Welcome back to the start of Semester II

Dear Faculty –

In just a few more hours the bell will ring and we will officially start the second semester of the year. I expect this one, like the second half of last semester, will fly by and we’ll be looking at graduation and the end of school just around the corner. I hope each of you took some time during the break to rest and recharge yourself.

Sadly, we are still not completely whole as a community as there were several faculty members who suffered losses either immediately before, or during, Christmas break. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers and let me say in advance how grateful I am for all that you will do, individually and in teams, to help support them and our students during this time.

On a happier note, many of our departing teachers have found new homes and new adventures. It is not my wish to steal their thunder and make any announcements. That is best left to each individual. Anyway, it is an exciting time.

The good news for me is that, thanks to the amazing work of Dan, Molly, and Jacob and their divisional teams, we have completed nearly all our hiring for next year and I have been able to cancel several of my planned recruiting trips, Rather than be away for all but four days of this month, I’m now in residence until the very end of the month. Wai Mun will be away all this week, working with our parent corporation and their new school in Jiaxing, China, but we look forward to her return this coming weekend.

I wish you all a very happy, healthy, and successful start to the year. It’s an exciting day.

Sincerely,

Mark