September 5 Update

Dear McCall Parents and Guardians,


Welcome to the 21-22 school year. From what I could see during the first two days of school, I believe the year started out pretty well. It goes without saying that last school year was very difficult for both staff and students, and a lot of that had to do with the COVID mitigation guidelines we put in place took away much of what is enjoyable about coming to school – most notably the ability for staff and students to be able to interact with each other in meaningful ways. I know many of McCall faculty members are excited about returning to many of the pre-pandemic practices, and they are elated that they can get back to being the educators they want to be for their students.


I would like to share with you this commentary posted on the WBUR website titled “The Pandemic Is Still Here. How Can We Help Kids Return to School”. The authors Achana Basu and Karesten Koenen, both academicians from Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, provided some advice on how to help students adjust to their return to full in-person learning after a challenging 20-21 school year. I found the most compelling advice the authors offered us in the article is to emphasize the value of flexibility and to “avoid unrealistic positivity in factor of realistic assurance.”  The entire article can he found here.  

While the district leaders and I are working to get schooling back to what it was prior to the pandemic, it is still important for all of us to remember that COVID is still out there. We do not have to be paralyzed by it, but we must be vigilant about following science-based mitigation guidelines. Reminding our students and each other to wear masks, wash hands frequently, practice maximum distancing, and quarantine when asked by the Health Department are critical to keeping our school running safely. I also ask everyone to be patient with us as my staff and I work to figure out how to implement health and safety measures while allowing everyone in the school to enjoy teaching and learning the way they were meant to be done.


Lastly, I would like to remind all parents and caregivers that it is natural for students to experience back to school emotions that are both pleasant and unpleasant emotions at high intensity levels.  This is especially the case if the students have not been in the building for over a year.  While my staff and I would see the pleasant emotions such as excitement and elation during the school day, you will likely see the unpleasant emotions such as anxiousness and nervousness at home. If you do see your children being upset about the first two days of school, it may be helpful to remember that going to school after two months of not doing so is tiring for everyone. The behaviors that were expressed by your children may be their inabilities to regulate their emotions due to physical exhaustion as opposed to the actual problems they were telling you about. I found many of the challenges students have melt downs about during the first few days of school (e.g., trouble opening lockers, not finding their classrooms, not seeing friends at the time they are expecting to see them) will resolve themselves after few more days of school. I have also found the most effective ways for parents and caregivers to help their students during those situations are to listen without reacting and to give the students what they need to “refuel their tanks” (e.g., give them food and get them to bed at a reasonable hour).  My staff and I will be happy to help if the problems persist and your student continue to express the same difficulties after a week or so of school.



I, for one, had a great first two days of school. I hope you did as well and the four day weekend helped you recharge.  Here’s to another good 175 plus days of school!




James Lin

Principal

McCall Middle School