Campus is quiet this week. It’s during vacations that we allow ourselves to recharge. We spend much needed time with family and friends, catch up on appointments we didn’t have time to schedule during the chaos of the regular school day, and make a few last minute holiday shopping trips (don’t forget to visit our Buy Proctor site for some great gift ideas!).  We make a welcomed, tangible downshift from the speed at which our lives are otherwise being lived.

While vacations replenish us in many ways, they are a keen reminder how much students energize us and serve as the lifeblood of the Proctor community. A quiet campus is wonderful (no crowds in the gym or late night dorm duty!), but after a few days, campus feels almost too quiet. We miss the energy, spontaneity, and vitality that accompanies 370 adolescent lives intersecting with ours.

As gifts are wrapped this holiday season, we reflect on the gift our students are to our community. They encourage us to think differently, inspire us to be curious, and challenge us to teach more effectively. They expand our worldview as much as we hope to expand theirs, and remind us daily how valuable the traits of honesty, compassion, respect, and responsibility are to our human relationships.  

We also recognize our students would not be our students without parents who believe wholeheartedly in Proctor’s educational model. To each of our parents, we say thank you this holiday season for giving your child the gift of a Proctor education!