Dear St Anne's Community,
Greetings from campus, where things are starting to 'heat up' as we prepare for September 1st, aka the first day of school! We hope you are enjoying a peaceful, safe and fun summer. I'm writing with the first of what will be several communications we will send as we get closer to the beginning of the school year.
First, we are happy to be welcoming some new faces to campus. Please see the list of our new Herons along with their bios by clicking here. It's a great group of educators and I'm excited by what each will bring to our school. We also have several of our existing faculty taking on new roles this upcoming year and I will make you aware of those soon.
New additions, of course, mean that we have said goodbye to a number of faculty and staff. Each was a part of the extraordinary effort in making the 2020-21 year such a meaningful one for our students and we want to take a minute to recognize their years and dedicated service to our community. Many of the folks who have departed had an extraordinary run here at St. Anne's, including Shannon Cameron (a member of St. Anne's founding team), and Kathy Hanna, who was here for 18 years. Together with the other departing faculty and staff, Amy Beth Sherman, Kerry Wilson, Bev Ashkenase, Andrea Croce, JP Ferretti, Sarah Shpak, and Marcela Caro, these individuals collectively contributed almost 100 years of service to St. Anne's and each of them have been instrumental in the development and strength of our current program. We thank them and wish them well as they move on to various professional pursuits near and far.
Though the mood of this summer is certainly different than last, we continue to monitor the pandemic and what it will mean for our school community. I am working with the Heads of the Delaware Association of Independent Schools (DAIS), in concert with the Department of Public Health (DPH) to determine a consistent and safe policy for all DAIS schools. As I'm sure you are aware, both the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics have issued new guidance recently regarding the use of masks indoors. We will be sending our plan and guidelines by August 15th but, rest assured, we will make decisions that put the safety of our faculty, students, and staff first. We have learned that things can change quickly so we are monitoring local, state, and national developments daily.
As August approaches, we will be in more regular contact about the fall with information, summer work, school supplies and dress code so please be on the lookout for those emails. In the meantime, please continue to enjoy the summer and be in touch should you have any questions. We look forward to welcoming our young herons home soon.
Regards,
Barry
