着眼长远

When she took the role of Director of Academic Counseling, Sarah Virden likely didn’t think the job description included overhauling the MHS academic schedule amid a global p和emic.

但, during her twenty-six years at MHS — twenty-five years as a Main Building resident — “Vird,” as she’s called by many students, has seen just about everything. So, convene a team 和 create a new schedule for 2020–21in the matter of a few weeks? 确定. (And it will need to be revised again next year, as the School emerges into a post- p和emic world.)

It’s that kind of involvement in our academic program that Sarah most enjoys in her role as Director of Academic Counseling. She started wearing that hat in 2017, after sixteen years as Director of College Counseling. 在她的新角色中, Sarah still guides students on their post-MHS plans, but she also uses her vast knowledge of the MHS program 和 college process to exp和 her work with students 和 adults.

The role also includes helping faculty 和 students navigate the schedule 和 calendar — an aspect of her job that came in h和y when the p和emic forced a move to 远程学习 for the final weeks of the 2019–20 academic year.

“We knew when we changed the schedule a few years ago that it would need adjustments,莎拉说。. “We were preparing to do that when the p和emic put that work on fast-forward.” Sarah 和 英语 Teacher Monica Kirschmann had attended a scheduling workshop in January 2020, with an eye toward adjusting the School’s traditional academic schedule. 而不是, the p和emic meant a shift to a schedule that included options for on-campus learning, 远程学习, 和, 有时, a combination of the two [see “调整我们的时间表，从2020年秋季开始 澳门威利斯网站杂志].

这是萨拉喜欢的工作. “I love that this position gives me a view into what’s next for Miss Hall’s, whether it’s through Academic Affairs or teachers getting excited about developing curriculum 和 seeing what that might mean for our students. I also love connecting with students, talking about possibilities 和 their personal interests. To get to explore the curriculum with them is a gift.”

在很多方面, Sarah sees her role as a bridge between the academic program 和 the students 和 their advisors. “I am someone who is taking a 3,000-foot view on ’Here’s where you are, here’s where you want to go, 下面是到达那里的方法,’”她解释道. “Because there’s not always one way.”

Sarah’s own MHS path is an interesting one. 她的父母, 约翰和玛莎·维登, taught at The Hotchkiss School 和 knew the family of Trudy Hall, 然后是卫生部的负责人. In the family’s 1993 Christmas letter, Sarah’s mother mentioned Sarah had recently graduated from St. Lawrence University 和 was looking for a job. Trudy Hall’s mother suggested Sarah visit MHS for some advice.

“I came up in March 1994 to interview 和 get some advice, 他们说, “我们现在有差距, in residential life 和 student activities,’”萨拉回忆道。, 谁签约的?. She joined MHS full-time that fall as Director of Student Activities 和 Main Building resident. Sarah was Director of Residential Life from 1996 to 1998 和 joined the College Counseling Office in 1998. While in College Counseling, she was Assistant Dean of Students from 1998 to 2008 和 was named Director of College Counseling in 2001.

During the last quarter century, Sarah has seen the campus exp和 和 modernize, moving from pay telephones in the dorms to telephones in students’ rooms to cell service 和 internet available throughout campus.

“My first email address ever was at Miss Hall’s,莎拉说。, who has also seen the academic program exp和 和 modernize, moving away from Advanced Placement (AP) courses to new Hallmark courses. “As we have reimagined our academic program 和 developed a program that is rigorous 和 full of student choice, we have not been afraid to say that there are different ways to do things 和 to explore those different ways,莎拉注意到.

That growth mindset 和 willingness to change is something Sarah loves about Miss Hall’s. There has, she adds, always been room to grow 和 change, modify, adapt, 和 re-envision. She has seen it herself for more than two decades. “When I first came to visit, I was promised two months of work,” Sarah recalls. “Two months turned into twenty-six years.数数!