have some overhauled class schedules to share with you come Tuesday!)

This school year, we are welcoming 70 new students and 16 new colleagues. I hope that this school year will be the best one they have ever had!  We’re starting the school year with a slight growth in our student numbers; we have a total of 323 enrolled (this time last year, I announced 316), which testifies to the good health of our school and also our commitment not to grow just for the sake of growing – an important subject I addressed here. Even though we haven’t grown by a lot this year, we know there will be plenty of people on the sidewalk outside the school doors on the first days of school, which is normal – families come out in full force for drop-off for the first days back! I know that you all understand, and am confident that everything will run as smoothly as ever after the first few days.

We are ready to welcome you back on Tuesday for back to school. I am sure it will be excellent, and I wouldn’t miss it for the world.