Spring Family Weekend begins Friday morning with families attending classes, assembly, and afternoon commitments before beginning parent/teacher conferences at 1:00 pm. Fall Family Weekend seems like eons ago, and as families arrive, they will be reminded just how their students have grown this year.

Each student comes to Proctor with prior experiences  that have largely defined who they are as students in the past. However, because we know that definition of self evolves at Proctor, this weekend affords all of us the opportunity to press pause on the day-to-day routines and check in with families on ‘big picture’ growth.

As parents, we take snapshots of our children (one of my two year old running outside on the first nice day of spring last week will undoubtedly be ingrained in my mind for years to come) and we hesitate to let that image evolve as time passes. I want my daughter to stay the little blond headed bundle of innocence and energy forever, but the reality is our children grow up.

Studies repeatedly prove the importance of an engaged family in a child’s education from the earliest ages. Our goal is not just to work with families to educate each student, but rather to become part of each student’s family. It is through this lens that we approach Spring Family Weekend.

As advisors, dorm parents, coaches, and teachers we welcome students (and their families) into our lives. In September we embarked on an educational journey alongside each family, sharing the euphoria of success and the frustrations of bumps in the road, all while maintaining a consistent focus on the why, and not the what, of a student’s academic evolution.

I am thankful to teach at a school where I am on the journey alongside my students and their families. Proctor is a place where I am encouraged to develop open, honest relationships that ultimately challenge each of us to reach our potential. When we all (students, teachers, and parents) approach education knowing we are ALL a work in progress, we are able to embrace a growth mindset community-wide that is critical to learning.

Most importantly, however, I am thankful the ‘snapshots’ I have in my mind of students are consistently shattered by the dynamic, creative, and passionate young people who have chosen to attend Proctor. It is their desire to evolve, change, and grow as students that solidifies Proctor’s school culture as one of a kind!