Shifting back to a regular schedule following vacation never is easy. We are incredibly fortunate to have spent the last two weeks living life at a slower pace as we enjoyed time with family and friends around the holidays.  As we scroll through our social media feed this morning and see friends outside of our Proctor bubble complaining about returning to work, we are reminded how fortunate we are to live and work in a boarding school environment. Our transition back to work does not sacrifice family time, but rather expands it as we welcome students back into our lives after a two-week hiatus. 

A month ago, THIS blog post talked about our role as adults living in a boarding school community. Its message is one that both reaffirms the importance of the role Proctor's faculty and staff play in shaping school culture, and lays a foundation on which our Proctor family is built. Our role as a boarding school is never to replace a student’s own family, we simply believe adolescents benefits from having multiple, positive adult influencers in their lives. 

In this oft cited study, Jean E. Rhodes, Jean B. Grossman, and Nancy L. Resch note, "Bowlby (1979, p. 103) has remarked humans seem, 'happiest and able to delopy their talents to best advantage when they are confident that, standing behind them, there are one or more trusted persons who will come to their aid should difficulties arise.' To the extent that mentors and parents can work together to provide this backdrop, adolescents are likely to show improvement in multiple domains." 

Similarly, faculty and staff children benefit from having 370 older “siblings” who serve as role models, and often idols. The responsibility our students have to the youngest members of our community is real, and we are thankful they take their role seriously.

As we usher in 2017, we remind ourselves of the various roles we each play within the Proctor family, and we thank our parents for their partnership in our shared mission!