This article appeared as "The Right Place" in the Spring 2023 issue of Independent School.Recently, we asked the children in pre-K, “What does the word ‘welcome’ mean?” One of them said, “It means you are at the right place.”
Each morning, we help all students get to that right place when we greet them as they arrive to school. Sometimes there are hugs, often there are high-fives, and occasionally, we get to check in more fully with a student who may need some encouragement. This start to our day is a living example of our commitment to cultivating community and connection every day.
As an Episcopal school, we are continually called to make our community a place of welcome and belonging. We returned to in-person learning in 2021, and after so many months apart, we recommitted to cultivating an inclusive community. We came up with a saying that was placed in our front windows, printed on stickers, and used in daily and more public communications to our current and prospective families: “Grace Belongs to You.” This proclamation expresses our belief that God’s grace or the chance to do better is yours whether you have earned it or not. As a school that is intentionally inclusive and diverse, this expression of grace and belonging signifies that our community wishes to embrace everyone, even those who come to see if they want to join us.
As we turn the corner on another calendar year, we are focused on regathering our community—including parents, grandparents, and caregivers—continually and consistently. We have learned that these past few years have left many of us feeling lost without one another. We have craved the physical spaces where we can feel a part of something larger than ourselves—a feeling that can’t be cultivated on a Zoom call.
At an open house last month, our school’s atelierista gathered current and prospective parents in our newly formed early childhood atelier to make something of meaning with materials in the studio. She shared the work of an artist who created what has been called the “Healing Machine.” She proposed his work as a provocation for our own community healing, and collectively the creations parents made might tell a larger story about healing. In that space, adults sat shoulder to shoulder and made 3D and 2D creations. The conversation flowed and connection was palpable. It’s the kind of work we’re doing each day with students as they embark on their own healing.
At Grace, we have realized that community is what is bringing us back from a long period of isolation and grief. It is in this space and place that we are becoming whole again. Grace belongs to all of us.