Message from Head of School: February 2023

Closing out the first six months of the school year and facing the final weeks of winter, I am pleased to share with you another update. As I write this report, I am green not with envy but with gratitude as we showed our Eagles pride with a “greenout” in preparation for the Super Bowl. With nearly everyone donned in green, we created blizzard-like conditions across campus, and, with it, unity and camaraderie that complements the team’s. Even though our Birds narrowly missed the Lombardi Trophy, they were victorious in my mind. 

The goal of my quarterly updates is to provide curricular, strategic, and community highlights across the school, as well as meditations on any number of topics. While the updates are not meant to be all-encompassing, I hope they will provide insight into life at SCH. My attention this school year remains (1) getting to know the community, (2) advancing the current roadmap for the school, and (3) assessing new strategies that will move the school forward. I will use the first two priorities to frame this update, although you will note the priorities are not mutually exclusive. You will hear about the third priority at a later date.

I remember it well, the sound of the newspaper street vendor hurling, “Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!” These were just a few of the essential elements of Superman’s power-set. And then there was Steve Austin. In an assertive if not persuasive voiceover, the narrator says: “We have the capability to make the world's first bionic man. Steve Austin will be that man. Better than he was before. Better...stronger...faster." Like many of you, I looked up to my fair share of superhumans. 

In my first year as head of school, I have been cataloging our school’s particular forte, our secret sauce, as I have said, or what we do especially well. What is the specialized skill that we bring to the (independent) school world? What are our gifts and abilities, visible and hidden? How do we accentuate, nurture, and leverage them? How do we inspire our school to bring its best self to the world’s table? And if you could wake up tomorrow having gained any one quality or ability, what would it be?

As I have underscored before, the strength of SCH derives above all else from the quality of its people whose connection to the school and to each other is as profound as they come. What a gift it is that I get to experience firsthand what I’ll describe, quite simply, as a superpower of community.

Please refer here for my full message and highlights of our strategic roadmap.

I hope you find these updates informative. Who SCH is and what SCH does matters. What it has to contribute to students’ lives and the world beyond campus and how it goes about this matters. Our school has much to offer, and at the same time much to do in order to fulfill its greatest potential. With inimitable gifts and abilities, including doggedness and a quiet confidence, our school will continue to live its mission and provide a blue-chip experience for students. Until my next update, let’s scoot past the last frost of winter and prepare for the flowering of spring. I’ll see you waving about campus!

With warm regards,
Delvin M. Dinkins, Ed.D.
Head of School