Subject: Sidwell 8th Grade -- "Moment of Silence"
From: "Mary Kostel" <[email-masked]>
To: "Mary Kostel" <[email-masked]>, "Tessa van der Willigen" <[email-masked]>, "Susan Wilder" <[email-masked]>, "Elise Goldstein" <[email-masked]>, "Amy Gleklen" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 10 May 2015 14:28:02 -0400

Dear fellow 8th grade parents,

Thank you for so many thoughtful responses to our enquiry about a “Moment
of Silence” in the Upper School—and to those who thought about it and
didn't feel strongly enough to respond, thank you also.

Below you will find a summary of the views we received. We will take all
these thoughts to the meeting with Mamadou Gueye, seek to understand the
Upper School’s position, and explore some options. Of course, we represent
only one grade in the Upper School, and the one with the least experience
(i.e., none!), so we are far from expecting any decisions at this meeting;
it will be an informal exchange of views, and perhaps an impetus toward
some further thinking by the administration. We will debrief by e-mail
afterwards.

We heard from 20 families who would like the Moment of Silence to continue
in Upper School, with all but a few emphasizing that they feel strongly
about this issue. Typical comments were “We have spent years teaching our
students that sometimes just sitting and thinking is a good idea, and I
cannot imagine why, as they begin to approach adulthood and their lives and
thoughts become more complicated, we would want to abandon that practice,”
“The Moment of Silence can help students maintain emotional regulation and
spiritual connection in a topsy-turvy time of life,” or “I can't think of a
better way for our kids to spend a few minutes than in quiet reflection.
There is so much going on every day at school that these few minutes are a
treasure."

Several families recognized explicitly that it might be difficult to
introduce a full 5 minutes of silence into the schedule, although some
emphasized that this should be soluble, with one noting that securing 5
minutes would only require shaving 45 seconds from each period of the
day. One alum noted that the Upper School day *used to* open with 5 minutes
of silence, and saw no reason why this practice couldn't resume. Two
families said they would be willing to start or end the school day 5
minutes earlier/later (a feeling that might not be widely shared,
though...). Several families suggested starting the day with a *brief* moment
of silence (30-60 seconds), and one family reported that their current
Upper Schooler wishes for a moment of silence at the beginning of *every*
 period.

Two families told us they were not in favor of pursuing a MOS, with one (a
Sidwell alum) explaining that they did not think a MOS would be practical
or meaningful, and emphasizing the importance of silent reflection during
the weekly Meeting for Worship in the Upper School.

Thank you again for sharing your thoughts with us, and looking forward to
seeing you all at the various end-of-year festivities!

Your 8th grade reps
Tessa, Mary, Amy, Elise, and Susan

Begin forwarded message:

*From: *Mary Kostel <[email-masked]>
*Subject: **Sidwell 8th Grade -- "Moment of Silence" in Upper School*
*Date: *April 16, 2015 at 9:59:09 PM EDT

Dear fellow 8th grade parents,

Many of us have become aware, at the Conversation with Sally a few weeks
ago and/or at the recent tours of the Upper School, that the Upper School
day typically does not start with a moment of silence (MOS). We have heard
from many who are concerned that our kids may be about to abandon this
hard-earned practice, which they feel could help them throughout their
lives.

As your grade reps, we have set up a meeting with Mamadou Gueye, the Upper
School principal, to explain how parents feel on this issue and to discuss
options. Clearly the school is receptive to the idea of a MOS, although
there are difficult scheduling issues.

We plan to keep the meeting small, as we feel this will be most conducive
to an informal and productive exchange. But we need to hear your thoughts,
whether you want to support a MOS, or feel it is not very important, or
feel that our kids’ time could be better spent. We really want to represent
opinions fairly! We will compile what is shared with us into a “sense of
the parents” and present this to Mamadou.  If you would like to weigh in,
please e-mail the five of us by Friday May 8 (you will catch us, and only
us, by Reply to All on this e-mail). We will update you on the “sense of
parents” prior to our meeting, and of course on Mamadou’s response
afterwards.

Thank you in advance for your engagement on this issue!

Tessa, Mary, Amy, Elise, and Susa