(Unless the WSJ changes the link, the article can be found here)

Given the shortage of the vaccine and the constantly changing guidelines provided by the Health Department, it really was miraculous that we were able to pull off our two vaccination clinics as smoothly as we did. Many at CWA worked very hard to make this possible, and the fact that we were “out of the gate” early in our relationship with the Health Department helped a great deal.

One of the challenges that we had not anticipated, but in retrospect makes a great deal of sense, was working with families as they decided whether or not to vaccinate their children, and if they did, whether to specify one form of the vaccine or another. We live in a time of “too much information,” where it is very easy to obtain far more information than we possibly can sort through rationally. And some of the “information” out there clearly was contradictory.

I think the essence of the challenge for families was this:

• The H1N1 virus causes mild to moderate disease in most, but causes serious illness, and even death, in some people
• All vaccinations carry some small degree of risk; someone, somewhere, will undoubtedly have a serious reaction to a vaccine, even one that is generally regarded as safe

As parents, our first obligation is to try to safeguard our children’s safety. If we decided not to vaccinate, and our children came down with a serious case of the illness and passed away, we would never forgive ourselves. If we vaccinated our children, and they had a serious reaction, we would never forgive ourselves. In either case, we would find having made the wrong choice devastating.

What to do? In the modern era, “what to do” means talking with others, but above all, it means going to the Internet to seek as much information as we can. The problem is that there is absolutely too much information out there. Some of the information is flat out wrong. Other information is spot on. Unless we have some expertise ourselves, it is virtually impossible for us to make an independent judgment about whether what we read on the web is correct or not. That leads to a great deal of uncertainty, anxiety, and often, to paralysis as well.

Our parent community reacted in about as many ways as one could imagine. Most parents gave the matter a little thought and accepted the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and/or the Pierce County Health Department and signed their children up immediately. Others hesitated, but signed them up eventually. Still others insisted on one form or another (either nasal spray or injection), concluding that there were unacceptable risks in one (or the other) of these methods of immunization. There were also those who just didn’t want their children to be immunized at all, and a few who were concerned that even being present during the administration of the nasal spray vaccine posed unacceptable risks to their children (and kept their children home that day).

A few years back, I came to the conclusion that in a technical area, such as medicine, that requires expertise beyond what I possess, searching the Internet provides little by way of enlightenment and a great deal of anxiety and confusion. I decided that I needed to listen to the advice of my own physician, something I would have done without thinking in the pre-Internet era. I still think that’s the best option today.

Offering vaccination clinics that allowed the overwhelming majority of CWA students to be immunized was a service we were happy to provide. It did not, alas, prevent the school from experiencing a high level of absenteeism over about a two-week period as the disease briefly swept through our halls. While at this writing, the incidence of disease caused by H1N1 seems to have subsided somewhat throughout the country, the flu season is yet young, and I feel very fortunate that so many members of our community have been afforded some level of protection.

We decided that rather than rely on the media for information about the H1N1 virus, we called the Tacoma Pierce County Health Department. As a good luck would have it, the Health Department was about to hold a regional information session on the subject, primarily for area universities and larger school districts, and we were invited to attend; we were the only small school in attendance. That began a close working relationship between the Health Department and CWA. As a result of that relationship, we were able to get reliable information quickly and easily, and that, in turn, permitted us to arrange for a vaccination clinic much earlier than other schools in the area.

One of the more challenging aspects of dealing with the issues surrounding the H1N1 virus is that the information is constantly changing. While that’s understandable, because this particular disease has not appeared before in its present form, it is frustrating for everyone. Last spring, information literally would change from morning to afternoon, or overnight. I remember well one occasion when we worked very hard all day putting an information piece together for parents, expecting it to go out the next morning. By early the next morning, some of the information was already obsolete, and we had to work to change it before sending it on to parents. There was about a two-week period last spring when it felt that quite a few of us were spending virtually all of our time trying to keep up with the information flow and deciding how the school would respond in various different circumstances.

Fortunately, the disease hit late in our flu season, and within a few short weeks, the incidence of disease seemed to decrease markedly. That gave us from late spring through the summer to learn more and to lay plans for various contingencies during the 2009-10 school year. One of the things all of us learned during that time was that the early information about the severity of the disease was incorrect. By the time the fall came around, it was clear that for most people, the severity of the disease was no greater than the seasonal flu. One disturbing aspect remained: whereas the seasonal flu seemed to have the most severe impact on the very young and very old, the H1N1 virus had the tendency to impact more seriously school-age children and pregnant women.

In the late summer it became clear that there would be a nationwide vaccination program and that the program would focus first on the higher-risk parts of the population. The Health Department asked us, along with other schools, to consider offering a vaccination clinic at CWA, so  that we could benefit both our school community and the public at large. By getting “out of the gate” early, we secured a place at the head of the line for the private company we chose, based on information we obtained from the Health Department.

Due to problems with the production schedule, the availability of the H1N1 vaccination was far more restricted than anyone originally thought. That shortage made our decision to inquire early about a clinic that much more important. Other schools as well as many health providers simply were unable to get the vaccine. And, by holding a clinic early, we were able to vaccinate a large portion of our population before the continuing vaccine shortages led the Health Department on November 7 to restrict access to the vaccine to particularly high risk people, which for the first time did not include school-age children.

The logistics necessary for the school to pull off its first-ever vaccination clinic were considerable. None of us have medical training. Not surprisingly, parents had many questions, and being out of our area of expertise it was difficult to figure out how to walk the fine line between trying to be responsive and not going beyond our knowledge, potentially leading to our providing inaccurate or misleading medical information. We also were not entirely in control of the process and the requirements. The consent form was not our design, nor were we in a position to decide for ourselves that ending completely filled out form was really okay and should not stand in the way of a child being vaccinated.

Despite the various challenges, the vaccination clinic went quite smoothly, and I am both gratified by the overwhelming positive response of parents and students as well as proud of the staff involved for working the planning an execution of the clinic into their busy schedules.

The weeks leading up to the vaccination clinic were both interesting and challenging for another reason as well, which I will address in the next installment of this two-part post.

It surprises many tuition-paying parents to learn that private educational institutions consistently charge less than the full cost of educating a student. On the face of it, this doesn’t seem to be very smart. This leaves the actual cost of each student’s education to be made up partly by income from endowments (although relatively young schools like CWA have only modest endowment funds) and partly by contributions to healthy voluntary giving programs — usually called the “Annual Fund.”

Why do schools operate this way? Why don’t we just charge what the education costs? There are several reasons, led by the reality that the financial resources of the families whose children attend a given school varies widely. To charge even higher tuition amounts that would cover the full educational cost would negatively affect a school’s diversity and vitality. In addition, by making up the difference between tuition and actual costs with a voluntary donation, there is the financial benefit of the donation — and thus a part of your children’s true educational costs — being tax deductible.

So the Annual Fund has always been essential, even in the best of economic times — which these are not. A strong annual fund has never been more critical at our school. A robust level of Annual Fund giving will lessen the negative impact of the current economic situation on the life of the school and everyone in it; a weak Annual Fund will exacerbate the pressures on school programs.

The economic crisis in which our country is embroiled has certainly affected CWA families, just as it has affected our school. Enrollment fell from last year to this, decreasing by 35 students. And the school is in our second year of belt-tightening in order to make ends meet. As their contribution to this effort, employees received no salary increases whatsoever between last year and this year. Program expenses have been cut in most areas of the school, although we have strived mightily to do this in a way that minimizes the direct impact on the quality of education your children experience. At some point, further cutbacks cannot help but impact what we are able to do with and for our students.

This is my 14th year at Charles Wright, but it is the first year that I have assumed so direct a role in the Annual Fund. CWA has, in the past, followed the typical pattern among independent private schools and left the Headmaster out of this part of fundraising, primarily so that parents never need to wonder whether their children’s education is influenced by the Headmaster’s knowledge of the extent of their financial contributions.

But in this extraordinary year, I am asking families to strongly consider supporting our CWA Annual Fund. Naturally, the record of each family’s contribution level is kept confidentially by the school’s Development Office; I will at no time be accessing this information. But I feel it’s important to add my voice to those calling for your support.

Several years ago the CWA Parent Association adopted the motto Together We Make Such a Difference. That phrase speaks clearly to the partnership that families together with Charles Wright create to build a “team” around each student, helping them grow in mind, body and spirit — to reach their full potential during their time here. When the formal solicitation comes — even though your first reaction may be the same as mine was! — please consider supporting the 2009-10 Annual Fund as generously as you can.

And yes, the end of the story with which I opened this post is that I got out our still-warm checkbook once again and wrote a check in support of the annual fund at my daughter’s college. It’s now been five years since her graduation, and I consider both the tuition and Annual Fund checks among the most important investments I’ve ever made.

It’s obvious from the expressions on the faces of the students of all ages that they are happy to be back on campus, to catch up with friends they haven’t seen in a while and to continue their education in their new grade.  For those transitioning from one division to another, there is inevitably a bit of apprehension as students wonder what it will be like in their new CWA home.  It rarely takes more than a few weeks before everyone settles in to their new routine.

This year we were proud and honored to open the new Language and Performing Arts Center, providing a real “home” for the Performing Arts and adding eight much-needed classrooms to the Upper School.  It will be wonderful to see the positive impact of this new facility on the life of the Upper School!

We’re off and running again!  It’s great to see everyone back.

It was just 50 years ago that Sam and Nathalie breathed life into the dream of founding an independent day school in the Tacoma area. In the words that we have commemorated on a plaque just inside the entrance to the Upper School, Charles Wright Academy was to be a school that provided an education “…equal to that of the best schools in the country.”

Those words bespoke both high aspirations and great humility. CWA was to work to achieve at the level of schools in other parts of the country whose founding predated ours by decades, and in a few cases, by more than a century. At the same time, a deep sense of humility required that we not seek to be “better than…”  but to be “equal to…”

In everything Sam did, he was guided by a deep and abiding religious faith. He drew his strength, his resolve, and his unshakable sense that things would turn out right in the end from his conviction that we are guided in what we do by a higher power.

Sam’s unbridled optimism was joined by an irrepressible sense of humor; Sam always had a twinkle in his eye! The gentle sense of humor that pervades the school campus came from Sam. In our mission statement we say that we foster self-reliance, integrity, social responsibility, and humor.  We’re really saying that we want our students to grow up to be like Sam Brown!

There comes a time in the life of every human being when our parents are no longer with us, and we recognize that it is up to us to carry forward the legacy they have bequeathed to us through their tender nurturing and loving guidance. We have reached that time in the life of our school. We will carry forward to future generations of Tarriers a legacy of high aspirations, great humility, unbridled optimism, irrepressible humor, and an unshakable sense that things will turn out right in the end.

Making inclement weather decisions is among the least pleasant and satisfying part of a public or private school leader’s responsibilities. A small part of that is physical; it’s hard to avoid getting a bit cranky after several days of going to bed late (due to tracking the weather forecast) and getting up very early to consult and decide what the day’s decision will be.

A larger challenge is that predicting the weather (and the impact the weather outlook will have on road conditions) is a very uncertain enterprise. Even without the presence of microclimates that often leads to significantly varying weather patterns and road conditions throughout the South Sound, we all know that meteorologists have a poor track record in terms of being able to predict the timing and severity of storms.

The inability to tell with any degree of certainty what the weather will hold leads to the inevitability that some weather-related decisions will turn out to be bum calls. Probably out of every ten decisions made, five are pretty much spot on, three are solid but leave some room for doubt, and the last two are ones that I wish we had made differently. And if we are honest, we have to recognize that some of this is due to blind luck, not great skill.

The response of the public at large and/or the school’s constituents is understandably based upon what actually transpires, not on the information that the decision-maker had at the time the decision needed to be made. School leaders are criticized for closing when that turns out to be unwarranted, and criticized when the decision to stay open is made and weather conditions turn out to be worse than anticipated.

In the week prior to the winter holiday break, the Tacoma school district decided to close school on Wednesday and open the following day.  I know the powers-that-be at TPS wish they had made exactly the opposite decisions. University Place decided to close both Wednesday and Thursday, and a few days later the Superintendent was quoted as saying that she wished she had made a different decision on Wednesday and had kept school open that day. Charles Wright was open (with some delayed start times) on both Wednesday and Thursday. Obviously, with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight and with the knowledge that the snow predicted for later Thursday afternoon would come earlier than anticipated, it would have been better to close on Thursday.

I’m in my 20th year of making decisions on behalf of a school about whether and when to remain open, close, or delay the start of the school day. Some days the weather gods make me look like a genius, and other days they make me look like a fool. I’ve been doing this long enough that when I catch myself patting myself on the head on those “genius” days, I never forget that a “fool” day is just around the corner.

In the 90s, Thanksgiving outside of Langley consisted of at least nine of us: my wife and me with our two daughters, my brother and sister-in-law, and my sister-in-law’s sister with her husband and daughter.  As the years progressed, the children moved off to college and beyond. A year ago, my brother and sister-in-law separated, so this Thanksgiving we were down to five; my wife and I, my sister-in-law, and her sister with her husband.

The consistency and constancy of this fall ritual provides an anchor point to my life. Things change, but some things stay the same. There is much comfort in that, particularly at a time of turmoil and uncertainty in the outside world. I think all human beings need anchor points, and I know that Charles Wright serves as such an anchor in the lives of many of those who are associated with the school, including me. Anchor points not only provide comfort in troubled times, but they permit us to explore and wander, secure in the knowledge that we can return via the chain. The anchoring effect that the school provides our students permits the chain to gradually lengthen as children move through the grades, allowing the freedom to learn how to be independent while remaining secure in the knowledge that the independence does not threaten the important feeling of connectedness.

Particularly in troubled times, I feel particularly thankful for the anchor points in my life. The break that Thanksgiving provides allows time for some reflection before the calendar page is turned to December, and the sprint to the winter holidays begins.

Early in the school year, first graders are all over the map as far as reading ability is concerned. While proud parents of early readers marvel at their child’s proficiency and parents of emerging readers quietly worry about whether there is “something wrong,” educators know that the ability to read comes to children in its own time, typically between kindergarten and second grade. This is no different than physical growth, which also comes when it comes. We also know there is no correlation between how early a child learns to read and later success in school. My older daughter Lisa has always been an exceptional student, and is now working on her PhD at Princeton. But she was a late reader, not really mastering the art of decoding the little scribbles on a page and discerning their meaning until just before the start of school in second grade.

Visitors to our Upper School sometimes marvel at how comfortable our students are standing in front of the weekly assembly and speaking confidently to their peers, and the visitors wonder what we do to facilitate that. While we don’t offer a formal course in public speaking, there are so many opportunities throughout the school to give children the confidence necessary to speak publicly. When I watch the first graders at Authors’ Tea, I am looking at one of those opportunities. To speak and perform in front of others is one skill practiced there, as is the important skill of quietly listening to others.

Each Authors’ Tea ends with the breaking up of the circle, and students seeking brief written comments about their story and reading. Naturally enough, the students typically first make a beeline to their parents. But then, they go around the room seeking comments from those they may not know as well or at all, such as the parents of their classmates, or even the Headmaster!

From time to time someone will delicately ask me a question that boils down to “exactly what is it that you do all day?” Part of what I try to do at least several times a year is to listen to our first graders share their stories and themselves with all who are gathered to listen. That always puts a bounce in my step for the rest of the day.