Out of Office: connecting communities

Posted on November 6, 2022

Out of Office is a series from Head of School Kim Samson that highlights/focuses on time spent outside of her office: in the BVR hallways, classrooms, stages, fields, and beyond.


It’s been nearly a month and a half since the start of school—time definitely flies!

Last week I was out with COVID and it reminded me how not fun it is running a school virtually. I very much missed being in the halls each day, amidst the hustle and bustle, and I’m very happy to be back.

And just in time, too!

As you’ve likely seen on our Instagram or in our monthly newsletter, the Annual Senior Halloween Parade on Monday, October 31 was great fun with lots of fantastic costumes! Our seniors connected with one another and created laughter and joy throughout the Upper School. Meanwhile, the Middle School had some Halloween fun of its own; the MS Student Council organized games that day, which included pumpkin carving, capture the flag, Bingo with Ms. Winston, and much more! It was fun to take a walk around and see all the smiles.

This past Thursday, November 3, I had the opportunity to join 10th-grade students with a speaker from NAICOB (the North American Indian Center of Boston). In English class, students recently read There There by Tommy Orange, a contemporary novel centered around 12 characters who are part of the Indigenous Community in California. To complement this work, they connected with an individual from the NAICOB; US English teachers Lydia Fash and Cynthia Cassella did an excellent job preparing their classes for this opportunity to learn more about the Inuet identity and culture.

I’m looking forward to the next couple of weeks. While we only have a short time before Thanksgiving, I anticipate there will be a lot of great things happening!