For the spring fine arts concerts this year, my Welcome mentioned the play Rent: Many of you probably know this musical or at least the song “Seasons of Love.” In it the song highlights that there are 525,600 minutes in a year. With the final week of school now here, I appreciate the sentiment of approaching a year of time with wonderment on How is a year measured?
The 2024-25 school year is ending. For some it went by quickly while for others not quickly enough. For most it is somewhere in between and its pace dependent on where one way and what one was doing. As a parent, the result was dependent on if the measurement was struggling to get a sleepy teenager up in the morning or sitting in the audience this upcoming Thursday night, amazed at how it truly does not feel that long ago when formal schooling began.
We all know about “enjoying the journey.” I am confident that this will be mentioned in some form at graduation. Please take a moment now to acknowledge all that has happened on this year's journey: the positive and the negative, the thoughts, the events, the emotions, the feelings. I know many are entering your mind. Staff members and students that began the year with us that are not here to end it, along with those that have been here year after year but will not continue on after the week. That history remains, however, and I pause to count it in how I am measuring this year. I know I have been impacted. I know part of how I see myself is from those engagements. This year I have learned and I have grown because of them. I remember and recognize that these moments will never come again.
I also think ahead. I think of the excitement of summer and all that is coming in the fall. I am encouraged to create “lazy days of summer” experiences, to read, to swim, to laugh, to love, and let my mind drift because I am not in such a rush. Oh, and I hope to be bored.
Summer is here; it is the end of the year. A big Shout-out to the 8th graders and 8th-grade parents: You have made it, and the excitement and challenges of high school will be here soon enough. I hope SMS has made an impression on you that is seen as valuable and that its value increases just as the years away increase. For the returning 7th and 6th graders, there is so much to be excited about in the year ahead, so many new ways to measure the new school year in the fall. But for now, let that wait. It really will be here soon enough.
Enjoy the last week of the year, everyone, and have a wonderful summer!
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SPECTRUM ENROLLMENT INQUIRY for 2025-2026 At Spectrum, we are committed to providing a top-tier college preparatory education and hope each student will remain with us throughout their middle and high school journey. However, we understand that circumstances sometimes change. If your student will not be returning to Spectrum for the 2025–2026 school year, please complete the official withdrawal process by submitting the Spectrum Withdrawal Form and sending it to our Registrar, Christy Siegel, at admissions@spectrumhighschool.org. This ensures that we can promptly forward your student’s records to their new school. If your child will not be continuing at Spectrum, we sincerely wish them all the best in their educational journey. |
Noteworthy
- Monday, May 19: delayed start A day
- Tuesday, May 20: B day - final Advisory for Sting Time / Yearbook distribution
- Wednesday, May 21: full 8-period day
- Thursday, May 22: early release, modified A day - school dismissed at 1:11 / HS Graduation
- Friday, May 23: early release, modified B day - last day of school. Chromebooks turned in / locker clean out @ 1:15
- Summer 2025
- Monday, August 26: first day of school