Dear Sparhawk families,
I am thinking about you, as I so often do, and about how much I miss us all being together on campus. Although it is not the same, I am enjoying the Zoom meetings with students and colleagues and finding new ways to reach out to people as we wait for the day we return to campus. What a joy that will be.
Recently, I took my maiden voyage into online video-sharing by reading a story to our youngest children. The story I chose was Roxaboxen, written by Alice McLerran. It is a simple tale of a play-town created out of sticks and rocks, boxes and bits of pottery, and glittering desert glass for decoration.
As I read, I realized that the description of Roxaboxen made me think of Sparhawk and how we all miss it, except that school and home references are the opposite for us right now.
Then the story made me think of how many children have grown up at Sparhawk and gone on to bless their communities along our twenty-six years of existence.
The years went by, and the seasons changed,
Because none of them ever forgot Roxaboxen,
"I was recently reflecting on my time at Sparhawk and I wanted to reach out and say hello. I was on the Sparhawk website and I was so happy to see things seem to be going well!
As for me, I am currently living in Brooklyn …I am leading a marketing team of 35 people across the country and we're focusing on breaking up the internet monopolies of Comcast, Verizon, etc. The real reason I am reaching out is to thank you both for your time and investment in a scrappy 16-year- old kid. Life during and after Sparhawk wasn't always easy for me, but I would be absolutely nowhere without the lessons and guidance I learned in my years there. They say teaching can be a thankless job, but from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much. You may have just saved my life at the time."
~Steve Yuen, Graduation class of 2007
"Last night I made this (a multicolored, handwritten copy of the Sparhawk Credo) and put it up on my fridge. I know a lot has happened over the years, but I find myself thinking of Sparhawk and the Credo often, and especially when I’m feeling a bit lost or weighed down. Wherever I go, it comes with me. I’m far from the only one who feels this way. It’s my most relied on guiding principles and I just wanted to share that, and to thank you again for realizing your dreams and sharing them with all of us."
~Mary Kelley, Graduation class of 2012
There is something special about Sparhawk. People feel it even as they drive onto the Lower School campus and see the unique collection of sweet buildings and their small surrounding woods, and they feel it when they walk in the door at the Upper Campus, vibrant and brimming with bonhomie. Such warm-heartedness is even more evident when they meet the students and staff, and the joyful, honest and respectful way we have with one another. A deeper look, reveals the substance beneath the culture of kindness; evidence of learning abounds. Visitors know it is different than schools they have experienced elsewhere. Parents often say, “I wish I had gone to a school like this.”
In our time apart, many of you have written words of praise about how well Sparhawk has handled distance learning and keeping the Sparhawk Spirit shining through. Your support uplifts us. Please continue to share your reflections with us and with your friends and acquaintances, as well. Together, particularly during this difficult time, we can help other children and families consider a future in Sparhawk’s unique community --a world they just might need more than ever.
Sincerely yours,