Kicking off a new academic year, Spence welcomed new students, faculty, and staff during its opening days. Seventeen new teachers joined Spence faculty across three divisions, and 100 new students — including 59 Kindergarteners joining from 36 unique preschools and schools — began their Spence journey. 

During opening meetings for faculty and staff and divisional assemblies, Head of School Felicia Wilks shared a hope for the school year that the Spence community will embrace a sense of shared curiosity, fluidity, and continue its focus on acknowledging and celebrating each person’s inherent dignity. After sharing an anecdote from her summer when a friendly jellyfish gave her an unexpected, but surprisingly enlightening, embrace, she asked faculty and staff: “Can we be more fluid when the unexpected occurs? Can we teach our students to be like water, even when they hold fast to their and our School’s values?”

Days later, she addressed the Upper School during the Opening Assembly, posing a similar question to students: “Can we get better at attending to the things we can’t see? How can we extend empathy and patience to each other, understanding that each of us comes to school carrying things we can’t see and may not ever know about?”

Exploring dignity, a continued focus for the Spence community rooted in Donna Hicks’ text Dignity: Its Essential Role in Resolving Conflict, will remain a priority throughout the year. “It is important to point out that we are all born with dignity,” said Wilks at the opening Upper School assembly. “Our value as people has nothing to do with what we create or produce or the grades we receive—it is bigger than that, and it can’t be taken from us.”