Greetings, Team SMH!

Over the last five weeks, I have had a great time getting to know so many of you. Thank you so much for your warm reception of my family and me. One of the highlights of my last three weeks has been leading Chapel for our Baron community. So far, during our Chapel time, we covered both a personal introduction from me and a discussion on the 'why' of Chapel. In addition to leading Chapel for our Lower and Middle School Barons this upcoming week, I look forward to sharing with our Upper School scholars during their Honor Code Ceremony. So that is where I want to spend my time communicating with you today. These are some of my thoughts on 'honor' as a lived experience of doing the right thing.

In our academic careers, all of us have experienced what’s called ‘dynamic tension.’ Dynamic tension is what we feel when we must choose one thing over the other. To be clear, we have all had moments in our lives that challenged our definition of honor and thrust us into the throes of a dynamic tension as we grappled with making a difficult decision. For example, we have had to make academic choices between underhandedness and uprightness, between favoritism and equity, and between dishonesty and integrity. And I want to suggest that honor has little to do with you being presented with opportunities to compromise your integrity. Because, those times will come. Honor, that is, doing the right thing, has more to do with the choice you make at that time. It was our 26^th President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, who once said, “In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing.”

Several years ago, I had the opportunity to meet a retired Air Force General. As a fighter pilot, he’d flown several combat missions during the Vietnam War. However, after his plane was shot down, he spent 63 months in a gruesome prisoner of war camp known as the Hanoi Hilton. What struck me was what he shared with me about honor … doing the right thing. He said, “Fighter pilots are known for being people who are trained to step into the cockpit of a million-dollar weapons system and pride themselves by winning fights in the air. However, strip a fighter pilot down to his boxers, and place him in the clutches of a POW camp, and then stripped of everything but his will to survive, then you will see the real fight in him.” Baron community, we will always have an internal war going on. The battle that we face is for the high ground of our integrity. When placed in the daily clutches of dynamic tension, when stripped of the accountability of watchful eyes, when circumstances invite us to compromise consciously, will we fight the good fight of honor, or will we lose our integrity? Be encouraged. We can do the right thing.

Sincerely,

Rev. Dr. Fredricc Brock
Interim All-School Chaplain

Greetings from the Upper School! 

If I had one phrase to describe the last two weeks in the Upper School, it would be Student Leadership!  With more than 100 students applying to serve on councils, it is clear our students are eager to share their perspectives, affect impactful change, and collaboratively craft meaningful programs for their peers.  Elections can be a bitter-sweet process.  For the elected students, it is an affirming exercise in their voice and influence.  I know it is hard not to be elected in this process, and I want to commend everyone for their bravery in putting their name out there for consideration. 

I celebrate all of our elected leaders.  I have had the profound privilege of getting to work with many of them thus far as they prepare for Homecoming, Pep Rallies, Star Parties, and Issues Day. You have taken your appointments and hit the ground running. You're up to the challenge of leading our school, and I am grateful for your dedication to student focused initiatives rooted in fun, inquiry, and experience. 

Leadership extends well beyond an election or title.  It is a teachable, learnable skill that I believe every Saint Mary's Hall student can embody.  Leadership is choosing to do what is right for the community both publicly and silently.  I believe that all students, regardless of election status, possess the power, ability, and prowess to assert leadership in their academic and personal lives.  Leadership lives not only in our grand gestures or Assembly speeches; it is picking up a piece of trash on campus, helping a visitor find the Remmert, supporting a peer making an announcement, and listening to others' ideas with interest and feedback.  Leadership is behavior, and I see it on our campus every day.

Sincerely,

Liz Stockdale
Head of Upper School

I had the pleasure of attending the Parent Experience Coffee for all three Middle School Form levels.

Not only did I learn about the multitude of ways parents can connect with the school, but I had the opportunity to do something I was not able to do last year. I have always brought a grade level of parents together to talk about what can be expected from their child that year. Every child has a different experience.  For some, the Middle School experience is a walk in the park, but for many others, it is a roller coaster. That roller coaster tends to be harder on parents than on students! 

As a parent, we want our child to be happy. When a student enters Middle School, it can be harder to make that happen. There are things we cannot control as parents. For one, our children are looking for more independence (and are more capable of it) and wanting to handle things on their own. Their bodies are changing and the coming and going of friendships is another area that cannot often be controlled or helped by parents. The loss of control over making our children happy is hard, but just like the terrible twos, it is a phase that will eventually come to an end. As I said in all the coffees, what is most important is to affirm your child’s feelings, realize that what they are experiencing is most important to them, and to give them some space and allow them to see what they might need. Give them boundaries and stay firm. YOU are the parent, not their friend. They have many friends. Ultimately, you know what is best for them, but give them some space to feel as if they have some control of their lives. 

There is such growth during the Middle School years and it is an exciting time in the development of your child. Visually, that too can show the growth and maturity of your child. And so, to end my note for News From The Hall, I share with you my 6^th and 8^th grade picture...

Sincerely,

Sarah Visagie
Head of Middle School

What a magical return to school this has been! 

It is so good to see so many faces (albeit masked faces) back on campus.  The familiar buzz of classrooms, laughter on the playground, and return to the Dining Hall are welcomed with great enthusiasm.   

In all my years of education, I have not experienced a start to the school year where students have so overwhelmingly expressed a sense of joy, happiness, and contentment with school as compared to this one.  While some might attribute this joy to a full return after the experience of hybrid school last year, I choose to believe it is due in larger part to the two years of intentional preparation preceding this year and the unwavering dedication of the Lower School faculty and staff in creating an unparalleled student experience for your children.   

What began in the fall of 2019 with a question about the SMH honor code quickly turned into exploration of our approach to discipline and how our students develop life skills.  At that time, a group of Lower School teachers and I began exploring social-emotional learning (SEL) and reaching out to experts in the field and other independent school colleagues who had considerable experience with SEL in their schools.  We traveled hundreds of miles visiting schools in Austin, Houston, and New Orleans to see SEL in action.  We spent hours poring over research and vetting SEL programs, speaking with SEL leaders, and having countless conversations about the needs of SMH Lower School students and how we could best serve them.

We invite you to join us on Thursday, September 23 at 8:15am in the Coates-Seeligson Theater/Chapel to learn about the results of our intensive research and how we will use the evidence-based approach, Responsive Classroom, to promote academic success as students learn social and emotional competencies. 

As junior and senior students are aware, the ISAS Arts Festival has been on hold for the last two years due to COVID-19.

We are excited to announce that there are plans underway for select SMH artists to attend a regional arts festival at St. Stephen’s in Austin Friday, April 8 and Saturday, April 9! Five to six hundred visual and performing arts students from independent schools in San Antonio, Austin, and Midland will be attending to showcase their work, attend arts workshops in a variety of disciplines, and have the opportunity to meet with reps from top-ranked colleges, universities, art, theater, music, dance, and film schools. Students who have gone in the past generally describe attending ISAS as one of the highlights of their Upper School years and we can’t wait to be back at the fest!

Upper School students enrolled in the following classes/programs are eligible to participate in this year’s festival:

• In-School Dance
• Digital Cinema (all sections)
• Painting & Drawing (all sections)
• Sculpture & Design (all sections)
• Photography (all sections)
• Jazz Band
• Orchestra
• Vocal Ensemble (VIP)
• Advanced Theater Project (Spring Semester Theater Class)
• Theater Production and Theater Production Honors (Spring One-Act Play)
• Tech Theater

Sign-up information will be shared within the next month through your student’s Fine Arts teacher. For more information, contact your teacher or Wanda Wiley Atkinson Director of Fine Arts Bethany Bohall at bbohall@smhall.org.