News & Updates 3/19/21

During QCA’s at Morning Meeting today, a 1st grade student proudly and confidently proclaimed that he had “made it to the last level of Super Mario World.” I could hear the excitement in his voice, and I thought to myself “Wow, I need that energy in my life this time of year. I should play more video games!” I will admit that I was a bit of a “gamer” when I was a child. People my age grew up playing Atari, then Intellivision, then Colecovision and then, if you really stayed with it into your college years, you progressed to Nintendo. Gaming was different in the days before the internet. You had to have friends in the room with you to play against them. There was no cell phone in your pocket adding to your screen time total for the week. Clearly, I am dating myself.
 
Later in the afternoon, I wandered over to the Pre-K and a few of our youngest students were talking about how much they loved playing ABC Mouse on their parents’ phones. They were talking about new levels and earning more points as they learned new letters and words. It sounded like a ton of fun to me, so I downloaded the app, and I will admit it is very entertaining.
 
During my first year teaching at a boarding school, my mom and dad gave me an N64 video game for Christmas. It did seem a bit unusual at the time, as I was approaching 30-years-old and had a toddler. But very quickly, the middle school students on my dorm floor started to turn up for video game night at the Eveleth’s on Saturdays, and that weekly game was clearly a good tool to connect with the dorm floor. Students started to ship their favorite games from home to school, and the smallest 6th grader in the dorm was the most dominant gamer. I believe he received a college scholarship for “E gaming.”
 
I am not sure I am ready to give up golf, but maybe as winter hangs on, it’s time to visit Mario World this weekend! And perhaps, if I can muster the same skills as that 1st grader and progress to the last level of Mario or beat the ABC Mouse, I will feel that same sense of accomplishment and excitement. Or maybe I should just grow up and clean the basement. Nah!!!
 
Travel Policy Updated
Effective March 22, Massachusetts will be updating the travel policies for people coming and going to the state. These changes represent a clear loosening of policies. These new guidelines will be the standard that I will ask New School families to meet, and we will update our health screening app to reflect the new guidance. To learn more about the Massachusetts travel plan click here: https://www.mass.gov/alerts/travel-order-notice
 
Have a great weekend.
 
 
 
 
 
Todd Eveleth, Head of School
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