Apples and Honey

One of the logistical changes that has taken place at Lincoln School due to the pandemic has been a shift in our instructional hours. At first, when we were 100% virtual and concerned about the effects of increased screen time on our students’ physical and mental health, we reduced our instructional hours. As we came back to campus, first in a hybrid modality and later full-time, we adjusted hours again to allow for better supervision of Covid protocols and to continue to compensate for students’ and teachers’ wellbeing. These changes included an early dismissal on Fridays. Now, we’re back on campus fulltime, and we’ve made adjustments to how we schedule our IBDP courses to recover some of the aforementioned lost instructional time while also keeping our early-dismissal on Fridays for the benefit of students and teachers.

That early dismissal has allowed us to add Wednesday tutorial hours after school. This fills a direct need for many of our students. It doubles our tutorial hours in grades 9 and 10, giving those students additional flexibility in scheduling their extra help sessions. In grades 11 and 12, Thursday afternoons remain available for any student who would like extra small-group or sometimes individual help, while Tuesday afternoon hours allow us to offer extra tutorial times focused on our Higher-Level courses.

This change has been in place since the beginning of the 22-23 school year and we’ve had very positive reviews from teachers and students who have taken advantage of those additional sessions. We’ve also had positive feedback regarding the need to keep the early dismissal time on Fridays as a result. We’ll continue to monitor the impact of the new schedule throughout the year to make sure we’re having the impact on student learning, well-being, and support that we intended.

But Wednesday afternoons are not just for extra-help sessions. In the lower divisions, Wednesday hours are being used for professional development and the development of important academic programs. In the high school, we’ve committed ourselves to offering additional student support while also reserving one Wednesday afternoon a month for faculty team-building. Some months this may come in the form of activities; other months we may use this time for group learning. Earlier this month, I used one of our Wednesday afternoons to share a tradition with the high school faculty: we gathered in our teachers’ lounge and we shared apples with honey. This tradition comes from Judaism (it was Rosh Hashanah just days before) and though there was nothing religious in our coming together as a faculty, we used the symbolism of the apples with honey to wish one another a “sweet” year ahead. To be honest, my expectation was that our faculty would have a quick treat, enjoy one another’s company for a few minutes, and then take advantage of the time to catch up on their grading and the rapidly approaching interim reports. I was absolutely delighted, however, when most members of the team stayed together in the lounge, enjoying their apples and honey, and enjoying one another. I overheard conversations about their classes, their assessments (we’d held a workshop on assessment standardization the day before) and their students. They also just talked about their lives, their interests, and whatever came to mind. To some, this might have seemed like a waste of work time, but for me it was the fruition of all of the work we’ve done pre- and post-pandemic around culture building with our faculty.

This is an area where I think Lincoln School is really excelling: we’ve placed a great deal of emphasis on the importance of our community culture, including the culture we’re building among our faculty. In an era when we are reading more and more about toxic workplaces, quiet quitting, and great resignations, it’s refreshing to work in an organization that genuinely cares about its people and is willing to put words into action. Yes, as a member of the senior administration I’m inarguably biased, but I am truly inspired by my team’s commitment to caring for every member of our community: parents, students, and staff. It’s not always perfect (nowhere is) but I’m happy to say that we are being intentional about bringing a little more “apples and honey” to everyone’s lives.