Dear Flint Hill School Families,

It is so great to see everyone back at school this week! From our students and parents walking in the door to our faculty ready to mentor and guide our amazing young Huskies. This tremendous experience that we call Flint Hill is underway. And we all know that this will be a very exciting 2019-2020 school year! On Monday, I met with the senior class who will lead the way this year. This wonderful group has 143 members, and they are ready to go. They will set the tone and pace and will help build a sense of culture that is so critical each year for our great School. And as parents, we also need to be reminded that we will have a vital role to play as well.

Particularly for our new families, please let me remind you that we are Flint Hill Huskies. Many schools use their mascot as an ornament for athletic events. At Flint Hill, the Husky very much represents who we are in and out of the classroom. We enthusiastically model our educational journey after a dog sled; we are all pulling that sled together. We are united in this adventure, as we challenge ourselves to learn, grow and support our great students throughout all the experiences that they will have in the years ahead. As a school family, we value our time together and the opportunities to share this journey of parenting with our fellow Huskies.

What can we do as parents to support that effort? There are a couple of things that are very simple. We are not a passive school environment. In fact, I hope you notice that our faculty, staff and school leaders are all visible, available, accessible and approachable at all times. We know this adventure involves all of us, and so I call on you to consider a couple of critical things to help you be active partners in this experience:

• Get engaged. Participate, volunteer and find ways to get involved in any way that fits your schedule, your personality and your time. Meet new people and make a commitment to becoming involved in the life of the School in the most healthy, positive way possible. I assure you that you will grow as a person from these interactions, and you will gain new friends and a deeper appreciation for the experience your children are having. Flint Hill will soon become a way of life for your family, not just a place for you to drop them off and pick them up.

• Put events on your calendar. We all know how vital that concrete step is to reserve time and make sure that all those key events like back-to-school nights, coffees, Homecoming, the Holiday Shoppes, etc. are on your calendar as soon as possible. You’ll notice that we’re starting to include an “add to calendar” link to some of the events listed in the divisional newsletters and to email invitations for school events. All of this is in an effort to make it even easier for our families to make note of the events you want to attend. We certainly do not want you to miss anything. Our weekly calendar will always give you updates and reminders, and we are available for questions if necessary.

• Participate in formal opportunities to provide feedback. While your input is always welcome, during the course of each year, you will have various opportunities to provide more formal feedback through surveys and parent events. Please engage when you can — we want you to be heard! Last spring, we had an enormous response to our annual Parent Satisfaction Survey, and I will be reporting on those results soon.

 

Again, welcome back to this great school year! I look forward to seeing everyone in the weeks ahead.

Best wishes to you!

Sincerely,

John M. Thomas
Headmaster

P.S. Just a reminder that my Parent Discussion Series starts tomorrow with Lower School parents, at 8:15 a.m., in the Multipurpose Room on the Lower and Middle School Campus! Please join us if you can, and keep an eye out for email invitations for the other divisions.