SCHOOL NEWS
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Principal's Message
Dear Parents and Students:
Well, as I sit down to write this it is about as beautiful a summer day as you can imagine, and I’m hoping that bodes well for what will be another truly unique year here at SBS and, really, world-wide. By the time you read this document you have already been bombarded with a lot of information about what the coming school year will be like, but my hope is that this document can provide you with a little more specific information and answer most, if not quite all, of your questions.
Now, typically, one of the first things I do when I sit down to write this message is take a look at what I had to say last year and when I did I was somewhat surprised to see that a) I’d been fairly brief and b) despite the radically different circumstances under which we are starting this year, the essence of what I wrote is just as relevant today as it was a year ago. I focused on two words - Connect and Inspire - and I think those two words are equally important this year, as it will be more important than ever that we build meaningful connections and actively seek out opportunities for inspiration. There are two other words that keep running through my head and it is probably because I walk by this sign multiple times every day in our office:
Whether you are walking into SBS for the first time as a new student or you are about to start your third year with us, you are in the process of reconnecting with school after your whole school experience was turned upside down last year. That concept of strive - to make a great effort to achieve - has been a part of our school culture from the outset and in the past few years the word “kind” has increasingly become a regular part of our lexicon. SBS historians will note that our long standing motto has been Strive to Be Your Best and I’d like to suggest that Strive to be Kind is an important distillation of this concept. The essence of kindness is empathy: the ability to fully imagine the lived experience of others. There is no world where being your best you is not deeply infused with finding the best in others. We live in uncertain times, where the cracks in the foundations of some of our most cherished institutions have been laid bare to insistently demand repair. Our response to the global call for social justice and true societal equity, will be forever tied to our response to the pandemic, and while I can’t honestly say that we have everything figured out in this world where the changes and challenges are coming so quickly, I can honestly say that I am looking forward to reengaging with our scorpion spirit and working together to find a better way forward.
I am excited about the year ahead and honored to serve you!
Brent McKeown
Principal