FROM THE PRINCIPAL
1
I am most grateful for our efforts as a community to keep one another safe and healthy under these unique circumstances . Students , faculty , and staff in the school building have cooperated with our safety and health protocols with tremendous generosity and a genuine care for one another . A core group of adults are responsible each morning for daily health screenings , faculty proctor large areas of the building with careful attention to how our students interact with one another , and our facilities and cleaning staff work tirelessly to ensure that classrooms , offices , and the campus as a whole is properly maintained and disinfected each and every day . When members of our community have been sick with COVID-19 , our nursing staff and trained contact tracers collaborate with Prep families with clear communication and immediate action for necessary quarantines . Keeping Fordham Prep open for in-person and remote learning in a time of pandemic has truly given new meaning to what it means for us to be a community rooted in patient understanding , loving compassion , and hopeful vision for the future .
2
For what are you most grateful in the past 12 months ?
Can you think of any ways the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic will change the way the Prep educates its students ?
In one respect , I believe that the way the Prep educates its students will remain unchanged in the core dimensions of what makes Fordham Prep such a special place : the relationship between faculty and students , the brotherhood and sense of belonging found in the Commons , and the desire for academic excellence rooted in character formation and a faith that does justice . In another respect , the lessons learned this year will afford us the opportunities to reimagine how to deliver effective , meaningful instruction to students . I can envision courses at the Prep that would be completely online , either during the academic year or for enrichment over the summer . The ways in which teachers deliver assessments and how students produce original work for their classes and the wider public are all open to new possibilities when the pandemic ends . For this exciting new chapter , I believe that our students ’ experiences and perspectives will be essential for us to shape teaching and learning with them as they engage with a rapidly changing world , whether that is through iSTEAM initiatives , the classics , or the humanities . It ’ s all connected .
Joseph A . Petriello , PhD ’ 98
18 RAMVIEW