May 3rd

Dear Families,

Now that we know that we will not be back on campus this school year, the inevitable question is, "What's next?"

One of the most difficult aspects of stewarding Gordon through a pandemic is that we do not have a clear picture of exactly what we are planning for. Whether it's a question about summer at Gordon, re-opening campus in the fall, our families' financial wellbeing, or Gordon's own financial outlook, this crisis requires us to model and plan for multiple contingencies. 

At the same time, we need to attend to the present, finishing out the year with the goals we had in September 2019 and ensuring that the Online Learning Community remains dynamic and responsive to the educational and social-emotional needs of our students and families.

I want to communicate Gordon's process as we engage in this challenging but essential work.
 

Spring

One goal for the end of the school year is to depart in June proud of what we were able to do, and who we were able to be, during this crisis. For me, that means being able to say that we took care of our people: Gordon's students, their families, the faculty and staff, and the network of alumni, extended family members, vendors, and partners that help define our community.

In order to do this, we need to continue to learn, unlearn, and innovate, while determining how our work from this spring can inform and improve our practice for years to come. Lynn Bowman, Gabe Burnstein, and Maryanne Pieri will continue to support faculty as well as you and your children through this journey. We'll also be re-imagining those end-of-year events like Field Day, Battle of the Books, and Commencement that make the spring so magical. 

Alongside that work, our Admissions Office will continue to work with new families who are drawn to Gordon's mission and are eager to join this community, and the Gordon Fund team will still pursue its annual goal, drawing support from throughout the school community.
 

Financial concerns

All indications suggest that we are headed into a prolonged economic downturn. Even after the economy restarts, it is unlikely to return to what we would consider "normal" anytime soon.

First, I need you to know that we recognize that, for many of you, this new reality includes the anxiety and hardship that comes with the real or anticipated loss of a job, close of a business, or decrease in income. If you have immediate concerns about paying this year's or next year's tuition on time, please do not hesitate to reach out to Tom Cicatiello at tcicatiello@gordonschool.org to discuss your family's situation.

Then, there are more long-term considerations. Before this crisis, Gordon developed a strategic budget plan for the next five years, which includes measures to decrease expenses, identify alternate revenue sources, and increase fundraising. Over the next few weeks, Gordon's Leadership Team and Board of Trustees will build on that plan and make adjustments to respond to our new reality. 

As we make those adjustments, we want to be sure Gordon can support all families who have been financially impacted by this crisis. In order to do that, we need everyone's input. Some families have already reached out to Tom, but our school-wide picture is incomplete. Like our educational program, it is essential that our financial planning be guided by our mission and be responsive to the needs of our entire community.

To that end, I will be asking every Gordon family to complete a short anonymous survey. The survey is intended to gauge your family's anticipated situation in the fall in the context of the pandemic and better understand what pressures you may be feeling as we prepare for our return to campus. These surveys will be followed with a phone call to every Gordon household by a member of the Leadership or Admissions teams. 

Why a survey and a phone call? One of the best mechanisms we have for determining the temperature of our community is not available to us right now: our daily proximity to one another. Short conversations in the circle, quick office drop-ins, impromptu conversations in the Commons, informal chats before and after a formal meeting, even a ten-minute walkthrough of the building can provide one with a sense of how things are going. We hope this process will fill in some of those gaps. 

Simply put, the survey will provide us with data about what this community is experiencing. The phone call will help us better interpret that data.
 

Summer 

Under the leadership of Jenny Alario, Director of After School and Summer Programs, Summer at Gordon has been expanded into seven weeks of mission-driven, child-centered creativity and fun. We have been excited to launch this new programming, and registrations continue to come in. 

Though many schools around the country have made the decision to cancel summer camps, we are not yet ready to make that call. Jenny is working with Tom Cicatiello, Nurse Horton, and our facilities team to ensure a safe opening should we be able to be on campus in some shape or form. At the same time, Jenny is partnering with Lynn, Gabe, and Maryanne to explore the development of alternate summer programming for Gordon families, at no charge, should a return to campus be impossible. 

We have set an internal deadline of mid-May to make a decision, so look out for an update then. 
 

Fall

Based on the most reliable data we have today, Gordon is planning for our community -students, parents, caregivers, faculty, and staff - to be together, on our campus, for the 2020-21 school year. The work is underway now to develop a comprehensive health and safety plan that covers multiple scenarios, from a "semi-normal" return that follows any health mandates and social distancing guidelines that may come from the state to hybrid possibilities that combine in-person learning at school and online learning at home. 

This planning will be led by a Futures Task Force made up of three working groups: Educational Program, Health and Safety, and Financial Sustainability. In these working groups, administrators, faculty, staff, trustees, parents, and other experts from our community will be working together to re-imagine how the Gordon education and experience continues in our new reality.

I am looking forward to coming back to you by the end of the school year via a Virtual Town Hall to share the results of this work and how it will inform our re-opening in the fall. Look for those dates, as well as a link to the community-wide survey, later this week.

As always, I encourage you to reach out to me, the Division Directors, and any other members of the Leadership Team with your questions, concerns, suggestions and encouragements. 

In partnership,

 

Noni