27 May, 2015
Dear Parents of Juniors
I came across this article in the New York Times earlier this spring as our juniors were right in the middle of their Junior Guidance Seminars. The messages within it have stuck with me since, and I wanted to share it with you all in the hopes you might find it meaningful as you begin this year of post-secondary preparation and planning.
As principal to this incredible, hard-working, high-achieving, extremely involved, and often sleep-deprived student body, I sometimes worry that we put too much stock in college decision letters and how they validate (or put into question) all that time and effort our students have put in over the past four years. As you'll read in the article, it reminds us that "the admissions game is too flawed to be given so much credit."
You all have spent nearly two decades caring for and supporting your children through life's ups and downs, and the period of college decisions next year will likely be full of both. For some of you, college visits and conversations at the dinner table are brand new and bring with them many emotions. For others, this is not your first time, but still, the emotions are there. Most of our students will receive a rejection letter at some point - after all, we encourage them to reach and sometimes that means things don't work out. Making sure they know that a college denial doesn't diminish their value as a person might seem to be putting it a bit dramatically, but this is how many of them can internalize it. As one student in this article shared, “I felt so worthless," and a parent of another student recalled that her son "shut me out for the first time in 17 years." Some of these reactions may be inevitable, but paying attention to the messages we send throughout this process, and particularly as you approach the date decisions are released, can help our students keep things in perspective and make it through this stressful and exciting time with their confidence and aspirations intact.
Thanks,
Evan Bishop
Principal
