PENINSULA SCHOOL VOLUME 186 spring 2021 COMMUNITY THROUGH CHANGE Dear Reader, This year is challenging for schools and families everywhere. encourage each of you to reach out and get involved with Peninsula Amidst the many difficulties and losses presented by the COVID-19 School’s strategic planning which is the articulation and roadmap of pandemic and racial injustice, along with the threats to our democratic our vision. We will see improvements to our buildings and grounds, fabric, Peninsula School’s mission, vision, and values continue to shine. enhancements to our program, as well as DEI and communications Our students, staff, board, and families are meeting this moment with initiatives building towards the 2025 Centennial Celebration. What care for one another and authenticity about their experience. The are your hopes for Peninsula’s future? Please connect with me to share Peninsula community continues to demonstrate incredible resilience your stories and your vision. under the weight of immense responsibility to ensure the health, safety, I would also like to acknowledge that my recent transition and wellbeing of our staff and students, and maintain our relationships to Interim Head of School is just one of the many changes we have with one another. navigated at Peninsula School this year. Many This 186th issue ofNews Notes elaborates of you know me as a former Peninsula parent, on the theme of change and overcoming board member, long-time educator in our local challenge. In fact, the theme of this issue is community, and most recently, as Peninsula’s Community Through Change, covering tran- Director of Admissions. I am grateful and sitions our community faced and is still facing humbled to serve Peninsula in this new role, since March 2020. In the next pages, you will and look forward to getting to know our hear from Peninsula School community extended community even better. Over these members about how we – as a whole school last few weeks and months, I have revisited our community – are adapting as a result of the mission many times: Through the progressive dual pandemics of COVID-19 and social in- principles of constant reflection and renewal, justices that are pervading our society. You will Peninsula School will continue to adapt to the hear from a handful of teachers on how their Current students welcome incoming new families in a ever-changing world while holding true to the programs shifted during COVID-19. Jaya, our drive-through parade in August of 2020. core values that have been the school’s founda- Weaving and Textiles Specialist Teacher, shares tion for nearly a century. In our 95th year as a her Community Quilting Project. John Fuller, our longtime Music school, we continue to live this mission and all that it means. Specialist Teacher, shares an incredible “This Land Is Your Land” cov- We thank each of you for your continued support of Peninsula ers project bringing generations of former and current Peninsula folks School. Our school community needs and cherishes your engagement together in a celebration of music and community. Rasha, our Head during these times. Thank you for keeping us in your thoughts and Teacher of kindergarten, shares her professional growth journey and hearts. We send our love, authenticity, curiosity, and hope back to you. expanding understanding of child trauma. Our vision is what continually informs and inspires us to move Sincerely, forward together. You will hear from Ryan Helton, Director of Mary Hofstedt, Development, and Betty Achinstein, Interim DEI Director, who Interim Head of School in this issue • Rising to the Occasion of COVID-19 • Student Profiles • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion in a Time of Disruption • Interview with Rock ‘n’ Roll Photographer • John Fuller’s “This Land Is Your & Former Parent, Paige Parsons Land” Project • In Memoriams • Letter from the Board of Directors • Community Quilting with Jaya (’04) • Annual Report • Peninsula’s Philanthropy Tree: Giving • Child Trauma: A Deeper • Donor Acknowledgements during COVID-19 Professional Journey PENINSULA SCHOOL · SPRING 2021 RISING TO THE OCCASION OF COVID-19 By Lisa Goochee, Communications & Outreach COVID-19 caused a disruption that changed school, work, and to identify areas where we can grow to be a more diverse, equitable, life for us all. Responding to this disruption required creative thinking, and inclusive school environment for students, families, and staff. resilience seemingly beyond our depths, and new examinations across We are also looking at our curriculum to ensure our students learn our institution as a whole. Not surprisingly, our students, staff, parents/ how to be not only active democratic citizens but upstanders for guardians, alumni, and school partners rose to the occasion to help our social and environmental justice. school meet these changes and reach far beyond them. We highlight a • Families supported their children and partnered with teachers few of the tremendous achievements of our whole community through whether in distance or hybrid learning. Our parents and guardians, this challenging time below. who also became technology masters, helped children through the temporary • To meet the new demands of COVID-19, loss of social connections and support Misha Merrill, Program Support Director, of the physical Peninsula School envi- stepped into a Pandemic Coordinator ronment. We thank our families from role. Misha led our school in address- the bottom of our hearts for remaining ing local, state, and national guidelines strong partners through this time. for school health, safety, and reopen- • Virtual events kicked off with ourVirtual ing. With the support of the COVID Earth Day Celebration in April 2020 Prevention and Response Team and where our own student climate experts our Medical Advisory Council, Misha inspired us. All-School Campfire Night implemented protocols for health and and the Virtual Rock Concert provided safety with tremendous success across the additional virtual bonding moments school. You can read about these efforts where the community came together in in our school’s Pandemic Operations story and song to celebrate our physically Plan located on the school website. distanced humanity. TheVirtual Craft • Peninsula School teaching staff adapted Fair team of parents, guardians, students, their programs with speed and grace, and longtime school volunteers put on shifting their educational approach over- A student in Rasha’s stands ready for his COVID test. an unparalleled virtual event complete night to reflect the needs of our students with a craft marketplace alongside a full- in this demanding educational context. day music and arts program. Teachers navigated how to deliver in- • Our Facilities and Grounds team re- person and distance learning at once configured classroom spaces across the in a hybrid teaching model, becoming school, expanding outdoor learning masters of school technology and multi- spaces to maximize space for physical tasking while also guiding their students distancing measures amongst hundreds through new health and safety protocols. of other tasks to ensure the safety of Most critically, our teachers devised our campus. Our stellar custodial staff creative lessons rooted in Peninsula’s doubled their cleaning and sanitation mission and delivered them with deep practices across our school grounds as consideration for all of our students, one of many protocols for health. both at home and in person. • Responding to the narrowing of income • Before the school year started, many of sources such as Childcare, Summer at our staff shifted teaching assignments, Peninsula, and fundraising events, our stepping into new roles, redistributing Colleen teaches literacy in the early days of shelter in place. Finance Team worked at light-speed to responsibilities, and adjusting schedules secure a forgivable Paycheck Protection in order to make a return to in-person instruction possible while Program loan allowing the school to keep our entire workforce protecting the health restrictions of their fellow staff members. employed during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis. Our hats are off to all of our staff for their compassion, flexibility, • Amongst her many other responsibilities to keep our school and positivity. connected, our Technology Team of one – Bette Henley – spent • Our staff dove into diversity, equity, and inclusion work in the summer of 2020 reconfiguring our school wifi network, and partnership with CircleUp Education, our expert Oakland-based ordering and setting up new hybrid learning technology equip- team. We are looking deeply into our school practices and policies ment in every classroom throughout the school. -2- PENINSULA SCHOOL · SPRING 2021 • People of Peninsula (POP), our parents and guardians association, continued to build community and connect willing volunteers to fun school projects this year. This group of community leaders helps mentor new families, educate par- ents on relevant topics, and participates in all kinds of school events. Always will- ing to support the school and generate new ideas to support families, we are ever grateful to this group. • For a few short months, our great state of California also contended with tremendous wildfires, which threatened our air and for some of us, our homes. We were able to reopen our school in the midst of these fires thanks to The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) working in a remarkable collaboration with state and local agencies and with our own community cooperation. A staff member shares a photo of the George Floyd memorial in Minneapolis, MN. well as her personal experiences as a past Peninsula School parent and Board Trustee. You can read more about Mary’s background on our website. Forged by fire and pandemic – and rooted in a remarkable history – we are poised for greatness as we approach our 100th year anniversary. May we look back and remember this year as a time of tremendous growth, a year when we took the opportunity to recom- mit to why we are here and renew what matters to us as a community.